
Delegations from 140 countries, over 400 of the most influential figures in the world of motorsport, are gathered in Turin on Tuesday, June 21, 2016, for the fourth edition of the FIA Sport Conference, organized in collaboration with Aci and with the support of FCA. To kick off the proceedings, which will continue until Thursday, June 23, at the Lingotto, is the FIA President, Jean Todt:
"This year, Formula 1 is a real show, because there’s not just one team dominating like in the past few years. It’s a fought championship: having a battle with even less prominent cars is amazing for the sport".
And Ferrari’s president, Sergio Marchionne, confirms:
"As Enzo Ferrari firmly believed, Formula 1 will remain great if we commit to our ideals: aiming to be the fastest in the race, the most revolutionary, the most innovative. I have no doubt that the best is yet to come".
Among the guests there’s also Sebastian Vettel:
"Things are moving in the right direction, I am confident about the continuation of the season".
Who turns his thoughts to Michael Schumacher:
"When I was racing as a child, even my car toy was a Ferrari. Schumacher has always been my idol. It’s extraordinary sitting in the same car Michael has won with, but I don’t want to compare myself to him".
It was Piero Fassino who insisted to host in the automotive capital this event, one of the most interesting on the global stage for the debate it generates on the topic of motorsport. An important event also for the delegates and VIP sector, and that culminates in a failed re-election. From the CONI president Giovanni Malagò to the representatives of the Formula 1 teams Toro Rosso and McLaren, from the designs legends Giugiaro and Pininfarina to Rally and Endurance drivers, besides old champions like Alain Prost, who visits the Automobile Museum for a welcome cocktail. Among the discussed topics - the theme is passion and innovation: past, present and future of motorsport - there’s also plenty of space for the possibility of an agreement between ACI and Bernie Ecclestone on the Italian Grand Prix. Says the ACI president, Angelo Sticchi Damiani:
"It’s a complex negotiation: it’s the first time in Italy that ACI takes on the responsibilities of organizing a Grand Prix, allocating a very, very significant sum".
Later, the circus moves to Austria for the first of the six races in the European phase of the Formula 1 season. The Spielberg bei Knittelfeld’s track, in Styria, was built in 1969, revised multiple times and reintroduced on the calendar in 2014 after an 11-year absence:
"The circuit is in a mountainous area".
Says Sebastian Vettel, fresh from a second place finish in Azerbaijan.

"I think it’s a great track. There are multiple changes of slope, uphill and downhill stretches and this makes everything more exciting. There are mountains all around and when you’re lucky, you can even see the snow on the peaks. The weather can be good or bad, but it’s a beautiful place to race anyway".
After a mainly landscape-oriented analysis, Vettel focuses on the characteristics of the track:
"It’s really short, there aren’t many turns so it’s essential to tackle each one of them in the best way. The lap is particularly short, so we do a lot of them and it’s crucial to quickly find the pace, especially during the race".
And Jock Clear, Head of Track Activities for Scuderia Ferrari, adds:
"It’s a difficult track, very different from Baku, but also from Canada and Monaco, as always, we try to prepare ourselves with new components, developments and setups specially designed for the challenges of each track. With only five turns and some long straights, it is a combinations of a power circuit and a high aerodynamic load circuit. In terms of technical challenge, it’s one of the shortest tracks, which means that even the smallest details have a huge impact on the lap time".
The Austrian Grand Prix starts arduously for Ferrari. As a matter of fact, Sebastian Vettel will have a five-place grid penalty for a gearbox change. However, the German takes the news philosophically. Maurizio Arrivabene, Ferrari Team Principal, humorously reveals:
"I can assure you that when I was dialling the number , I had a huge weight on my stomach. I told him straight out, in English, and he replied in the same language with a curse. What came out of his mouth in the heat of the moment, you can imagine, it would take endless beeps. But afterward, he became silent and he understood that I was more discouraged than him. Then you know what he told me? Don’t worry Mauri: we are going to do lots of overtakes, it’s going to be pure emotion. We are not going to give up. He hyped me up. Naturally in Italian. Because when he needs to find the right strings, he always speaks in our language. And what he said to me, he repeated it to the team when he entered the box".
