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Saturday 18 July 2015

Austrian Grand Prix 21st June - Rosberg wins, Hamilton handed a time penalty

21 June 2015 – Nico Rosberg took his third win in four races as he beat Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton to victory at the Austrian Grand Prix, while Williams' Felipe Massa edged out Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel for third.


Rosberg seized the initiative as soon as the lights went out, getting a run on Hamilton into Turn 1 and claiming a lead he would never relinquish.

Just as Hamilton thought about a response, the Safety Car was deployed for a massive crash involving Kimi Räikkönen and Fernando Alonso.


Räikkönen appeared to lose control of his Ferrari exiting Turn 2, before it snapped to the left and collected Alonso's McLaren-Honda.

While Alonso's car launched over Räikkönen's cockpit and ended up resting on the Armco barrier, luckily both men were able to walk away.


The race resumed after six laps behind the Safety Car, with Rosberg bolting clear and building a comfortable lead gap before the pit-stop phase.

Rosberg pitted from the lead of the race on Lap 33, while Hamilton opted to stay out two laps longer, which only served to increase the German's advantage.

To make matters worse for Hamilton, he dipped two wheels over the pit exit line, which landed him a five-second time penalty, and effectively ended his hopes of winning.


Sebastian Vettel briefly led in his Ferrari as the Mercedes pair completed their stops, but a slow right-rear tyre change cost him 10 seconds, and third place to Massa.

Rosberg went on to take a commanding victory, trimming Hamilton's championship lead to 10 points, while Massa kept Vettel at bay for his first podium of the season.


Valtteri Bottas endured a poor opening lap in the other Williams but fought his way back up to fifth position, just ahead of Force India's Nico Hülkenberg.

Pastor Maldonado saved a late slide to beat Max Verstappen to seventh, while Sergio Pérez and Daniel Ricciardo – who opted for the Soft/Super Soft approach – completed the points.

Sauber's Felipe Nasr ran inside the points-paying positions for the majority of the race but slipped back late on, finishing just in front of Daniil Kvyat, who picked up first lap damage.


Marcus Ericsson was hit with a drive-through for jumping the start and suffered a brief loss of power en route to 13th, while Manor Marussia's Roberto Merhi completed the finishers.

Romain Grosjean retired with a gearbox issue, while Sainz Jr. brought his car back to the pits after a sloppy race which included a slow stop and a penalty for speeding in the pit lane.


After Alonso's early collision with Räikkönen, Button hit technical trouble and marked a second successive double retirement for the McLaren-Honda partnership.

Manor's Will Stevens also retired with an oil leak early on.

Race results - 2015 Austrian Formula 1 Grand Prix


Pos. DriverTeamTime
1.  N. RosbergMercedes1:30:16.930
2.  L. HamiltonMercedes+8.800
3.  F. MassaWilliams+17.573+8.773
4.  S. VettelFerrari+18.181+0.608
5.  V. BottasWilliams+53.604+35.423
6.  N. HulkenbergForce India+1:04.075+10.471
7.  P. MaldonadoLotus+1 Lap
8.  M. VerstappenToro Rosso+1 Lap
9.  S. PerezForce India+1 Lap
10.  D. RicciardoRed Bull+1 Lap
11.  F. NasrSauber+1 Lap
12.  D. KvyatRed Bull+1 Lap
13.  M. EricssonSauber+2 Laps
14.  R. MerhiManor+3 Laps
Did not finish
15.  R. GrosjeanLotus+36 Laps
16.  C. Sainz Jr.Toro Rosso+36 Laps
17.  J. ButtonMcLaren+63 Laps
18.  W. StevensManor+70 Laps
19.  K. RaikkonenFerrari+71 Laps
20.  F. AlonsoMcLaren+71 Laps

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