Austrian Grand Prix: Rosberg on top in familiar 1-2 for Mercedes

German extends lead over teammate Hamilton to 29 points.

SPIELBERG BEI KNITTELFELD: Championship leader Nico Rosberg won the Formula One Austrian Grand Prix on Sunday, putting Mercedes back on top in a nail-biting finale with teammate Lewis Hamilton.

The German, clinching his third win this season, managed to hold off Hamilton until the end, with Williams driver Valtteri Bottas taking his first ever podium, in what turned out to be a disastrous home race for Red Bull.

“It wasn’t an easy race,” said the 28-year-old German. “Williams were very quick in the straights so it was hard to fight with them, also in the start. But I had a faster car.

“Of course, a 1-2 is also good for the team, I’m happy we achieved that again after the difficult race in Montreal.”

Bottas’s teammate Felipe Massa, who had started on pole, was fourth, followed by Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, Sergio Perez of Force India and McLaren’s Kevin Magnussen.

The season’s eighth race – and sixth 1-2 finish for Mercedes – saw the German team extend their lead in the constructors’ standings to 301 points, with Red Bull trailing in a distant second place with 143 points.

It also gives Rosberg – who has never finished off the podium this season – a 29-point lead on four-win Hamilton in the fierce internal Mercedes battle.

Hamilton, who spent the end of the race trying to overtake his rival, looked less pleased, noting only that “[to jump] from ninth to second and be pressuring Rosberg at the end of the race really shows the pace I had this weekend”.

After taking his first pole position since 2008, Massa had hoped to follow this up with his first win in six years, but this was not to be.

Instead, it was Bottas who brought Williams their first podium in a year, bumping them up to fifth place in the constructors’ standings.

“I’m really happy and thankful for the team,” said Bottas. “It’s been a long long way for us since last year.”

For Red Bull, which went into this home race fresh from a win in Canada, the day proved a wash-out with Ricciardo finishing eighth.

A disappointing season for reigning four-time champion Sebastian Vettel meanwhile went from bad to worse as he was forced to retire.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 23^rd, 2014.

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