A change that, despite the speed of Mercedes engines as well as, surprisingly, Force India’s, could not be a burden to the race result of the German Ferrari’s driver. The Austrian track, compared to Baku, grants many overtakes. Another reason not to start defeated, but Arrivabene is cautious:
"It’s difficult to say whether it’s going to be an advantage or not until you go on track and, in any case, whether close of far, the goal is not only to fight, but also to stay ahead of the Mercedes. It will be the track and the stopwatch that will tell us how things are going, not the Thursday statements".
Arrivabene avoids addressing the list of drivers who had been linked to Ferrari as potential replacements for Kimi Räikkönen for the upcoming season but instead renewed their contracts with their own teams:
"We didn’t make the list of drivers, you journalists did. The president (Marchionne) was clear, we have two World Champions drivers and it comes to Kimi, the respect due to a World Champion must be given. He is a professional and knows that he must earn his place for the next year, but rest assured that all those on the list would come running to Ferrari".

It's curious the way Ferrari understood that the gearbox had broken, considering that it had not caused any issues in Baku. Only after, at the factory, the mechanics found out suspicious leaks. Because Formula 1 car laboratories now resemble more of an operating room than the cramped garage under a mechanic's house, the men in Maranello informed the Federation that they would use an endoscope for a thorough internal analysis. Like a patient under total anaesthesia, the doctors discovered small ruptures and various anomalies, which lead to the immediate replacement to avoid any risks. Vettel doesn't give up, and once again, he shoulders the weight of a challenging task. To think that Ferrari has spent another token (three remaining for development) upgrade the Hybrid part of the PU with a new KERS. There’s a rick it could all be for nothing, but the German doesn’t enjoy negative thoughts.
"The goal is not only to fight, but also to stay ahead of the Mercedes. It will be the track and the stopwatch that will tell us how things are going, not gossip and the Thursday statements".
Same goes for Marchionne’s criticism:
"Perhaps the car will be difficult to drive, it might have some shortcomings in terms of chassis and aerodynamics, but we are the team who has improved the most compared to 2015 and we have to be proud of that. In addition, the results will be calculated at the end".
As predicted, Friday July 1, 2016, the two Mercedes have dominated the free practice sessions for the Austrian Grand Prix at the Spielberg circuit. During the first session, Nico Rosberg was fastest, with a lap time of 1’07’’373. He is followed by his teammate, Lewis Hamilton, with a delay of more than 0.300s. Sebastian Vettel sets the third-best time, ahead of Kimi Raikkonen. Fifth time for the Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo, followed by the Toro Rosso of Carlos Sainz Jr. and by the Williams of Felipe Massa. Eighth place for Max Verstappen and his Red Bull, then Dani Kvyat and Valterri Bottas complete the morning’s top ten. Furthermore, Verstappen prematurely ends the session in the gravel due to the breakage of the right front suspension, which gives way while passing over the new raised yellow curbs installed by the organizers. Lewis Hamilton will say at the finish line:
"I can’t speak for all drivers, but in my opinion those yellow curbs are dangerous. We’ve already seen some accidents, I don’t know how many will happen before someone huts the wall and they hurt themselves, I’m sure that Charlie (Whiting) and the FIA are monitoring, but this is another aspect that we can improve. The basic idea is good because they obviously don't want us to go wide and run outside the track, but perhaps another solution will be necessary".
Nico Rosberg dominates the second free practice session of the Austrian Grand Prix as well. With a sudden downpour at the beginning, which, along with the wind, makes the afternoon free practice more interesting, the German from Mercedes, as the track slowly dries with the appearance of the sun, clocks a time of 1'07"967, leaving his teammate Lewis Hamilton 0.019 seconds behind. a little bit farther are the other drivers, first of whom is Nico Hulkenberg with the Force India, who pays 0.613s to his compatriot author of the best lap. Behind him, for just 0.009s, there is Sebastian Vettel. The German was the protagonist in the final minutes of an off-track excursion at turn 2, with his Ferrari spinning with locked tires. His car ends up in the gravel. To understand the reason for this issue, it will be necessary for the car to return to the pits. Follow Daniel Ricciardo, just 0.060s slower, the Toro Rosso of Carlos Sainz Jr., at 0.750s, and Max Verstappen. Eighth time for Kimi Raikkonen, at 0.853 seconds. Closing out the top ten are Valtteri Bottas with Williams and Jenson Button, who precedes his teammate Fernando Alonso. The token spent by Ferrari in Austria to install the new KERS aimed at boosting the performance of the hybrid part of the engine should to them closer to the Mercedes, but so far, it hasn't yielded the desired results.

