The Austrian Grand Prix weekend was impacted by the weather, with rain joining the teams during some of the sessions, including qualifying. The story of the weekend was more Mercedes drama on the last lap that impacted the result of one of the drivers on the team.
The weather on Friday was dramatic. The morning brought dry track conditions, but the afternoon session was wet, as rain greeted the circuit after only a few minutes of running in the second free practice session. Both sessions of the day were topped by Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton respectively. Hamilton was lucky to escape damage from a spin in FP1, as his car was almost struck by Romain Grosjean. With only a handful of dry laps completed by the teams in FP2, rain forced drivers off of the track for over half of an hour. Sebastian Vettel concluded the session with a trip to the gravel trap following a brake distribution issue.
Saturday was not without incidents, as Rosberg suffered a big accident caused by a broken suspension. His car was sent into the barriers after hitting the kerb, causing heavy damage to the gearbox of the car. As a result, Rosberg was forced to take a five-place grid penalty. Daniil Kvyat also suffered a similar failure during qualifying, bringing his day to an early end. His car also suffered major damage, although the team didn’t need to make any changes to the power unit. The weather for Saturday was also unpredictable, with rain making a visit during qualifying.
Hamilton was able to get a good start on Sunday, with Nico Hülkenberg dropped out of the front row because of wheelspin. Kimi Räikkönen spent a little more time stuck behind Jenson Button for a little longer than he would have liked and probably a little more than the team would have expected. Button helped Hamilton build up a sizable gap, as the Mercedes driver worked to prolong the life of the ultrasoft tyres as long as possible. When he did pit, the team was a little slow putting on the left-rear tyre, allowing Rosberg to overtake his teammate. A right-rear tyre failure on the main straight while leading the race put an early end to Sebastian Vettel’s day. With Rosberg in the front, he was set for his third victory at the Red Bull Ring. Last lap contact between the Mercedes teammates in turn two cost Rosberg the race victory and the podium, as Rosberg struck his teammate due to a reported brake issue that caused him to go wide. This allowed Hamilton to take victory. Max Verstappen and Kimi Räikkönen joined the Brit on the podium.
The Formula One teams have another busy weekend ahead of them, concluding the second back-to-back weekend of the season. The teams will fly to Silverstone for the British Grand Prix. The busy schedule doesn’t end there, as the teams will take part in an in-season test at Silverstone just days after the British Grand Prix. The race will be on the weekend of July 10 and the two-day test begins on July 12.
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