Lewis today took his 46 career victory - his 1st in Spielberg and 3rd of the 2016 season so far. Nico Rosberg came home in 4th position. Nico Rosberg (153) leads the Drivers' Championship by 11 points from Lewis Hamilton (142) in P2. Mercedes AMG Petronas (295) lead Ferrari (192) by 103 points in the Constructors' Championship.
Toto Wolff, Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport: It was incredibly frustrating for the team to see a one-two finish potentially become a double DNF on the final lap of the race - and to see us lose points again as a result of a collision between our two cars. We let our drivers race and we trust them to do so - but colliding team-mates is not what we want and this is something that needs to be stopped. If we need to reconsider our philosophy, and to take some unpopular decisions, then we must be prepared to keep that option open. It had been an intense race until that point: we tried the one stop with Lewis, anticipating that Ferrari would do the same, but converted early to a two-stop for Nico. However, as the race unfolded, our predictions began to show that Nico would come out on top, so we converted to a two-stop strategy with Lewis as well to give him the best chance of the win. Lewis was running our preferred tyre, the soft compound, in his final stint but Nico did not have any soft sets left, so took super soft to the finish. The drivers were also right on the limit with the brakes, having raced hard all the way through, and Nico's brake by wire system went into passive mode on the penultimate lap. As for the collision, I am not going to try and put blame more on one side than the other; it always takes two to tango and, as we have said before, this should not happen between team-mates. We will now let the emotions settle before we sit down and discuss our next steps.
Paddy Lowe, Executive Director (Technical): It was a very eventful race as we had predicted given the quite unusual starting grid and the different tyre options in play. Our plan was fairly straightforward for Lewis as we had him on our baseline one-stop strategy; ultra-soft, soft. Nico had a rather difficult first stint as his ultra softs went off quite quickly so we reverted him to a two stop strategy and he made fantastic progress through the traffic. In Lewis' case we stayed out to cover the Ferraris who were also clearly doing a one stop. By the time it had all shaken out it was clear that Lewis' one stop was perfectly viable to beat everyone else but not his teammate because Nico's two-stop was faster than predicted. We therefore elected to also stop Lewis for another set of soft tyres and Nico changed onto the super softs as he didn't have another set of soft tyres. Towards the end of the race Nico ended up running towards the limits of brake wear. We did our best to manage this but by the last lap his brake system had defaulted to a 'passive mode'. This allowed Lewis to launch his final attack and unfortunately this didn't end as we would have liked. Ultimately we're happy to come away with a win for the team. The car performed very well all weekend and our team performance was very strong so congratulations to the team at Brackley and Brixworth for the continued great work.
The result could have been better as Sebastian, today, would have finished very high on the podium without the tire failure. That happened when he was leading the race and all of a sudden, with no prior warning, so the causes will have to be investigated together with Pirelli. As for Kimi, he scored another nice podium finish: we had split strategies between our drivers and both our data and his feedback showed that he could have come ahead of Verstappen in the last stages of the races, had it not been for the yellow flags which came out following Perez's crash.
Valtteri Bottas finished ninth in the Austrian Grand Prix, while Felipe Massa retired. Valtteri ran inside the top 10 for the duration of the race on his two-stop strategy, but was unable to gain positions as he struggled with tyre graining. Felipe started from the pitlane due to a front wing change following structural damage sustained in qualifying. Felipe was also on a two-stop strategy and had climbed into the points before he was force to retire with high brake temperatures on lap 63. Valtteri retains seventh in the Drivers' Championship and Felipe drops to ninth behind Perez, while the team stays fourth in the Constructors' Championship.
Rob Smedley, Head of Performance Engineering: Our race with Felipe was dictated by our first priority, which is safety. We found some structural damage on his front wing, which we believe was caused by vibrations over the kerbs. We changed it for safety reasons which meant he had to start from the pitlane, so his race was never going to be easy. We started him on the option tyre and ran for as long as we could before he had graining. Then we put on the prime and he was looking good. Unfortunately, he picked up a puncture due to a cut in the tyre, so we had to pit and put him back on the option. We subsequently had to retire him because of brake wear when the temperatures rocketed while he was behind Gutierrez, so that was the only safe thing to do. Valtteri's race wasn't as eventful but we were only able to get a couple of points. He struggled with graining, so his pace wasn't where he should be because the way he manages tyres is usually one of the best in the pitlane. Unfortunately, as a group, I don't think we've understood this asphalt and rubber combination, so that's the first thing we need to do.
