The Austrian Grand Prix has returned to the calendar for first time since 2003, when Michael Schumacher won despite a pit-lane fire mid-race.
Nico Rosberg won the race from third on the grid, but what else did the return of the modified Osterreichring in Spielberg, now known as the Red Bull Ring, show to the Formula One circus?
Williams shows its hand
The Canadian Grand Prix two weeks ago was the first race of the season that either Nico Rosberg or Lewis Hamilton didn’t win for Mercedes, thanks to Australia’s Daniel Ricciardo capitalising for Red Bull when the Mercedes faced problems.
This weekend saw the first qualifying session with no AMG Mercedes car on pole for the first time this season, when Felipe Massa superbly popped his Williams on pole. His teammate Valteri Bottas locked out the front row for the former super-team.
It was Massa’s first pole position since the Brazilian GP in 2008 (yes, that grand prix, where he was world champion for all but ten seconds), and Williams’ first since Pastor Maldonado’s pole position at Barcelona in 2012.
Even more impressive was that it was their first front-row lockout since Juan Pablo Montoya and Ralf Schumacher achieved a 1-2 qualifying result at Hockenheim in 2003.
Williams had shown impressive pace through the pre-season tests, but hadn’t shown its full potential during the grand prix weekends as of yet, and unfortunately some late calls on the pit-wall saw them drop off the pace of the two works Mercedes, as Bottas and Massa finished third and fourth respectively, Bottas’ first career podium.
Mercedes back on top
With Ricciardo’s win in Canada, many of the neutrals were heralding the end of Mercedes’ dominance, despite it coming from power-unit problems for the Silver Arrows.
When Massa claimed pole at the Red Bull Ring, this end to Mercedes dominance was becoming more of a talking point.
However, both Rosberg and Hamilton had great starts on Sunday, with Rosberg originally pipping Bottas for second place off the grid, before being held back to third until the first set of pit-stops, whereas Hamilton was up into fifth by the first corner, and easily claimed fourth from Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso on the next lap.
Their superiority was shown throughout the race as they jumped the two Williams drivers through the pit-stops, and claimed another 1-2 finish, their sixth of the season.
Rosberg’s victory extends his championship lead to 29 points, ensuring he will leave Silverstone with his lead still intact.
The 1-2 finish also takes Mercedes past the 300 mark, something they didn’t reach last year until the Indian GP, the 16th race of the season.
Horror story at the Red Bull Ring
Red Bull had a bit of a weekend to forget at their new home grand prix, which saw only one of their four cars (if including sister team Toro Rosso) finish the race.
Qualifying saw Sebastian Vettel and Jean-Eric Vergne knocked out in Q2, and started the race in 12th and 14th respectively.
Ricciardo finished qualifying in fifth, but it was Daniil Kvyat that impressed by qualifying his Toro Rosso in seventh, his highest qualifying result so far.
Come race day though, Ricciardo had a horror start, down into ninth in the early stages of the race, while Vettel lost drive from an electrical gremlin in the opening laps.
He was later able to get drive back, but following an incident with Sauber’s Esteban Gutierrez, he duly retired, leaving the reigning four-time champion with just 60 points from the opening eight rounds.
Ricciardo was able to steal a few points, with a last lap overtake on Force India’s Nico Rosberg ensuring an eighth place finish for the Australian.
Both Toro Rossos retired from the race, with Kvyat facing suspension problems that forced him off-track, and Vergne retiring for the fifth time this season with brake problems, which meant that Red Bull branded cars were the only three retirements at the Red Bull Ring.
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