So we’ve heard from Nico Rosberg, Lewis Hamilton and Mr Wolff (twice) but it’s still likely to be debated over the rest of the afternoon and evening. Wolff has branded his drivers as idiots, after they collided on turn two on the final lap. The finger has been pointed at Rosberg, who is under a stewards investigation for allowing his car to fall to pieces on the final lap. Rosberg still has the edge in the standings, but Hamilton has the momentum after closing the gap to just 11 points. The team briefing will be tantalising, that’s for sure. That’s it from me, but thanks for reading, emailing and tweeting. Bye!
FINAL LAP CHART: A dramatic #AustrianGP 🇦🇹 from start to finish 😅 #F1 pic.twitter.com/rvaMLmzTTr
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 3, 2016
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Phwoar, have some of that Misters. “We are looking like a bunch of idiots and it’s disrepectful to 1500 people who are working on these cars,” adds Wolff.
The Mercedes chief suggests team orders could be the only way to address the situation between team-mates.
Toto Wolff is back, after storming off previously. He says Rosberg’s car “was gone” after turn one. “It’s where the problem started,” he says. “Cars colliding is absolutely not what we want and it seems like deja vu.””
Nico Rosberg speaks. “I am absolutely gutted,” he says. “I was sure to win that race but I lost it on the last lap. I was struggling a little bit with my brakes, but I was still confident I could bring it home. I went deep into the corner and I was very surprised that Lewis [Hamilton] turned into the corner. It was unbelievable.
“I was out the front, I felt great and I thought I was going to win the race.”
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Wolff is really not very happy. “It could have easily of been a double DNF,” he says, with glaring eyes. “You cannot play chess, we had a one-stop with Lewis which we thought was the better strategy but we needed to convert him onto a two-stop.”
Niki Lauda speaks. “I guess that Nico had a brake problem at the last corner but why they hit each other, this I do not understand yet,” he says. “I think it was Nico’s fault but I have to look again.”
Meanwhile, Toto Wolff says the last lap incident was “brainless”.
Hamilton is asked, what happened with Nico? “I had an opportunity in turn 2 to go down the outside after he made a mistake at turn 1,” says Hamilton. “I am here to win,” he reiterates. He’s certainly not too popular in Spielberg.
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Hamilton speaks. “What an incredible race that was, this track is amazing, a big thank you to all the fans for coming out today,” he says. “Apart from this (the booing), I love it here, and that’s not my problem.”
It’s a 46th career win for Hamilton! There’s champagne everywhere, with the Englishman fully aware that the race has been flung wide open now once more in the Drivers’ Championship.
Here come the celebrations! #AustrianGP 🇦🇹 #F1 pic.twitter.com/vlMXzYAzbB
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 3, 2016
Updated
The stewards have announced they will investigate Nico Rosberg for failing to stop with a damaged car and for the clash with Lewis Hamilton, that led to his team-mate winning the Austrian GP, on the final lap. Hamilton is booed upon lifting the trophy.
There’s a few boos for Hamilton as he goes up to the podium. Fans have flocked onto the grid and now the national anthems play out to mark the podium finishes for Hamilton, Verstappen and Raikkonnen.
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Hamilton has closed the gap on Rosberg to just 11 points in the Drivers’ Championship. Verstappen asks Hamilton, unprovoked, “what happened there?”
Hamilton points the finger at Rosberg, insisting his team-mate made a mistake going into turn one on the last lap.
What a finish! Lewis Hamilton slides back into the pits, and punches his Mercedes with delight.
1 Hamilton
2 Verstappen
3 Raikkonnen
Hamilton’s up on his feet and high-fives his team. Verstappen celebrates Red Bull’s best-ever finish at the ... Red Bull Ring. Rosberg’s reaction is sure to be a picture.
