2014 AUSTRIAN GP: MARTINI POLE, PETRONAS WIN

Race strategy proved key to victory for Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg at the Austrian Grand Prix, who started from third on the grid. The German started behind both Williams drivers, but by stopping before them and maximising the benefit of new tyres, a manoeuvre known as the ‘undercut’, he was able to gain the lead after the first round of pit stops.

Rosberg’s team mate Lewis Hamilton used the same strategy even more effectively. Hamilton started on the P Zero Red supersoft and then completed two stints on the P Zero Yellow soft, to finish just 1.9 seconds behind his team mate despite starting from ninth on the grid.

Both drivers fought closely to the end, with Valtteri Bottas clinching his debut podium, just eight seconds off the lead.

AUSTRIAN GRAND PRIX, RED BULL RING.
71 laps, 307.146km., Weather: Sunny.

CLASSIFICATION:
 P.   DRIVER              TEAM            TIME     
 1. Nico Rosberg        Mercedes AMG    1h27m54.967
 2. Lewis Hamilton      Mercedes         +    1.932
 3. Valtteri Bottas     Williams         +    8.172
 4. Felipe Massa        Williams         +   17.358
 5. Fernando Alonso     Ferrari          +   18.553
 6. Sergio Perez        Force India      +   28.546
 7. Kevin Magnussen     McLaren          +   32.031
 8. Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull         +   43.522
 9. Nico Hulkenberg     Force India      +   44.137
10. Kimi Raikkonen      Ferrari          +   47.777
11. Jenson Button       McLaren          +   50.966
12. Pastor Maldonado    Lotus            +    1 lap
13. Adrian Sutil        Sauber           +    1 lap
14. Romain Grosjean     Lotus            +    1 lap
15. Jules Bianchi       Marussia         +   2 laps
16. Kamui Kobayashi     Caterham         +   2 laps
17. Max Chilton         Marussia         +   2 laps
18. Marcus Ericsson     Caterham         +   2 laps
19. Esteban Gutierrez   Sauber           +   2 laps

Fastest Lap: Sergio Perez - 1:12.142               

NOT CLASSIFIED:
Driver            Team         On lap              
Jean-Eric Vergne   Toro Rosso     60
Sebastian Vettel   Red Bull       35
Daniil Kvyat       Toro Rosso     25

 AFTER 8 RACES:
 DRIVERS:                    CONSTRUCTORS:         
 1. Nico Rosberg       165   1. Mercedes AMG  301
 2. Lewis Hamilton     136   2. Red Bull      143
 3. Daniel Ricciardo    83   3. Ferrari        98 
 4. Fernando Alonso     79   4. Force India    87 
 5. Sebastian Vettel    60   5. Williams       85 
 6. Nico Hulkenberg     59   6. McLaren        72 
 7. Valtteri Bottas     55   7. Toro Rosso     12 
 8. Jenson Button       43   8. Lotus           8  
 9. Felipe Massa        30   9. Marussia        2  
10. Kevin Magnussen     29
11. Sergio Perez        28
12. Kimi Raikkonen      19        
13. Romain Grosjean      8         
14. Jean-Eric Vergne     8         
15. Daniil Kvyat         4         
16. Jules Bianchi        2

Felipe Massa has headed up an all-Williams front row, scoring his16th pole but his first since Brazil 2008, and the first all-Williams front row since the 2003 German Grand Prix. It is also the first time this season that a Mercedes has not claimed pole position.

Drivers followed the expected pattern in qualifying, with the frontrunners using the soft tyre to get through Q1, before moving onto the supersoft from Q2 onwards.

With Spielberg being one of the shortest laps of the year, traffic was an issue as drivers tried to ensure a clean run. Valtteri Bottas set the benchmark on his first run in Q3, before being beaten by his team mate Massa on the second run with new supersofts.

 P.    DRIVER             TEAM           TIME       GAP  
 1. Felipe Massa        Williams       1:08.759
 2. Valtteri Bottas     Williams       1:08.846  +  0.087
 3. Nico Rosberg        Mercedes AMG   1:08.944  +  0.185
 4. Fernando Alonso     Ferrari        1:09.285  +  0.526
 5. Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull       1:09.466  +  0.707
 6. Kevin Magnussen     McLaren        1:09.515  +  0.756
 7. Daniil Kvyat        Toro Rosso     1:09.619  +  0.860
 8. Kimi Raikkonen      Ferrari        1:10.795  +  2.036
 9. Lewis Hamilton      Mercedes AMG    no time
10. Nico Hulkenberg     Force India     no time
    Q2 Најбрзо време: Lewis Hamilton 1:16.354            
11. Sergio Perez        Force India    1:09.754  +  0.780
12. Jenson Button       McLaren        1:09.780  +  0.806
13. Sebastian Vettel    Red Bull       1:09.801  +  0.827
14. Pastor Maldonado    Lotus          1:09.939  +  0.965
15. Jean-Eric Vergne    Toro Rosso     1:10.073  +  1.099
16. Romain Grosjean     Lotus          1:10.642  +  1.668
    Q1 Најбрзо време: Nico Rosberg 1:16.682              
17. Adrian Sutil        Sauber         1:10.825  +  1.311
18. Esteban Gutierrez   Sauber         1:11.349  +  1.835
19. Jules Bianchi       Marussia       1:11.412  +  1.898
20. Kamui Kobayashi     Caterham       1:11.673  +  2.159
21. Max Chilton         Marussia       1:11.775  +  2.261
22. Marcus Ericsson     Caterham       1:12.673  +  3.159
    107% време: 1:14.379