Judging by what we've seen in these initial tests, Vettel consistently being 0.6 seconds behind Rosberg on the shortest track of the World Championship, both in the morning when he finished the practice session in third place and in the afternoon when he finished in fourth place with a stroll, fortunately without any damage to the car, one might consider a struggling Ferrari, distant from the Anglo-German cars and burdened by an announced penalty, with Vettel moving back on the grid due to a gearbox replacement. One might be led to believe that Ferrari is in serious trouble, as Raikkonen suggests when talking about a session complicated by the rain, a lot of wasted time, and the inability to try a fast lap. Fortunately, there is Vettel, who, even when he's not at the peak of satisfaction, describes the day as decent, avoiding bringing down the morale of his own team. The German always stays positive and he reinforces his thoughts, explaining that the off-track excursion cost only two minutes and didn't leave any damage. It was caused by an error in the brake balance, with the rear wheel locking, nothing to worry about. He emphasizes that the standings should not be scrutinized and that the penalty shouldn't weigh on their minds because he's focused on an attacking race, where making many overtakes is possible. Never give up, even though Mercedes is intimidating, with Rosberg, on his first attempt, when the rain was still far, breaking last year's lap time, lowering it by 1.1 seconds, and setting a track record destined to be surpassed on Saturday in qualifying. Rosberg exalts everything, the new tarmac, the grip found right away, the car that makes him feel comfortable even on the wet, while Hamilton is somewhat less at ease, as demonstrated by the numerous lock-ups, the results of various errors, and lap times that never match those of his rival. Mercedes is flying, Ferrari is not, even though they presented themselves with a new power unit, nevertheless, panic is left outside the box. It’s sworn that lap times will drop on Saturday. A prayer or hope that accompanies the long night work of the mechanics. But the most eagerly awaited innovation is undoubtedly the new Shell fuel, which should provide a significant performance boost to an engine with the ambition of closing the gap with the Mercedes power unit. Indeed, on Saturday, July 2, 2016, there is a reversal of the hierarchy, with the two Ferraris of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Räikkönen in first and second place at the end of the third and final free practice session.
Lewis Hamilton follows in third place, while Nico Rosberg is author of an off-track cruise at Remus caused by a suspension failure. The car is severely damaged, to the point that it’s even doubted the German’s participation in qualifying. The session is interrupted with a red flag, while his teammate tries to improve his one-lap performance, after a long test on ultrasoft tyres. At the end of the session Mercedes is forced to change the gearbox on Rosberg’s car, who, therefore, gets a five-place penalty on the starting grid. Toro Rosso, instead, decides to change the power unit of Carlos Sainz Jr’s car. Since this is just the fourth power unit used by the Spanish driver this season, it does not lead to any grid penalties. Nico Rosberg’s car is repaired on time to allow the German driver to take part in qualifying. The chance of rain appearing on the circuit forces the drivers to hit the track as soon as possible. Lewis Hamilton sets the fastest time, while Sergio Pérez damages a suspension, going over one of the dissuaders. A bigger accident involves Daniil Kyvat, who destroys his car going off the track. Comes out a red flag, which interrupts the session. This restarts with less than two minutes left: the battle to get to Q2 is very tight, with just 0.200s separating Pascal Wehrlein in ninth place and Fernando Alonso in sixteenth place. Another issue afflicts the Toro Rosso team, after Kyvat’s mistake: the engine on Carlos Sainz Jr.’s car loses power. At the end of the session Nico Rosberg has the fastest time, while the drivers from Sauber and Renault, as well as Rio Haryanto and Daniil Kvyat, are eliminated. At the beginning of the second phase, Nico Hülkenberg is placed under investigation by the stewards for not respecting the yellow flags. The imminent arrival of rain once again compels the drivers to seek their best time in the first part of the session. The leaderboard is still led by the Mercedes duo, but the gap to the other drivers has narrowed. Max Verstappen makes an excursion off track, as well as Jenson Button. As expected, the rain arrives just minutes before the end of Q2, preventing the drivers from improving further. In addition to Sergio Pérez and Carlos Sainz Jr., who didn't participate in the session due to issues in the first phase, the two Haas drivers, Pascal Wehrlein, and Fernando Alonso are eliminated.