PROVISIONAL CLASSIFICATION: HAM wins the #AustrianGP after a dramatic final lap 🏆 VES and RAI complete the podium pic.twitter.com/S4TeSfHvdx
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 3, 2016
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Hamilton says: “I was on the outside, it was not me who crashed”, trying to shelve any blame. Rosberg left no room for Hamilton to manoeuvre and probably forced himself out.
Lewis Hamilton wins the Austrian Grand Prix!
Wow, what a finish. Rosberg, minus a front wing, finishes in fourth. The Mercedes debrief will certainly be, interesting.
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Lap 71/71: Hamilton runs wide, touches his team-mate, and eventually overtakes Rosberg. Rosberg has been passed by Red Bull and Ferrari – he might not even end up on the podium! Meanwhile, Perez is out, with yellow flags on the track.
Lap 70/71: Two laps to go! This is another trademark Mercedes Rosberg-Hamilton battle. Rosberg appears to have the upper-hand ahead of the final lap and he’s extended his lead once more, by six-tenths of a second.
Lap 69/71: Hamilton is gaining, and into turn 2, it looks as though his exit was compromised. Rosberg leads by 0.225 seconds. It’s going to be a thrilling last couple of laps.
Lap 68/71: Hamilton is less than half a second behind Rosberg. He’s ready to pounce but can he do it?
Lap 67/71: Wehrlein is up into 11th, after moving ahead of Bottas. How will the Mercedes tyres perform with just a handful of laps to go?
Lap 66/71: Raikkonnen is three seconds behind Verstappen, and with five laps remaining, it looks as though it’s a straight fight between Hamilton and Rosberg for first.
Updated
Lap 65/71: Ricciardo slides past Button, who has had a good race and will go into the British GP with plenty of positives. Ricciardo is into fifth. Hulkenberg, meanwhile, has retired.
Lap 64/71: It’s a Mercedes one-two, with Rosberg ahead of Hamilton. Elsewhere, Massa’s weekend is over and his car’s been retired and pulled off of the track.
Lap 63/71: Hamilton moves into second! The young Verstappen, perhaps naively, gets caught up by the traffic ahead of him, while attempting to lap the back markers.
Updated
Lap 63/71: Verstappen’s tyres appear to be holding up. If they pitted him now, he would come out just ahead of Button in 6th.
Lap 62/71: Hamilton cannot get past Verstappen in turn 1 so the pressure is on now for the Mercedes driver to overtake. Rosberg, who is looking for a hat-trick of wins in Austria, now leads.
Lap 61/71: Verstappen fights his corner but Rosberg now leads. The Red Bull stood his ground but Rosberg’s energy was enough to get past Verstappen. Hamilton is back in third.
Lap 59/71: Verstappen has been on the same tyres since lap 15. Rosberg and Hamilton both trail the 18-year-old. Raikkonnen 4th, Ricciardo 5th and Button is 6th.
Updated
Lap 58/71: Raikkonnen eases past Ricciardo after the Red Bull runs wide. The Ferrari moves up to fourth. If Hamilton is going to win this race after starting on pole, he’ll have some overtaking to do.
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Lap 57/71: Verstappen leads, Rosberg is behind by three seconds and Hamilton by four. It looks a straight fight now between the front three. Hamilton asks “why is Rosberg on a softer tyre than me?”
Lap 56/71: Rosberg’s pit stop is much slicker than Hamilton’s, it’s quicker by 2.3 seconds. Supersoft tyres are on. Verstappen currently leads.
Lap 55/71: Hamilton is in and out of the pits inside 23 seconds. The Mercedes comes out of the pits ahead of Verstappen and Raikkonnen. The out lap looks a little scruffy, though.
Updated
Lap 54/71: Hamilton is nine-tenths of a second behind Rosberg. It looks as though both Mercedes will stop again, with Hamilton encouraged to close the gap on his team-mate, despite the frailties.
Lap 53/71: Raikkonnen is poised directly behind Red Bull’s Ricciardo on turn 2. The Ferrari attempts to get past him, with the added use of DRS, but he cannot edge past into fourth.
