Just one week after Formula One returned to France, the teams traveled to Austria for the FORMULA 1 EYETIME GROSSER PREIS VON ÖSTERREICH 2018, which was the second race in Formula One’s first triple header. It was an entertaining race filled with drama. Tyre blistering and mechanical failures were just a few of the things witnessed at this year’s race.
At the start of the race, Kimi Räikkönen get away from the grid well, allowing him to get in the middle of the two Mercedes. They were three wide going into the first corner, forcing polesitter Valtteri Bottas wide and dropping him down the field. Räikkönen got on the outside of Lewis Hamilton in turn 3, but locked out and ran wide. Räikkönen rejoined, forcing Max Verstappen to put two wheels on the grass. Bottas slipped past into second position in the race.
Räikkönen was leading the Red Bull of Max Verstappen heading into turn 5, but Verstappen got on the inside of Räikkönen. Verstappen made light wheel-to-wheel contact with the rear of Räikkönen’s car, getting him slightly out of shape. This helped Verstappen to get past the Ferrari and into P3.
It was an exciting start for Räikkönen, but his teammate also saw some action on the first lap of the race. Sebastian Vettel ran wide in the first corner of the race. He made contact with the Haas of Romain Grosjean when he rejoined the circuit. Neither car was damaged in the contact, but Vettel ran wide in turn 3, dropping himself down to P8.
Nico Hülkenberg was the first retirement of the race, suffering a spectacular engine failure down the main straight on lap 12. His Renault engine began pouring smoke and flames, but Hülkenberg was able to coast into the runoff area in the first corner. But the second retirement happened just a couple laps later when Bottas suffered a gearbox failure. The unlucky Mercedes driver was able to pull off of the circuit, but not in a runoff area, so the virtual safety car was deployed.
Mercedes didn’t pit Hamilton for fresh tyres under the safety car period, although Ferrari and Red Bull double stacked their drivers for fresh tyres. With that, a race victory became possible for Red Bull, as their drivers were faster than Hamilton when the race resumed.
Daniel Ricciardo was chasing down Räikkönen on lap 20. Räikkönen outbraked himself and locked up, allowing Ricciardo to get right on the gearbox of the Ferrari. Räikkönen locked up again in the following corner, allowing Ricciardo to make a comfortable overtake.
Six laps later, the Red Bull drivers were given the 1-2 lead in the race, as Hamilton pitted for new tyres. His rear tyres were overheating, forcing him to pit before losing too much time. He came out in front of Vettel. Mercedes feared that if they had pitted under the virtual safety car period, the competing teams would have split their strategy to attempt to slow down Hamilton.
On lap 35, tyre blisters were spotted on many rear tyres throughout the field, including Ricciardo. This allowed Räikkönen to gain on Ricciardo and for Vettel to gain on Hamilton. It also helped Verstappen to increase his race lead to over six seconds. On lap 37, Räikkönen attempted to make a move on the outside of Ricciardo into turn 3, but Ricciardo was able to maintain his position. But he struggled to get the power down in the exit of the corner. Räikkönen drove past easily down the straight that followed. With blistering now hampering his pace, Ricciardo pitted.
The next lap, Vettel made a great overtake up the inside of Hamilton. Vettel got alongside Hamilton, putting his Ferrari slightly on the grass. He dove up the inside of Hamilton to make the move stick. Hamilton was clearly unhappy with his team’s strategy mistake. Hamilton too began to show signs of rear tyre blistering.
However, the race was not over for Hamilton, as a slight mistake from Vettel in turn 9 put Hamilton back into the DRS zone. The gap slowly shrunk from 0.9 seconds to 0.7. But as quick as his caught up, Hamilton dropped back due to the blistering on his rear tyres. He fell from the DRS zone. He pitted for new tyres again on lap 53, coming out directly behind Ricciardo.
However, he wouldn’t stay behind for long. Ricciardo’s engine began to send out some puffs of smoke. He was forced to pull over and retire from the race with a gearbox failure. Hamilton quickly became the fastest driver on the track, but was simply too far away for it to matter.
With about 15 laps remaining in the race, Verstappen began tyre conservation at the lead of the race, starting to get some early signs of blistering. Räikkönen appeared to be gaining time, but it was largely due to Verstappen’s slow driving.
Further trouble would strike for Mercedes again, with Hamilton suffering a mechanical failure on lap 64 of the race. It appears to have been a gearbox failure, but it’s not clear if it’s an issue related to the same issue suffered by his teammate.
Räikkönen showed some serious pace in the closing five laps of the race, setting the fastest lap time and closing the gap to well under 3 seconds. But it was not enough, as Verstappen drove across the line in first position. Räikkönen finished the race in P2, setting a new lap record as he crossed the line. Vettel concluded the podium, taking the World Drivers’ Championship lead by 1 point.
The drivers will be back in their cars next weekend for the British Grand Prix, the last race of their triple header. That will happen on the weekend of July 8 at Silverstone.
Above results table does not include any post-race penalties