Christian Horner, Team Principal: "An action-packed Austrian Grand Prix. After making good starts Max managed to get ahead of Daniel fairly early on, and having started the race on the supersofts we knew we'd be in reasonable shape tyre-wise for the race. As other cars started to pit on the ultrasofts we went a few laps longer before making a stop on to the soft tyres we had. And in the cooler temperatures suddenly a one-stop became a viable option. The drivers did extremely well to start to make that happen, running in third and fourth places for large percentages of the race. Once Raikkonen managed to pass Daniel, there was nothing to lose in pitting him for the ultrasofts. In the meantime both Mercedes stopped putting Max in to the lead and he did what he could but the car was toothless in responding on the old tyres which were pretty much down to the canvas. But he managed to get the car home and was able to capitalize on the incident between the two Mercedes and take a fabulous 2nd position, and our first podium in our home race. A great grand prix and we look forward to taking that momentum to Silverstone in one week's time."
Sahara Force India missed out on points in today's Austrian Grand Prix as Sergio Perez suffered a brake failure on the final lap of the race. Teammate Nico Hulkenberg also retired with brake concerns.
Robert Fernley, Deputy Team Principal: "Not the way we wanted to end our weekend after all of the promise we showed yesterday, but that is the harsh deal racing sometimes hands you. We looked on course to score some good points with Sergio, who had completed a great comeback to P8 from a low grid position, but unfortunately he suffered a brake problem on the last lap and ended up in the gravel. It's a shame as he would have richly deserved this result after a determined performance. Nico lost a few places at the start and then all his tyres suffered from graining. The timing of the safety car also didn't play into his hands. In the end, his race was brought to an end early as we saw some brake issues arising on his car and we called him in to retire as a precautionary measure. It's disappointing not to score, but we will regroup and try to bounce back for our home Grand Prix in Silverstone."
Renault Sport Formula One Team moved up the order in the Austrian Grand Prix with Jolyon Palmer finishing just shy of the points in twelfth after starting 20th and Kevin Magnussen finishing fourteenth after starting 17th. The positions gained were despite a mid-race safety car which was less than complimentary to the team's tyre strategy and a five second penalty for Kevin for blocking a rival.
Kevin started the race from P17 with a new set of Pirelli's red supersoft tyres. He changed to the yellow soft compound on lap 11, then a further set of new supersofts on lap 49 where he also served a five-second penalty. Jolyon started the race in P20 on new supersoft tyres. He changed to new softs on lap 12 then new supersofts on lap 50.
Fred Vasseur, Racing Director: "Our race pace wasn't too bad and both drivers were able to deliver what was required today. We were a little unlucky with the safety car as we had opted to run a long middle stint on the soft tyres with both cars and shortly after we'd gone on to the soft Sebastian Vettel had his crash. We did struggle on the restart relative to cars on fresher tyres but we were able to make places at the end thanks to the retirements of others. We're looking forward to heading to Enstone's and Viry's adopted home race in Silverstone."
Franz Tost (Team Principal): "After our problems in qualifying yesterday, Carlos' P8 is a big success for us today. Having to prepare the car with another engine is always a risk, as you don't have the chance to run it before the race, but fortunately the team did a fantastic job to get the car ready in such a good way. Carlos drove a great race, with a lot of overtaking maneuvers as well as being able to manage the tyres very well. Daniil had what seems like a mechanical issue, which the team will now have to investigate, and unfortunately had to retire. It's a shame, because I'm convinced that he also could have done a really good race. Now we have to prepare everything for next week's Grand Prix in Silverstone and make sure we are in a good shape to continue fighting for more points.
I'd also like to congratulate Max and Red Bull Racing for their great race today - to finish in P2 here at the Red Bull Ring, at home, is a fantastic result!"
The Sauber F1 Team finished the Austrian Grand Prix in Spielberg in P13 (Felipe Nasr) and P15 (Marcus Ericsson). The Swiss team will now travel to the upcoming Grand Prix in Silverstone that takes place next weekend, where the Sauber C35-Ferrari will be equipped with a modified power unit.
Monisha Kaltenborn, Team Principal: "We got the maximum out of our car on this engine performance related track. Marcus and Felipe both put in a good performance. At the next race weekend in Silverstone the Sauber C35-Ferrari will be provided with an engine update. We will continue to do our best in order to make further steps."
Jenson Button claimed sixth position in today's Austrian Grand Prix with perhaps the most convincing display yet of the burgeoning pace of the McLaren-Honda partnership.