Updated
Lap 52/71: Bottas pits and goes onto the supersoft tyres. Hamilton is closing on Rosberg, who is about to lap Massa.
Lap 51/71: Hulkenberg is forced into the pit, ultrasoft tyres on and five seconds are added on for speeding earlier in the pit lane. There’s still been no real rain, other than a few spots.
Lap 50/71: Hulkenberg complains of “so much vibration” from the tyres, before saying he’s thinking of bailing out. That doesn’t sound too good. It’s not clear whether that’s in the transmission, on the track or on those dastardly baguette kerbs. It’s gone downhill from lights out for Hulkenberg.
Lap 49/71: Bottas is in the ascendency for Williams. Sir Frank Williams looks on, doubtless loving his driver shield off Button in seventh.
Lap 47/71: Rosberg has a little debris loosening on his car, but it does not look like he will be coming into pit any time soon. Hamilton, too, has his own troubles. Other than that, Mercedes are sitting rather pretty.
Lap 46/71: It’s still a Mercedes one-two. There seems to be great confusion over just how long these tyres can last, with Vettel’s crash muddying the waters even more so.
Updated
Lap 45/71: Hamilton is in the DRS zone after Rosberg makes a mistake. Hamilton has closed the gap nearer to a second, before being warned that the suspension is critical in his car. He’ll no doubt have to take it steady, certainly in the short-term.
Lap 43/71: Yep, there we have it. Rosberg sets a new fastest lap, of just over 1.08. Vettel, meanwhile, says the team did not find any failures. Therefore, the investigations you imagine as to what caused that explosion have already begun. The German also says that he does not feel it happened because he spent too long on the one set of tyres.
Updated
Lap 42/71: Rosberg has almost a two-second lead on Hamilton. The gap is slowly increasing between the two. Elsewhere, Grosjean sails past Massa and Gutierrez pits once more.
Updated
Lap 40/71: Ricciardo is warned of light drops of rain in turn 2 by his team. It seems just that, for now. Perez, the Force India, has impressed so far. The front three remain: 1 Rosberg, 2 Hamilton, 3 Verstappen.
Lap 39/71: Button eventually gets past the Sauber. Meanwhile, Hamilton has just set a new fastest lap. It seems the Mercedes team-mates are having their very own duel here.
Lap 38/71: Button attempts to get past Nasr into turn 5 but he has to concede defeat in that attempt. Button is eighth, but he’s been told to make some progress my the McLaren team. “Maximum attack” is the message over the radio.
Lap 37/71: Massa started last, nabbed a free pit stop because of the safety car but he is seventh at the moment, somehow. The downside? He has got soft tyres, so he’ll be forced to stop again. Nevertheless, sterling work from the Brazilian.
Updated
Lap 35/71: Hulkenberg has been given a five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane. Grosjean has also been given the same penalty for the same infringement. Force India’s Perez is up into 10th, within touching distance of Williams and Massa.
Lap 34/71: Hulkenberg, who is under investigation for speeding in the pit lane, is up into 13th after starting second on the grid. There’s a 2.1 second gap between Rosberg and Hamilton, who must be wondering just how his team-mate has nipped in front of him here.
Updated
Lap 33/71: Perez is using the kerbs superbly to his advantage. Rosberg has set a new fastest lap of 1.09.449. DRS has been enabled, much to the delight of Raikkonnen no doubt.
Updated
Lap 32/71: The safety car is gone. Rosberg leads while Perez does brilliantly, gleaming three places into P11. Elsewhere, Magnussen has a five-second time penalty. Hamilton 2nd. Verstappen in 3rd.
Updated
Lap 31/71: So, Vettel was nearing the end of Williams’ performance guidelines. They say they expect around 30 laps out of the supersoft tyes, that exploded on the German after 27 laps.
