Overall, I thought it was the best race of the season so far. A race of two halves, the first part was current F1 Champion Lewis Hamilton controlling the lead with Nico Rosberg catching up to his team-mate. Until lap 27, when Sebastian Vettel stayed out and took the lead, until his right-rear tire exploded down the main straight bringing out the safety car and giving Nico Rosberg the lead. With the last few laps to go Rosberg leading and Hamilton in second catching up to Rosberg.
Then drama on the final lap, when both Mercedes drivers battling for the lead, Hamilton closed in on Rosberg around the outside of Turn two, only to be forced off the track as they again ran into one another. Rosberg sustained severe damage to his front wing, and was eventually passed by not only Hamilton but also Red Bull's Max Verstappen and Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari giving Lewis Hamilton the win for this seasons Austrian Grand Prix for his third race win of the season for the Formula 1 World Champion.
And so the civil war at Mercedes continues with Mercedes duo Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton from Spain with the last lap shenanigans in Austria as it did cost Mercedes their third one two finish of the season and cost Nico Rosberg points for his championship. In my opinion it was not racing incident, possibly a clumsy attempt from Rosberg to defend his lead and to block on Hamilton's move for the lead in which the stewards agree give Rosberg a ten second timed penalty to his result.
As this incident may give Mercedes a good reason to reinstate team orders if another race incident happens again with these two drivers, and even may cost Nico Rosberg his job at Mercedes going into 2017, as Rosberg isn't yet contracted to the team next season while Hamilton is till 2018. It may give Mercedes an opportunity to change the driver line-up for 2017 as both can't play along with each other.
While, Max Verstappen finished in second place in the Red Bull, Verstappen was under six seconds behind Hamilton at the end.
Meanwhile, Kimi Räikkönen finished in third place in the Ferrari to complete the podium, Räikkönen was six seconds behind Hamilton at the end of the seventy-one lap race.
Finally, a quick mention to Pascal Wehrlein in the Manor finishing tenth place giving Manor their first point of the season and their first points since Monaco 2014 when their were named Marussia with the late Jules Bianchi finishing in ninth place. Wehrlein was a lap behind Hamilton at the end.
Rate the Teams and Drivers
Mercedes - 7
Lewis Hamilton - 8 (pole, race win and fastest lap)
Nico Rosberg - 7 (finished fourth)
Ferrari - 7
Sebastian Vettel - 7 (DNF, Accident)
Kimi Räikkönen - 8 (finished third)
Williams - 6
Valtteri Bottas - 6 (finished ninth, lap down)
Felipe Massa - 6 (DNF, Brakes)
Red Bull Racing - 9
Daniel Ricciardo - 8 (finished fifth)
Max Verstappen - 10 (finished second)
Force India - 6
Nico Hülkenberg - 7 (DNF, Brakes)
Sergio Pérez - 6 (finished seventeenth/DNF, two laps down/Brakes)
Renault - 5
Kevin Magnussen - 5 (finished fourteenth, lap down)
Jolyon Palmer - 6 (finished twelfth, lap down)
Toro Rosso - 6
Carlos Sainz Jr. - 8 (finished eighth)
Daniil Kvyat - 4 (DNF, Mechanical)
Sauber - 6
Marcus Ericsson - 5 (finished fifteenth, lap down)
Felipe Nasr - 7 (finished thirteenth, lap down)
McLaren - 8
Fernando Alonso - 7 (DNF, Battery)
Jenson Button - 10 (finished sixth)
Manor - 8
Rio Haryanto - 6 (finished sixteenth, lap down)
Pascal Wehrlein - 10 (finished tenth, lap down)
Haas - 8
Romain Grosjean - 9 (finished seventh)
Esteban Gutiérrez - 7 (finished eleventh, lap down)
Next stop Silverstone for the British Grand Prix in a weeks time.
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