Lewis Hamilton achieves the fastest time of the session. The rain forces the drivers to switch to intermediate tires at the beginning of the decisive phase. The leaderboard is led by Sebastian Vettel, the only driver to push in the first timed lap. Following him are Lewis Hamilton and Daniel Ricciardo. The rain quickly stops, and the track dries rapidly: first, Kimi Räikkönen takes the lead, followed by the two Mercedes. For the last phase of Q3, the drivers are on slicks. The first driver to improve his time is Nico Hulkenberg, while Lewis Hamilton is penalized by a lock up. The last phase is chaotic, with the name of the driver at the top of the leaderboard changing every second as various drivers cross the finish line. At the end, the two Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg (who will be penalised) stay in the lead. It's the 54th pole position for the World Champion and the 61st for Mercedes.
"It’s been a fun session, as it began and ended with dry conditions. It’s incredible how quickly the track dries here and I think all this added more excitement. We never really drove in the rain, and with the new asphalt, it was quite slippery. But, as mentioned, corner by corner, it dried up, and, in the end, what mattered was putting in the last lap correctly. Even the previous lap wasn't bad, but I would have ended up behind Ricciardo. If I hadn't completed the last lap and had caught yellow flags, I wouldn't have secured pole position. We took a risk that paid off, so I'm happy".
Nico Rosberg, talking about the incident in FP3 and the following repairs, says:
"It’s been an incredible job from everyone, even Lewis’ mechanics worked on my car to try to get it on track in time, and we did it with just 11 minutes left before the start of qualifying. It was a very entertaining session, dry, wet, dry again. It’s incredible how quickly the track dried up in the end and we could put slicks on again, as Lewis said he did an amazing job right at the end, that’s all, second place is not pole, but it’s still a good result, clearly, the five-place grid penalty will cost me quite a bit tomorrow, and that's a shame, but I will try to make the best of the situation in any case. I will try to have a good race".
Regarding the curbs, the German driver from Mercedes says:
"We have to stay away from them, especially because we don't know what could happen with heavily worn tires. In this sense, the cold should help us avoid a significant performance drop with the tires, which are a real unknown for the race".
After the penalties, Jenson Button will start on the second row, a position that McLaren hasn’t achieved since the Russian Grand Prix in 2014. At the end of qualifying, Nico Hulkenberg is cleared by the stewards, who, after reviewing the telemetry, do not find any violation of the obligations imposed by the yellow flags. The German will then start on the first row, first time since his pole position at the Brazilian Grand Prix in 2010. Unlike Nico Hulkenberg, Jolyon Palmer, Rio Haryanto and Felipe Nasr receive a three-place penalty on the starting grid for not slowing down during the exposition of the yellow flags. For Nars, qualified last, this does not affect his position. Furthermore, all three of them receive two penalty points on their Superlicenses. Vettel chose not to opt for risky tactics in Q3:
"I don’t think we lacked anything: if something was missing it was time, plain and simple. You cross the finish line a little later, and the track dries. It was a matter of luck. We did the right thing; there was a lot of chaos. As mentioned, the track dried very quickly, and I believe the later you crossed the finish line, the better it was. It's hard to say how many risks we could have taken; maybe I could have done it. I know it was just one lap that determines your grid position, and I think the three ahead of me certainly took more risks. It's that simple".

While Kimi Raikkonen admits:
"I think it was difficult to understand where the track was wet and where it was dry, but in the end I didn’t manage to push enough anywhere. It’s been a chaotic afternoon, it started raining in Q3 but at the end of the session the track was almost dry, so it was difficult to understand if the circuit was ready for slicks or wet tyres. In these conditions, for many factors, we couldn’t do everything right and put together a good lap when needed. It’s a little disappointing being P6, I felt we could have done a better job, but considering a few cars ahead being penalised, it’s not that bad. The car felt good all weekend so far, on both dry and wet conditions, and we had good pace, so I expect a good race. tomorrow is going to be difficult for everyone, the weather conditions will determine the tyres lifespan, that will be a key point. We’ll try to do much better than today".