Lap 30/71: Under the provision of the safety car, Rosberg and Hamilton are at one and two respectively. Raikkonnen is back in fifth, after the two Red Bulls.
Updated
Lap 29/71: The safety car is still out on the track. Vettel’s race is over – and that’s not the birthday present he will have been looking for. For other drivers, it’s a route through the pit lane.
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Lap 28/71: Vettel’s car is carried off the track. The rubber is completely worn out and it’s dropping off of the wheel like an old school 70s hairdo. It’s not pretty. Faces in the Ferrari camp look rather glum.
Lap 27/71: Ferrari in trouble! Vettel, who was leading the race, has crashed out. Tyre rubber has come off the car and the safety car has been deployed. Vettel is sat in his car waiting for other drivers to bunch up behind the safety car. Vettel says, over the team radio, “sorry guys, I think you can see, the rear right has exploded”.
Vettel, who was on supersoft tyres, of course, has not stopped in this race. The explosion has caused plenty of debris to fly high across the rest of the track.
Updated
Lap 26/71: Button eases past Grosjean in turn two. Magnussen is under investigation from the stewards for that direction change in front of Pascal Wehrlein.
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Lap 25/71: Does Rosberg need to stop again? If he doesn’t then the Red Bulls and Raikkonnen might be in for a surprise. Elsewhere, Hulkenberg pits.
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Lap 24/71: Wehrlein has just had another moan over the team’s radio. He does not like the direction change from Magnussen.
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Lap 23/71: Raikkonnen has followed Hamilton in to the pits. Raikonnen has lost ground to both of the Red Bulls. The Ferrari was comfortable in P2 but now he has Verstappen and Ricciardo between him and Hamilton.
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Lap 22/71: Rosberg overtakes Hamilton, after his team-mate’s first pit stop. Hamilton’s pit did not look too clean and the left-rear might have caused a loss of half a second in the pit. Raikkonnen leads, then Vettel in 2nd. Rosberg 3rd. Hamilton 4th.
Updated
Lap 21/71: The rumble strips/Rumble Strips are still reverberating on the track. Bottas has just moved past Hulkenberg.
Lap 20/71: The gap between Hamilton and Rosberg is closing. Raikkonnen, you feel, is in a prime spot alongside the Mercedes battle.
Updated
Lap 19/71: It’s still a Hamilton, Raikkonnen, Vettel one-two-three. Elsewhere, Bottas has just moved ahead of Grosjean in turn two. He’s now 11th.
Updated
Lap 18/71: Button is back on the move, nudging ahead of Gutierrez in to eighth. Hulkenberg tries to redeem himself but he cannot get ahead of the Haas. He has moved up to tenth, though, after a miserable start.
Lap 17/71: Rosberg is now only 17 seconds behind Vettel, and the Mercedes look in a very good position. Can Rosberg make the tyres last, though? His team-mate Hamilton is yet to pit.
Lap 16/71: Verstappen charges down the inside of Grosjean, to move up to fifth. The pictures of Hamilton’s tyres are a little concerning, but he’s done a brilliant job without pitting.
Lap 15/71: Rosberg has just set a new fastest lap, at 1.10.738. Elsewhere, Perez has just bumped into Sainz on turn 3. Verstappen has now pitted.
Updated
Lap 14/71: Wehrlein opts for the ultrasoft tyres after pitting. It’s an aggressive race for the Frenchman. Hamilton leads, Raikkonnen is in second with Rosberg still in third, after a great start in Spielberg.
Updated
Lap 13/71: Pascal Wehrlein says there is some light rain on the track, speaking on the team radio. “Rain drops on turn two,” he says.
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Lap 12/71: Gutierrez sweeps past Massa, up in to ninth. It was a lovely move on turn one. Rosberg is 12th, after pitting. Massa appears to be in trouble and has headed for the pits.
Updated
Lap 11/71: Both the Ferrari and Red Bulls have supersoft tyres on while Mercedes might have to stretch the life of their ultrasoft tyres.
