2014 Austrian Grand Prix

Background

The Grand Prix was contested by eleven teams, each of two drivers. The teams, also known as constructors, were Red Bull, Mercedes, Ferrari, Lotus, McLaren, Force India, Sauber, Toro Rosso, Williams, Marussia and Caterham. Tyre supplier Pirelli brought four different tyre compounds for the race; two dry compounds, the soft "primes" and the supersoft "options", and two wet-weather compounds, the intermediate and full wet. The drag reduction system (DRS) had two activation zones for the race; one was on the start/finish straight from the final to first corners, and the second on the straight between turns 2 and 3.

Going into the race, Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg led the Drivers' Championship with 140 points, ahead of teammate Lewis Hamilton on 118 points and Daniel Ricciardo on 79. Fernando Alonso was fourth on 69 points while Sebastian Vettel was fifth on 60 points. In the Constructors' Championship Mercedes were leading with 258 points and Red Bull were second on 139 points. Ferrari with 87 points and Force India with 77 points contended for third place, with McLaren fifth on 66 points. Mercedes had so far dominated the championship, winning six out of the previous seven races, with Ricciardo winning the Canadian Grand Prix. Championship competitor Kevin Magnussen had gained one second-place finish, while Jenson Button, Vettel (twice), Sergio Pérez and Alonso had achieved third place podium finishes.

Practice and qualifying

Nico Rosberg was the fastest in the first free practice session with a lap time of 1:11.295. Teammate Lewis Hamilton was the fastest in the second free practice session with a lap time of 1:09.542. Valtteri Bottas was the fastest in the third free practice session with a lap time of 1:09.848.

Williams driver Felipe Massa became the first driver other than Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg to claim pole position in 2014 with a Q3 lap time of 1:08.759. He was joined on the front row by teammate Valtteri Bottas; it was the team's first front row lockout since Juan Pablo Montoya and Ralf Schumacher did so, at the 2003 German Grand Prix at Hockenheim.

Hamilton failed to post a time in Q3, ending up ninth on the grid after Sergio Pérez's penalty was applied. On his first flying lap in Q3 – having been 0.4 seconds faster than Bottas' provisional pole time of 1:08.846 through the first two sectors – Hamilton ran wide at the final corner and had his lap time deleted for exceeding track limits. On his second and final lap Hamilton locked his rear brakes under braking for turn 2 and spun. Sebastian Vettel failed to reach Q3, although his teammate Daniel Ricciardo did.

Race

At the start, Felipe Massa led the field into the first corner, with Nico Rosberg passing Valtteri Bottas, but being repassed the following straight. Lewis Hamilton gained five places on the first lap, after passing two cars on the run into the first corner and two further cars heading towards turn 2, before taking another spot from Fernando Alonso at turn 7. As a result, he ended the first lap only one position and 0.9 seconds behind his teammate, despite starting ninth. Sebastian Vettel once again suffered from technical problems, losing drive on the first lap and attempting to retire on lap two. However, his car then regained drive and he was able to continue, albeit a lap down. After damaging his front wing halfway through the race, he later retired from Red Bull's home Grand Prix on lap 34.

At the front, the Mercedes cars were able to pass the Williams cars by stopping earlier and undercutting them during the pitstop phases. Rosberg passed both Williams during the first stops, and Hamilton took second position during the second round, despite suffering two slow pit stops. Sergio Pérez once again drove a good race with a different tyre strategy, only running the super soft compound for the last 16 laps and successfully challenging Kevin Magnussen for sixth place, despite starting sixteenth following a grid penalty.

For much of the race both Mercedes cars had to manage overheating brake issues. On lap 55 Hamilton was held up by backmarkers, losing around a second. During the final laps, Hamilton was slowly gaining on teammate Rosberg, and despite having lost a total of 1.9 seconds to his teammate through slower pit stops he began the final lap 1.1 seconds behind. However, he was not close enough to his teammate to challenge him and backed off at the end of the lap. Rosberg took the chequered flag for his third win of the season.

Post-race

As a result of the race, Nico Rosberg extended his championship lead to 29 points, the largest it had been all season.

Lewis Hamilton admitted he was frustrated by his slow pit stops, but said that second was still a "good result" considering his qualifying position.

Fernando Alonso, who managed to finish closely behind Felipe Massa in the Williams and with a smaller gap to Mercedes than usual, later described the race as his best of the season so far.

Qualifying

Notes:

Championship standings after the race