Nico Rosberg got the jump on pole sitter Lewis Hamilton at the start and controlled the race thereafter to take victory at the Red Bull Ring on Sunday.
The Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS driver took his third win of 2015 by s after an untroubled weekend in Austria, while Felipe Massa held off the challenge of Sebastian Vettel for the final place on the podium.
Hamilton was forced to settle for second, unable to make enough time up during the pit stop cycle, and was also handed a five-second time penalty for crossing the pit lane exit line after his sole pit stop.
Vettel was running third in the early stages, but a problem with his right rear tyre at his one and only pit stop cost him enough time to fall behind Williams Martini Racing’s Massa, and the Scuderia Ferrari driver could not make up the time in the remaining laps to reclaim third, finishing just 0.608s behind.
Valtteri Bottas supplied some early entertainment in the second Williams, passing both Max Verstappen and Nico Hulkenberg (twice) before settling in to finish fifth, while Hulkenberg was the last driver to finish on the lead lap in sixth for Sahara Force India.
Lotus F1 Team driver Pastor Maldonado passed Verstappen for seventh with just a couple of laps remaining, with the Scuderia Toro Rosso driver being forced to settle for eighth despite having run as high as sixth on the opening lap after a good start propelled him past Bottas.
Sergio Perez secured points in the second Force India in ninth, while Daniel Ricciardo made the best of a disappointing weekend in his underpowered Infiniti Red Bull Racing to finish tenth, passing the Sauber of Felipe Nasr in the closing stages.
Daniil Kvyat was twelfth after being forced to pit the second Red Bull on the opening lap with a broken front wing, while Marcus Ericsson was twice lapped in the second Sauber after being given a drive-through penalty for jumping the start.
Roberto Merhi was the last finisher for the Manor F1 Team in fourteenth, with his team-mate Will Stevens an early casualty due to an oil leak.
Romain Grosjean and Carlos Sainz Jr both retired early, with the Lotus driver having gearbox issues and the Toro Rosso driver power problems.
The safety car was deployed on the opening lap after a scary-looking crash eliminated Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso on the run down to turn three. The Ferrari driver seemed to lose control on cold tyres and collected the McLaren driver, with Alonso ending up atop the front of the Ferrari drivers’ car.
It was another terrible weekend for McLaren, with Jenson Button retiring not long after the safety car period with another mechanical gremlin. At least he had enough time to take his ten second stop and go penalty…
Red Bull Ring Race Result
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