Lap 10/71: Button pits, Massa pits. Plenty of changes, but it’s still a front three of Hamilton, Raikkonnen and Rosberg. The pit stop will cost each driver around 22 seconds.
Updated
Lap 9/71: Hulkenberg and Alonso pit after just eight laps. McLaren appear keen to do something different while the supersoft tyres are on for Hulkenberg.
Lap 8/71: Ferrari look good with Raikonnen in to second and Vettel in to sixth. They may well be best equipped for the race, too, with supersoft tyres expected to outlast the ultrasoft tyres.
Lap 7/71: Raikkonen soars past Button through turn 3 and that’s the Ferrari in to second. Hulkenberg, meanwhile has lost ground to Vettel, who has got one over on his former team-mate. Hulkenberg now down in eighth.
Lap 6/71: Hamilton sets the fastest lap at 1.11.661. Force India have not had a great start. First, Rosberg slides ahead of Hulkenberg in to fourth before Verstappen uses the slipstream to nip in front of the Force India, who started the race in second. British drivers – Hamilton then Button – occupy a one-two here.
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Lap 5/71: Rosberg has just set the fastest lap. Raikkonnen, meanwhile, is trying to get past Button but the McLaren driver has him at arms-length for now.
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Lap 4/71: Button is almost three seconds behind Hamilton. Raikonnen is third, and Ferrari will know that they can trump Button in his supersoft tyres.
Lap 3/71: Rosberg is up in to P5. Wehrlein has dropped to 12th. Elsewhere, it goes from bad to worse for Daniil Kyvat. His race started from the pit lane and it looks to be over now, after they built a practically new car overnight.
Lap 2/71: A good start for Hamilton but a great start for Nico Rosberg, who has nudged ahead of Ricciardo and Verstappen. Hulkenberg has dropped from second to fourth in his Force India. Jenson Button accepts the invitation of trailing race leader Hamilton from the front.
Updated
Lights out!
We’re underway in Spielberg, with the first of the 71 laps! Hulkenberg loses out to Raikkonen at the first corner. Hamilton maintains his lead. Wehrlein might be penalised for appearing to take Massa’s spot in the grid.
We’re almost there, with the round nine Austrian GP about to get underway. It’s a great, picturesque setting in Spielberg but there’s cloud cover. As for rain, there’s a chance but none is expected.
UPDATE: No rain expected in the near future, skies getting brighter! #F1 #AustrianGP
— MERCEDES AMG F1 (@MercedesAMGF1) July 3, 2016
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Lewis Hamilton has started from pole on four occasions this year but he is yet lead after the first corner. Mercedes and Hamilton will be desperate to change that today.
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So, we have the anthems. Lederhosen, the lot. A good time to look at some race predictions then. “Surely it’s Hamilton’s to lose today,” tweets Mark McKeown.
Jolyon Palmer, who will start in P17, says the drivers aren’t too sure what’s going to happen with the weather. “It should be a fun race. We will try to move forward.”
Felipe Massa will start from the pit lane, instead of P10. “Massa will start the Austrian GP from the pit lane with the previous spec front wing,” say Williams.
We found structural damage on @MassaFelipe19’s new spec front wing & are not prepared to race it on safety grounds… pic.twitter.com/kJuEOQfEeD
— WILLIAMS RACING (@WilliamsRacing) July 3, 2016
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Under 20 minutes to go now. Bernie Ecclestone, Reservoir Dogs actor Michael Madsen and some of the drivers are beginning to fill up the grid. “It’s dry enough,” says Ricciardo of the track.
Happy Birthday, Sebastien Vettel. The Ferrari driver is 29 today.
It looks like we will have a dry start in Spielberg. Hamilton and Rosberg will start with ultrasoft tyres, while its supersoft for Red Bull duo Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo.
