Earlier in the racing season, the two alpha male drivers of the Mercedes Formula One team – defending champion Lewis Hamilton and current points leader Nico Rosberg – successfully took themselves out of the race when they crashed into each other on the first lap of the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix. For the Austrian Grand Prix, they waited until the last lap when they again crashed into each other, only this time, both stayed in the race long enough to finish and Hamilton’s car sustained less damage than Rosberg’s car, so he was able to grab the victory while Rosberg finished fourth and retained the overall points lead.
The comedy/drama of the finish was more entertaining than the race itself as Hamilton sat on the pole and led most of the first half of the race without much challenge since Rosberg started in Row Three due to obtaining a grid penalty for switching out a gearbox. By the time Hamilton had to pit for tires, only Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel and Rosberg were able to take advantage and slip past Hamilton on the track. Vettel took the lead but held it for all of two laps before a tire shredded and knocked him out of the race.
That handed the lead to Rosberg on Lap 32 and Rosberg and Hamilton began their familiar parade lap routine around the circuit for the next 38 laps until the final lap when Hamilton decided to try and pass Rosberg on the second turn of the final lap and Rosberg attempted to block Hamilton, crashing into him in the process. The crash damaged Rosberg’s front wing and kept him from keeping up with Hamilton, who cruised to an easy victory while Rosberg ultimately limped home in fourth. Afterwards, Mercedes blamed Rosberg’s maneuver on bad brakes on Rosberg’s car. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen claimed second while Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen claimed third.
In the points standings, Rosberg maintains his lead with 153 points to 142 for Hamilton in second and Raikkonen and Vettel tied for third with 96 points apiece.
2016 Austrian Grand Prix – Red Bull Ring – 71 laps – 191 miles
1 Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes 25 1:27:38.307
2 Max Verstappen – Red Bull 18 +5.519 Sec
3 Kimi Raikkonen – Ferrari 15 +5.824 Sec
4 Nico Rosberg – Mercedes 12 +16.510 Sec
5 Daniel Ricciardo – Red Bull 10 +30.781 Sec
6 Jenson Button – McLaren 8 +37.506 Sec
7 Romain Grosjean – Haas 6 +44.468 Sec
8 Carlos Sainz Jr. – Toro Rosso 4 +47.200 Sec
9 Valtteri Bottas – Williams 2
10 Pascal Wehrlein – Manor 1
11 Esteban Gutierrez – Haas
12 Jolyon Palmer – Renault
13 Felipe Nasr – Sauber
14 Kevin Magnussen – Renault
15 Marcus Ericsson – Sauber
16 Rio Haryanto – Manor
17 Sergio Perez – Force India
18 Fernando Alonso – McLaren
19 Nico Hulkenberg – Force India
20 Felipe Massa – Williams
21 Sebastian Vettel – Ferrari
22 Daniil Kvyat – Toro Rosso