We are not in Sochi, so we must talk about Austrian roulette. But the concept of lottery must be used because we’ve never seen such unpredictable weather, oppressive heat, scorching sun, asphalt reaching 50°c and then suddenly a downpour that turns everything into an exciting chaos, five minutes of madness, as fast as their disappearance when the intermittent rain stops and, in Hamilton’s words, capable of clinching his 54th career pole position:
"You don’t have time to drive on the wet, because the track is so hot that it dries from one corner to the other".
Welcome to the Grand Prix where, so far, no team has understood anything due to the unpredictable weather and where on Sunday, although Mercedes is favoured in the predictions, unpredictability risks reigning victorious. Qualifying has shown that. Ferrari. Competitive in the last free practice session with Vettel ahead of everyone and Raikkonen right behind him, even believed in securing pole position, the first of the season. Then came the rain, which heavily affected the last round, and everything ended up in the hands of fate. Sure, Hamilton was the best, and for someone who has already been Saturday's king five times this season, this is not news, but to achieve it, he had to take many risks, delivering the decisive blow under the checkered flag”.
"It would have taken an incident or a little mistake and I would have started four rows behind".
Courage was rewarded, that risk that, instead, and for this he blames himself, Vettel didn't want to embrace, satisfied with the performance despite finishing fourth, but he was guilty of having gone out a little too early when the sun hadn't yet completely absorbed the puddles. No harm done, that's his comment. What's worse is that he won't be on the second row but the fifth, due to the new gearbox and the five-place grid penalty. However, he shares a similar fate with Rosberg, the winner here in the last two editions, the master of the weekend, until he broke a suspension by going over a cursed curb before turn 2, resulted in wrecking the car, bidding farewell to the third free practice session, and risking missing the qualifying. In the end, the damage was only a gearbox change and a loss of five grid positions (actually four, from second to sixth, due to an illogical FIA timing in imposing the penalty, with Rosberg penalized first and then benefiting from Vettel's demotion). But it could have been worse, considering the car was fixed in record time and declared ready for the track eleven minutes before the qualifying. Rosberg complains:
"The drop back will weight a lot".

Last place would have been devastating. Series of penalties (Hulkenberg ignores yellow flags, id pardoned and saves an unexpected front row), rain that changes factors (Jenson Button on the second row, McLaren struggles to find a spot they haven’t visited in a while), dangerous curbs (suspensions of both Kvyat and Perez fail too), and then there's the usual Raikkonen who, in this whirlwind of emotions, doesn't capitalize on others' gifts and finds himself catapulted to fourth place without merit. Nothing, though, compared to what could happen in the race. need to be cautious of Lewis Hamilton, who always doesn’t get off to a good start, of Ferrari, which starts the race with hard tyres and could, on a dry track, get a strategy advantage, and of the rain, that comes and goes without warning. Blessed, anyway, by Kimi Raikkonen, who vows:
"Vettel and I are the fastest on the wet".
On Sunday July 3, 2016, two drivers start the Austrian Grand Prix from the pitlane: Daniil Kvyat, after the incident during qualifying, and Felipe Massa, who changes the front wing. At the start Lewis Hamilton keeps P1, followed by Jenson Button and Kimi Raikkonen, who both overtake Nico Hulkenberg. Follow, at the end of the first lap, Nico Rosberg, Daniel Ricciardo, Max Verstappen and Sebastian Vettel. During lap 2, we already see a change in the order, with a position change between the two Red Bull drivers. In the following laps, Nico Hulkenberg loses several positions, ending up in the middle of the pack, while Sebastian Vettel, on lap 7, overtakes Daniel Ricciardo and moves up to sixth place. Meanwhile Kimi Raikkonen overtakes Jenson Button and climbs up to second place. The McLaren driver as well loses several positions in the following laps. On lap 10, the Brit returns to the pits for his first pitstop, following the stops of Nico Hulkenberg and his teammate Fernando Alonso done on the previous lap. On lap 11 Nico Rosberg makes his first pit stop. The German driver of Mercedes re-enters the race in fourth place, behind Lewis Hamilton and the two Ferrari drivers, but with an excellent race pace that quickly brings him close to Sebastian Vettel. The leader's pit stop only takes place on lap 22, but the mechanics make a small imperfection during the tyre change. On lap 23 Kimi Raikkonen enters the pits to make his pit stop. Sebastian Vettel moves up to first place, followed by the two Mercedes drivers, with Nico Rosberg ahead of Lewis Hamilton. They are followed by the Red Bull drivers and Kimi Raikkonen. On lap 23, the left rear tire on Sebastian Vettel's car explodes along the pit straight. The driver remains unharmed, but the car sustains damage as it collides with the barriers. The race officials deploy the Safety Car.
