Rosberg takes Austrian GP victory in Mercedes 1-2 at the Red Bull Ring

Williams may have won the battle by going 1-2 in qualifying, but Mercedes won the war today. Nico Rosberg held off his hard-charging teammate Lewis Hamilton in what was another close battle between the pair.

Rosberg came from behind after starting the race from the second row of the grid in third place, to take the chequered flag. The German driver proved to be untouchable as the action was drawing to a close and this led him to secure his third race win of the season to date.

His team mate, Lewis Hamilton had to settle for second best as he failed to catch the leading man and the 2008 World Champion crossed the finish line just behind him. Hamilton’s race result does mean that the team as a whole have picked up their sixth one-two finish of the season so far.

Williams’ driver, Valtteri Bottas finished his race weekend on a high after qualifying in second place yesterday and his team mate, Felipe Massa grabbed pole position ahead of the race. Bottas pipped Massa at the end of the 71 lap marathon to secure his maiden podium finish in Formula One, placing third.

Bottas’ gain in picking up the final spot on the podium became Massa’s misfortune as he followed behind the Finnish driver to complete the race in the fourth position.

The Ferrari duo of Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen seemed to keep out of the limelight during the race. Alonso finished the proceedings higher up the grid than the Finn to secure fifth place for himself. Raikkonen ended the race a little further down the grid and picked up the 10th and final point scoring position.

Force India’s Sergio Perez managed to grab a few Championship points today, despite his five place grid penalty ahead of the race, following his collision with Massa at the end of the Canadian Grand Prix. The Mexican driver secured a sixth place finish on those super-soft tyres.

Perez’s team mate, Nico Hulkenberg had a disappointing end to his race when he lost out to Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo, who managed to leap in front and take eighth from him in the closing moments. As a result of their scrap for position, Ricciardo and Hulkenberg finished eighth and ninth respectively.

McLaren’s Kevin Magnussen completed the race in between Perez and Ricciardo, taking seventh. The Danish driver’s team mate, Jenson Button missed out on a point scoring position and he ended the race just outside the top ten in 11th.

Button accompanied the rest of the remaining runners in the field who fought over 12th to 19th place to make up the final race classification list.

There were three drivers in the field who failed to reach the finish line. Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat became the first driver to bow out of the action early. The Russian rookie went off the track on lap 26 and reportedly retired from the race due to a suspension problem on his car. Kvyat was joined by his team mate, Jean-Eric Vergne on lap 61 when the Frenchman entered the pits and made it a double retirement for the team due to a suspected brake problem on his car.

Ricciardo’s team mate, Sebastian Vettel appeared to be in trouble on lap two of the race, when he reported via the team radio that he had lost all drive on his car. The reigning World Champion managed to get back on track (a lap down), but his race came to an end on lap 36 when he was told by the team to retire the car.

Just prior to Vettel’s exit from the race, the German driver found himself under investigation by the stewards on lap 34 with Sauber’s Esteban Gutierrez for the purpose of causing a collision. It was later reported that no further action would be taken with pair.

The incident with Vettel was the second occasion in the race that Gutierrez was under investigation by the stewards. The Mexican driver was issued with a 10 second stop and go penalty for an unsafe release from the pits on lap 13, when the right rear tyre was not attached securely to his car.

Following the conclusion of the first Austrian Grand Prix in 11 years, the Mercedes duo of Rosberg and Hamilton maintain their domination at the top of the Driver’s and Constructor’s Championships so far this season.

It remains to be seen whether the tables will turn within the team and favour Hamilton, as the Formula One fraternity head to Silverstone for the British Grand Prix in two weeks’ time.

Hamilton will also be marking the 50th British Grand Prix with his two fellow countrymen in the field, Button and Marussia’s Max Chilton, who will also have their sights set on success in front of their home crowd.

Nico Rosberg now holds a 29 point advantage Lewis Hamilton.