Starting from third, Jenson vaulted into second place and ran strongly during the opening stint, before stopping on lap nine to switch from Option to Back-Up tyres. During his middle stint, he picked off cars in front of him, taking sudden advantage of a Safety Car period (to remove Sebastian Vettel's puncture-damaged Ferrari) to pit again and fit a Back-Up to take him to the finish.
In the closing laps, Jenson ran as high as fifth before settling for sixth after being overtaken by Daniel Ricciardo, who had fitted a fresh set of Prime tyres.
Starting from 14th, Fernando Alonso also raced competitively through the first two stints, running inside the top 10 as the strategy ebbed and flowed. He pitted for his second stop immediately behind Jenson to take advantage of the Safety Car. Unfortunately, however, he suffered an ES battery pack system failure in the closing laps, and was forced to retire.
Eric Boullier, Racing Director: "Jenson drove brilliantly this afternoon to finish sixth - and at a circuit where we wouldn't have expected such a strong result. In fact, the whole weekend has shown just what we can achieve when we're able to take full advantage of the strengths, resources and determination of this organisation. This result is a landmark for the team, because it clearly shows in which direction we are headed: towards the front of the grid.
"Fernando gave his all this afternoon but sadly came home unrewarded. He was able to push hard at the start of the race, but became increasingly hampered by a systems issue with the battery pack, which meant he couldn't make any progress. The issue worsened, and we were forced to retire his car before the end of the race.
"We head to our home race under no illusions that the fast sweeps and long straights of Silverstone will play to the strengths of our car, but, equally, we go there feeling hugely encouraged by the ongoing improvements we continue to show."
Yusuke Hasegawa, Honda R&D Co Ltd Head of F1 Project & Executive Chief Engineer: "Jenson capitalised on his starting grid position and showed enough pace to score more points for the team with a well-deserved sixth position.
"On the other hand, Fernando unfortunately suffered an ES pack system failure, therefore we elected to retire the car for safety reasons, which was disappointing as he was also within reach of the points today.
"On a positive note, I think we were able to show our strength in both the car and the team this weekend, which is very encouraging for the next race at Silverstone, McLaren-Honda's home race."
Dave Ryan, Racing Director: "After yesterday's Q2 performance in qualifying, today's point-scoring finish is a fantastic way to end a really positive weekend. The most important thing about it is that it shows that we're a serious team and we're working extremely hard to improve. Pascal has been looking comfortable the whole time we've been here in Austria and even though there was a point in the race where things were not looking so great for him, we felt sure he would turn it around. That's exactly what he did and he put himself in exactly the right position to take advantage if things came his way. Rio was on a different strategy; we split the strategies so that we would be in a good position to respond to any opportunity. Nonetheless, he drove a really determined race and can be pleased with his 16th place today. Naturally, heading into our home Grand Prix next week, this will give everyone a huge lift. We need to keep our feet on the ground, but after an enormous amount of hard work in the first half of the season, everyone thoroughly deserves to enjoy the moment before the hard work starts again tomorrow."
Haas F1 Team rang up more points Sunday at the Red Bull Ring, marking the fourth time this season the first American-led Formula One team in 30 years has scored a point-paying result. Romain Grosjean earned six points by finishing seventh in the Austrian Grand Prix and his teammate, Esteban Gutiérrez, continues to knock on the door of a point-paying finish, coming home 11th for the third time this season.
Grosjean employed a one-stop strategy for the 71-lap race around the 4.326-kilometer (2.688-mile) nine-turn circuit. After starting 13th on a set of Pirelli P Zero Red supersoft tires, Grosjean went 27 laps before pitting for a slightly used set of P Zero Yellow softs. Grosjean took advantage of the safety car period, which was for Sebastian Vettel's frontstretch crash. The Ferrari driver lost control while leading when his right-rear tire disintegrated, throwing rubber all over the track.
Grosjean emerged from the pits in ninth, but his time on pit road was a little too quick. Grosjean was caught speeding and he was assessed a five-second penalty that would be applied at the end of the race.
With the safety car period over, racing resumed in earnest on lap 32, whereupon Grosjean's mirrors were filled with the Williams of Felipe Massa and the Force India of Sergio Perez. Grosjean held them both off and worked on creating a gap greater than five seconds over his nearest pursuer.
