Lewis Hamilton wins the Austrian Grand Prix after a last lap clash with Rosberg

The pair clashed on the last lap entering turn 2 as Rosberg lost momentum after a mistake in turn 1 and tried to block Hamilton who was half a car length ahead into turn 2 resulting in a tangle.

Hamilton was forced into the run off area but Rosberg’s front wing was broken and had to slow off.

Hamilton took the victory while Rosberg limped to finish 4th after being overtaken by RedBull’s Verstappen and Ferrari’s Raikkonen.

This is the third collision this year between the two Mercedes team mates who are fighting for the championship.

The Start

At the start Hamilton made a clean getaway from pole for the first time this season, while Hulkenberg who started 2nd lost 3 places allowing McLaren’s Button to follow the leader.

Rosberg made some places after starting 6th due to gearbox penalty while Vettel was held back behind Verstappen and Ricciardo’s RedBull. Danii Kyvat started from the pit lane ended his race on lap 3 and was first retirement of the race.

Rosberg went in for new tyres while Hamilton was leading the race in super softs after some tyre management.

Hamilton went in for new tyres 10 laps later but a slow stop of  over 4 secs made him come behind Rosberg and Vettle in the lead without a tyre stop.

From then on Hamilton was never comfortable and was struggling to attack his team mate Rosberg of the other Mercedes.

Vettel’s tyre failure

On lap 27 Vettel’s Ferrari had a sudden tyre failure on the main straight sending him right across the pit wall and crashing bringing in the safety car. As the main straight was cleaned for debris, the safety car led race cars through the pit lane.

Rosberg took the lead but Hamilton was unable to Challenge his Mercedes team mate for the next 40 laps.

As both Mercedes stopped for the final tyre change with Rosberg on the super softs and Hamilton on the softs, Hamilton got a bit closer to Rosberg with a series of fastest laps but still missed something to attack for the lead.  It looked like Rosberg would take the victory until the last lap as Hamilton was half a second down and lacking speed.

The Last lap clash

As they entered the last lap, Rosberg made a mistake into turn 1 clipping the yellow kerb and lost momentum which made Hamilton catch up and go past him in the straight into turn 2. Hamilton had the racing line and was on the outside narrowly ahead but an adamant Rosberg tried to push Hamilton wide. Hamilton gave room for his team mate to take the inside but Rosberg chose to block Hamilton and both collided in the corner.

Rosberg’s Mercedes was damaged while Hamilton was unaffected and won the race reducing the championship gap to  11 points.

It was yet another podium for Redbull driver Max Verstappen while Ferrari salvaged a podium with Raikkonen after Vettel’s retirement.

As Rosberg limped to 4th with a damaged car it was Ricciardo on Rebdull who took 5th while Jenson Button on the Mclaren-Honda finished 6th, giving Honda their best finish so far since their return while his team mate Fernando Alonso retired in the pits on lap 64.

Force India’s Hulkenberg too retired his car in the pits on lap 64 after starting 2nd on the grid while his team mate Sergio Perez crashed just one lap from the end.

Romain Grosjean on the Haas finished 7th followed by Carlos Sainz on the Torro Ross in 8th. Williams driver Valteri Bottas crossed 9th while Marussia’s young rookie Pascal Wehrlien finished in a career best top 10 scoring a point.