The group of cars, in order to avoid any debris left on the track, travels through the pit lane. At the restart Nico Rosberg leads the way, followed by Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen, Daniel Ricciardo, Kimi Räikkönen, Valtteri Bottas, Felipe Nasr and Jenson Button. The Brazilian driver, however, drops behind Jenson Button and Roman Grosjean. On lap 52 Valtteri Bottas enters the pitlane for his pit stop, and on lap 55 Lewis Hamilton does the same, switching to soft tyres. On lap 56 Nico Rosberg makes his second pitstop and switches to Supersofts. Meanwhile Max Verstappen moves up to first place, followed by Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton. On lap 58 Kimi Raikkonen overtakes Daniel Ricciardo and climbs up to fourth place. The Australian is overtaken, shortly after, by Jenson Button as well. Between lap 61 and lap 63, the two Mercedes drivers, in second and third place, behind Max Verstappen after the second pitstop, overtake the Red Bull driver. On lap 65 Daniel Ricciardo retakes fifth place, overtaking Jenson Button. In the last few laps Lewis Hamilton gets closer to Nico Rosberg, attempting to overtake him on the final lap: Hamilton tries to pass on the outside of the turn, but Rosberg brakes, closing the line on his teammate. Hamilton ends up making contact with Rosberg's front wing. This incident occurs at the Remus corner, with Rosberg's car sustaining damage but continuing the race. the two cars find themselves close at turn Schlossgold, with Hamilton managing to get the upper hand between the two. In the final corners, Rosberg is also overtaken by Verstappen and Räikkönen and finishes the race in fourth place. Lewis Hamilton wins the Austrian Grand Prix and secures his 46th career victory, along with his tenth Hat Trick, meaning victory, pole position, and fastest lap. Pascal Wehrlein with Manor gets his first point in Formula 1.

For the British team, it’s a return to scoring points after two years, meaning since the Monaco Grand Prix in 2014, a race in which the late Jules Bianchi gifted two points to the team, at the time known as Marussia.
"Enough is enough".
Sentiment expressed by an Austrian team principal, who leads the Anglo-German Mercedes team and speaks Italian fluently, being perfectly familiar with certain idioms. Enough is enough, even Toto Wolff's patience has its limits. The two drivers, the fierce Hamilton and Rosberg, may hate each other off the track, but on the track, it's enough with certain rough duels.
"Because behind those cars there’s the work of hundres of people, and these two cannot afford to constantly mess up everything. What happened here is worse than in Barcelona, when they crashed at the first corner. Back then, we forgave them; it had been thirty races with no incidents, and a moment of impulsiveness could be tolerated. But in Spain, we said enough, it should not happen again. And what do they do in Austria? Just a few meters from the finish line, they collide, risking ruining a one-two finish. Fortunately, Hamilton still won, but Rosberg went from first to fourth. In total, the team lost only six points, but the risk of throwing away 43 was enormous, and as a team, we cannot afford it. We will talk to both of them: if they are unable to control their impulses, it means we will reinstate the old rule of position freezing. This way, we won't have any more surprises".
