Nico Rosberg cut the gap to Lewis Hamilton to just ten points with a dominant victory in Austria despite not starting on pole position. F1i looks back at how the race weekend unfolded and opens itself up to future ridicule by checking just how accurate its podium prediction was…
The race in 100 words
Hamilton got a poor start as Rosberg beat his team-mate to Turn 1, and the battle only continued for one more corner before Kimi Raikkonen lost control of his car and took out Fernando Alonso in a scary accident which saw the McLaren end on top of the Ferrari. Rosberg eased away after the safety car period while Vettel couldn’t match the Mercedes’ before a slow pit stop dropped him behind Felipe Massa’s Williams, with Vettel failing to regain third. Nico Hulkenberg impressed with P6, while Jenson Button retired the second McLaren on another tough weekend for the team.
Driver of the weekend
Nico Rosberg appeared to have the edge over Lewis Hamilton throughout the weekend, but qualifying looked set to be his achilles heel once again when he locked up and ran wide at the final corner having been close to snatching pole position. However, Rosberg perfected his start and took a lead at Turn 1 which he would never relinquish, easing away from Hamilton in his most dominant display. The result is the first time Rosberg has taken victory when Hamilton has started on pole and not suffered a reliability issue.
Move of the race
Take a bow Pastor Maldonado. In a race which was relatively lacking in overtaking manoeuvres, Maldonado pulled a spectacular move which resulted in him taking seventh place. Chasing Max Verstappen on worn tyres late in the race, all of the ingredients were in place for a feisty fight and Maldonado chose Turn 1 to attack having had the benefit of DRS. With Verstappen moving across to defend the inside line, Maldonado jinked to the outside and almost lost control, showing brilliant car control to recover the car and maintain momentum, taking the position on exit as Verstappen ran wide.
Prediction accuracy
Podium: 1. Nico Rosberg, 2. Lewis Hamilton, 3. Felipe Massa
F1i’s pre-race prediction: 1. Lewis Hamilton, 2. Sebastian Vettel, 3. Valtteri Bottas
Weekend recap
Friday
Vettel tops FP2 by 0.011s in Austria
Saturday
Hamilton takes pole despite Mercedes errors
Sunday
Rosberg eases to Austrian GP victory
