F1 Austrian Grand Prix: Hamilton wins after last lap Rosberg clash

Lewis Hamilton has won a dramatic Austrian Grand Prix after an attempt to pass Nico Rosberg on the final lap of the race would end with contact that dropped the championship leader down the order. An absorbing race that Rosberg looked on course to win after a strategically canny performance saw him get the jump on his team-mate through the first pit-stops, Hamilton nonetheless put in a stunning final few laps to get on the tail of his team-mate.

Culminating in a thrilling last lap duel at Hamilton got DRS on the run to turn two, Rosberg defended hard and they made contact, forcing Hamilton off track and wide. However, it was Rosberg that would come off worse, damaging his front-wing and losing the lead to Hamilton straight away.

With Hamilton going on to clinch a hard fought, if controversial win over his Mercedes team-mate, Max Verstappen and Kimi Raikkonen would get the better of Rosberg to complete the podium, with the German bringing his damaged car across the line fourth.

Indeed, Rosberg appeared to have done enough to claim a convincing and what would have been considered a well-deserved win as he shrugged off his compromised starting position to haul himself up to third before coming in to swap his rapidly dwindling ultra-soft tyres on lap ten.

By contrast, Hamilton eked his tyres out almost too long, until lap 20, to the point that when he did make his first stop, he would come out behind his team-mate, albeit with fresher soft rubber.

With Hamilton unable to get too close to his tea-mate and both coming in for a second time a lap apart with ten laps remaining, Rosberg headed into the final stages in front again, with Hamilton hampered further by a troubled route through the traffic.

However, in clear air it was apparent Hamilton was the quicker driver and with just a few laps remaining, got the hammer down to catch Rosberg, setting up their final lap tussle. With Hamilton getting a stronger turn into turn two, he’d be forced around the outside but would have the pace to nose in front, only for Rosberg to struggle under brakes and hit the side of his team-mate.

Forcing Hamilton wide, it was the damage to Rosberg’s car that would ultimately prove more critical, the loss of his front-wing allowing the undamaged Hamilton to sweep straight past and complete the lap for a win amidst a chorus of boos from the partisan crowd.

Worse was to follow for Rosberg though, with the close following Verstappen and Raikkonen – persevering with a one stop strategy – also able to get by to complete an unlikely podium, the German crawling across the line in fourth.

Beyond the drama up front, Daniel Ricciardo was forced to stop late on, leaving him down in fifth position, while Jenson Button made the most of his row two grid slot to gamely run second early on and only slip back to sixth position in his best finish for McLaren this season.

Meanwhile, Sebastian Vettel was forced out on lap 27 when he suffered a right-rear tyre delamination, allowing for different pit strategies to unfurl and allowing Romain Grosjean to score Haas’ first point since the Russian Grand Prix, ahead of Carlos Sainz in eighth and Valtteri Bottas in ninth.

A penultimate lap crash for Sergio Perez, meanwhile, would pave the way for Pascal Wehrlein to claim a surprise tenth place and a point for Manor, only the second time the team has reached the top ten since 2010.