Updated
Should we believe the hype, Max Verstappen? “I don’t know, I just try to do my best whenever I can. It’s up to people around me to judge that,” the Red Bull driver says on TV. “When you start to win races you get a lot of confidence.”
The grid!
1 Hamilton 2 Hulkenberg
3 Button 4 Raikkonen
5 Ricciardo 6 Rosberg
7 Bottas 8 Verstappen
9 Vettel 10 Massa
11 Gutierrez 12 Wehrlein
13 Grosjean 14 Alonso
15 Sainz 16 Perez
17 Magnussen 18 Ericsson
19 Palmer 20 Haryanto
21 Nasr 22 Kyvat
Note: Kyvat will start from the pit-lane, rather than P18, after Toro Rosso gave the driver a fresh chassis and gearbox following his rear suspension failure in qualifying, while Rosberg will serve only four of his five-place grid penalty
Good afternoon, and welcome to coverage of the Austrian Grand Prix in Spielberg. It’s already got me thinking Saving Private Ryan, Schindlers List and Minority Report. Spielberg, the town, is home to little more than 5000 residents and the Red Bull Ring sits neatly in the Styrian mountains. So, Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton starts on pole this afternoon, with team-mate Nico Rosberg, who was victorious here last year (and the year before that), starting down in sixth after a five-place grid penalty. Hamilton’s not taking him too lightly, though. As ever. Hamilton trails Rosberg by 24 points in the world championship, and now would be as good a time as any to close that gap. “I have no doubt that Nico will try everything to come close, but on his way he will have to face the two Ferraris. But yes, Nico has been very quick here. It seems to me it’s one of his strongest tracks, and probably my weakest,” said Hamilton yesterday. “At the very least it will be an interesting race!”
Yes, it looks like a cracker, with the lottery of the weather (it’s currently spitting with rain) and the wet-dry conundrum again sure to make it interesting. On top of that, there are concerns over the newly installed 50mm ‘baguette kerbs’ which caused considerable difficulty and crashes yesterday. They sit on the exits of five of the nine turns, and caused havoc for Max Verstappen, Sergio Pérez and Daniil Kyvat in qualifying. “I’m sorry guys, I crashed,” said Kyvat after suspension failure. Verstappen alluded to safety fears before qualifying on Saturday, pointing to the lack of run-off areas and the bumpiness of the track before revealing all about Hamilton’s turtle-head.
Meanwhile, away from toilet-humour, it could be a good day ahead for Jenson Button, who will start third on the grid. Asked what it was like starting near the front of the grid, Button, smiling, said it was easy. “I have watched it on TV and the cars at the front of the grid just disappear, I’m looking forward to an easy race,” said the McLaren driver.
Lights out: 1pm BST
VES and RIC looking very 'cultural' ahead of the #AustrianGP driver parade 🇦🇹
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 3, 2016
Lederhosen = ✔
Long socks = ✔ pic.twitter.com/rWc7VOFENw
Updated
Ben will be here soon enough. In the meantime, read Giles Richards’ report from qualifying, where Lewis Hamilton secured pole:
Lewis Hamilton took pole position after a tense final session for the Austrian Grand Prix after a rain-affected qualifying led to a final lap denouement in which the world champion beat his Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg into second place. The latter, however, will start from seventh on the grid due to a penalty, moving Force India’s Nico Hülkenberg up to a remarkable front row second, subject to an investigation for going too fast under a yellow flag in Q1. Equally, while Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel took third, a grid penalty for the German shifts him to ninth, putting Jenson Button in the McLaren from a superb fifth to third on the grid.
It is Hamilton’s fifth pole of the season, and the 54th of his career, although he will be keenly aware that he must make a good start on Sunday to capitalise on it, something that has proved elusive on several occasions already this season. Last year he had aced qualifying but Rosberg, took the lead from him on turn one and went on to score his second one-two over Hamilton at the Red Bull Ring since racing returned here in 2014.
And get to grips with everything Red Bull Ring-orientated ...
