Lewis Hamilton clinched his 46th career in today's Austrian Grand Prix but the win was a last lap steal from leader Nico Rosberg following another controversy clash between the Mercedes drivers.
After enjoying a comfortable lead after the start, Hamilton found himself on the back foot when Rosberg took command of the race following Hamilton's stop for fresh Soft rubber on lap 21.
Mercedes had initially planned a one-stop strategy for car n°44, but the deployment of the Safety Car following Sebastian Vettel's crash on the main straight and Rosberg's superior pace forced a change of plan in the German camp with each driver on different tyre compounds for the final stint.
"After a decent start while I was in the lead, I felt that I was doing all I needed to do," explained the day's winner.
"With the Soft tyre in the cooler conditions, it wasn't easy to start them up, so I found myself second behind Nico. But after the Safety Car, it was all guns blazing and racing as hard as I could as I needed those points."
Hamilton remained a little over a second from his team mate as the second half of the race got underway. Around lap 55, both drivers pitted within one lap of each other but found themselves on different tyre strategies- Softs for Hamilton and SuperSofts for Rosberg.
Progressively, as the latter part of the race drew near, the Mercedes pair geared up for a straight fight which would take them down to the wire. Well, almost..
"Nico made a mistake into Turn 1, clipped the kerb and went wide. I got a good run on him, he blocked the inside and I went outside.
"I was on racing line, he was on my blind side, I assumed he was there. I went very wide and as I started to turn, I was on edge of the track and he collided with me.
"My guys said he had something up with the brakes, maybe, I am not sure exactly what happened, I came back onto the track as quick as I could."
Up on the podium, Hamilton found himself immersed in a rather hostile atmosphere as Rosberg fans in attendance made their disappointment loudly heard. But the Mercedes driver remained unperturbed.
"Of course it is not great. One of the most beautiful countries to come here, the motorbike I have here, driving through the valleys - so to have that feeling and that response when you win, it is not the greatest.
"I forgive them, sometimes that is the way it is, they have a right to have an opinion. Not quite sure why they have done it, it doesn't make any difference, I won the race."
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