Aided by the attrition of others, Grosjean rose to seventh, and as the laps wound down, he methodically widened the gap between himself and eighth-place Perez. Shortly after creating a margin of more than five seconds over Perez, the Force India driver made the situation moot by crashing on the final lap. With the time penalty applied at the finish, Grosjean's advantage over eighth-place Carlos Sainz Jr. was 2.732 seconds. Seventh place was all Grosjean's, as were the six points that now have him 10th in the driver standings.
Gutiérrez, meanwhile, rallied to finish a respectable 11th. Despite starting in the same place he finished, Gutiérrez dropped to 18th following the run into the first corner on the first lap. Gutiérrez went 21 laps on the Red supersofts he started the race with before pitting for another new set of supersofts. After climbing to 15th, Gutiérrez pitted again on lap 41 for a slightly used set of Yellow softs. He returned to the track in 19th and during the final 30 laps, managed his tires and took advantage of others' misfortune to climb back to 11th.
Grosjean's seventh-place run combined with Gutiérrez's 11th-place finish in the Austrian Grand Prix marks Haas F1 Team's best collective result this season.
Nine rounds into the 21-race Formula One schedule, Haas F1 Team remains eighth in the constructor standings, but the organization now has 28 points. It is four points behind seventh-place McLaren and 22 points ahead of ninth-place Renault.
Lewis Hamilton won the Austrian Grand Prix, but it came at a price as he tangled with his Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg on the final lap. Hamilton went on to win his 46th career Formula One victory, his third this season and his first at the Red Bull Ring while Rosberg finished fourth. Hamilton crossed the stripe 5.719 seconds ahead of runner-up Max Verstappen. The victory tightened the championship battle between the Mercedes duo, as Hamilton lopped 13 points off Rosberg's advantage. Rosberg continues to lead the driver standings, but his margin over Hamilton is now 11 points with more than half the Formula One schedule still remaining.
Guenther Steiner: "Finally back in the points, but we didn't make it easy for ourselves. The whole team did a fantastic job and we ended up seventh and 11th. Romain got a time penalty. However, we managed to remain in our position. His tire strategy was a little different than most, but it worked and the car was quick. For Esteban, his start wasn't great, so he lost a few positions. Also, his tire strategy didn't work as we planned, but he managed to climb up the grid to finish in 11th, half a second behind (Pascal) Wehrlein. It will be Esteban's third time in 11th, so it shows he can do it and the team can do it too. Overall, it's a relief to have points again and we're looking forward to Silverstone."
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton won the Austrian Grand Prix from pole position, following a two-stop strategy after an action packed race that culminated in a duel between him and his team mate Nico Rosberg all the way to the final lap.
Rosberg initially used the timing of his pit stop tyre strategy to boost his position, 'undercutting' a number of drivers including his team mate (who started from pole) to lead the race. But Hamilton reeled him in during a thrilling finale, with Rosberg eventually finishing fourth after they touched on the last lap.
Compared to the previous sessions in Austria, ambient and track temperatures were considerably cooler, with 16 and 24 degrees respectively at the start of the race. This had the effect of containing wear and degradation, although the strategy was affected by a safety car that teams used to take a 'free' pit stop without significant loss of track position.
Ferrari and Red Bull adopted a different strategy to the majority of frontrunners, beginning the race on the supersoft tyre rather than the ultrasoft, which was the default choice for the other top 10 drivers – being just over half a second quicker. However, during a long first stint, Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel experienced a tyre issue. The exact circumstances are still being investigated together with Ferrari; however this appears to be an isolated incident as no other drivers experienced similar problems.
After the final pit stops, there was a three-way battle for the lead between the Mercedes drivers and Red Bull's Max Verstappen, who made one less pit stop than Rosberg and Hamilton. Rosberg and Hamilton were separated by less than a second all the way to the chequered flag, making this one of those memorable races of the season.
Paul Hembery, Pirelli motorsport director: "With Ferrari we're fully investigating the incident on Sebastian Vettel's car, in order to finalize a cause. Tyre strategy proved to be crucial to the Austrian Grand Prix, with a close battle to the finish that went all the way to the final lap, using a number of different strategies. The teams headed into the weekend with little information on the tyres following the mixed conditions in free practice and qualifying, as a result of which strategy was a question of thinking on their feet and extracting the maximum advantage."
Truthometer
We predicted a winning strategy of two stops, following an ultrasoft-soft-soft pattern. However, the safety car following Vettel's incident affected this pattern, together with much cooler track temperatures than had been the case previously. Hamilton stopped 2 times in the end, on laps 21 and 54.
