2015 Austrian GP: Mercedes takes the Bull by the horns

A colleague and certified Red Bull fan posed this question to me at an event recently: Was Formula One this boring when Sebastian was winning it all a few years ago? My reply was, no: the Vettel-Red Bull era was worse. The difference being is that since last year, there are two drivers with a more than fair chance to win it all, unlike when Vettel was top dog. He had the full support of the team, and his teammate’s needs were secondary. With the exception of 2010, he was unchallenged during his championship-winning years at Red Bull, and this grasp on the team, “nudged” Mark Webber from Formula One to endurance racing with Porsche.

 

The 2015 F1 season has nearly reached its halfway point, and it is clear that this will be another year for the team from Brackley. The only question left unanswered is: who will lift the Drivers Championship Trophy for the Silver Arrows in Abu Dhabi? Will it be Lewis Hamilton retaining his title or will Nico Rosberg finally get his first trophy?

 

The weekend at the Red Bull Ring in Austria saw familiar names on top of the time sheets, and on Saturday the clouds open up and dumped moisture on the track. Even if a dry line was forming, cars were still spinning out whenever it runs over wet patch, or the astroturf. Kimi Raikkonen was the biggest name not to make it past Q1, the Ferrari failing to get a grip on the changing conditions.

 

Out in front it was business as usual for Lewis and Nico. Rosberg was flawless in all sectors unlike Lewis who for some reason, couldn’t get a good time in sector two. Thus it was looking as if it would be Rosberg on pole. But never one to give up, Hamilton found a way and set the fastest time and was on provisional pole. This meant that Rosberg had to dig deep and find another 0.2 seconds if he wanted to grab pole. As Nico was setting fast sector times, Hamilton, on his flying lap slid out at turn 1. The Brit had no chance to better his time and had to pray to the high heavens that Rosberg fails to improve. Nic,o on approach into the final corner, ran over the damp astroturf and overshot the corner onto the gravel trap. Lewis took P1 with Rosberg staying on P2, while Vettel was the best of the rest at P3.

 

As the lights went out, Hamilton was slow off the grid, unlike Rosberg who was quick off the blocks. Rosberg had the momentum on the run up turn one, and he held off his teammate. Lewis had no option but to yield and bide his time until the opportunity to take the fight to Nico. Meanwhile in the back field, Kimi Raikkonen, who started on P14, seemed to have been tapped by the McLaren of Alonso. But excessive wheelspin was the culprit. This caused both cars to careen off the track right smack into the armco. The McLaren landed on top of the Ferrari, but as bad as the scene was, both drivers climbed out of their cars, unhurt—well, maybe except for their pride. This was Alonso’s fourth consecutive retirement.

 

The safety car was deployed as the marshalls took care of the wrecked Ferrari and Mclaren. Rosberg led the field behind the safety car until the wreckage was cleared. On lap 7, the race was back on. Nico was able to make another clean getaway from Hamilton and the rest of the pack. From that moment on, Rosberg was unstoppable. He kept Lewis at bay all throughout, and even when they did pit midway into the race, Nico came out in front of his teammate.

 

Hamilton just didn’t have the pace needed to reel in Rosberg. To make things worse, Lewis crossed the white line on pit exit and was given a 5 second time penalty to be added to his time at the end of the race.

 

Vettel who was running in a strong third position was gutted when the rear tire man couldn’t get a handle on the tire gun. Sebastian lost valuable time in the pits and he came out behind Massa. Vettel was not going to catch the Williams, as their lap times were not changing significantly. It seems that everyone was just holding position till the end of the race.

 

Rosberg crossed the line 8.8 seconds ahead of Hamilton, and Massa followed 17 seconds adrift of the race winner.

 

Nico was in total control all thoughout; he won the race fair and square. This was Rosberg’s 11th career win. He has cut down the lead of Hamilton to only 10 points in the standings. With his 4th place, Vettel now has 120 points to take hold of 3rd on the championship tables. Kimi is in a distant 4th with72 points.

 

The British GP in a few weeks time is up next. Can Lewis hold off the charge of Rosberg, or can Nico finally leapfrog Hamiton in the standings? Or, just like in Sepang, will someone else stand tall on the top step of the podium?

 

Whatever the results, Silverstone will surely be rocking all weekend long.