Bordering on the realm of team orders, which are theoretically prohibited, to the extent that they cannot be openly highlighted via radio, it would be akin to a confession and a certain condemnation, however, they can very well be given before the race, with a good chance of getting away with it. Mercedes, even though they are leaving Austria with another victory, with Hamilton putting his stamp on it and moves up to just 11 points behind the rivals and reopen World Championship, is furious. Both Wolff and even Lauda, who was also a prominent driver, are angry. The team wants to put an end to it, to ensure that such incidents do not recur. It's almost an impossible task with the car they have; it's easier to dominate on the track because the two drivers now openly hate each other. On this episode, each one points the finger at the other. According to the FIA, the responsible is Rosberg, in fact, he came under investigation and got away with a ten-second penalty added to his final time (the classification remained unchanged, he was and still is fourth) for causing the incident and received a yellow card for finishing the race with a hanging front wing and unsafe driving that put other drivers at risk. A mild and ridiculous sentence: if he had to stop, a simple warning makes no sense. However, if, with just a few meters left to the finish line, it was right that he reached it and limited the damage from the crash, it was logical to absolve him. But for Mercedes, the worst part is the statements. Rosberg did not take it well:
"The fault is Hamilton’s, if he hadn’t abruptly changed directions, we wouldn’t have made contact. I’m thinking about the lost win, not about the ongoing investigations. I was in the fight, I was sure I could win. I went a bit long, but so did he. It was my corner, I’m surprised he turned in so much".
The English replies:
"I’m not sorry, he didn’t give me any space, I couldn’t avoid him. He must have made a mistake while braking. Assuming it was a mistake. It’s been an incredible race, very very difficult, on an amazing track. The booing? It’s not my problem, it’s theirs. I’m here to win, Rosberg made a mistake in turn 1, I had the opportunity to go on the outside in turn 2 and I left plenty of space. Then he locked up, I think he had a problem with the brakes".

But he doesn’t see it that way, for him his rival wanted to push him off the track. Mercedes, which gifted a second place to Verstappen and a third place to Raikkonen with Rosberg’s mistake, calls for peace, but judging from how the two left Austria, one can't even believe in a truce. They exited separately without looking at each other. Hamilton, with teary eyes, dedicated the victory to a newborn he had often held in his arms throughout the week. Incurable brain disease forced the baby to surrender. Meanwhile, the tyre blowout is a heartbreak. Vettel is in the lead. He's trying to upset the applecart with a unique strategy.
"Not too aggressive, it was possible to stay out with those tyres longer, others did more laps than us".
He started ninth on the grid, heading for a fantastic challenge, a podium, or as Arrivabene claims, a victory. We’re dreaming, then the sudden blow, the right rear surrenders, the car skids like crazy, impossible to control, Vettel spins and violently crashes against the barriers. Game over. Goodbye to the Austrian ambitions. And perhaps farewell to the dreams of catching the two demons Rosberg and Hamilton. The German dressed in red is devastated:
"I didn't notice anything, there was no warning of any kind, everything seemed normal. When I realized what was happening, it was already too late, the tyre had exploded. I had talked to the team, everything seemed fine, the pace was the same as the previous lap. I can't understand the failure; it leaves a big question mark. I don't know if it's bad luck or someone's fault".
Vettel’s doubts are the same as Ferrari’s, strongly bounced by Pirelli, tyre supplier. The Italian company, by orders of the FIA, cannot inform the teams about the maximum lifespan of each tyre set, the strategies have to be free and decided solely by the teams. But it’s worth noticing that Vettel had already 27 laps on his tyres, which had been previously worn for three qualifying laps, done at high speed. An elegant way to say that the tyres were in fact finished, that a possible debris (not found) or a violent pass over a curb could have been the puncture’s cause, but during the entire race only Massa experienced a similar problem, and that was with a long-lasting puncture, certainly not with a tire collapse that sent the tread flying off. Pirelli seems to believe that Ferrari, even though within their full rights, might have pushed too far, but Arrivabene doesn't share this view:
"The tyre sensors that we had didn’t give any warning, we would have never imagined something like this. Bad luck is getting relentless: Vettel was supposed to pit on lap 31 and for a one-stop. According to our calculations, he could have even won the race".
Instead of going back home with their spirits crushed. Now the lead is 57 points away. The Ferrari team principal, Maurizio Arrivabene, blames the misfortune that caused Vettel's right rear tire to explode while he was leading.
"You’ve all seen that the tyre exploded and I don’t know if that’s because of a curb or what. I’m telling you, bad luck won’t leave us alone".
Not even Raikkonen on the podium is making him smile:
"Yes, absolutely yes. It’s a shame because Vettel could have been ahead. Really it’s a shame".
Sebastian Vettel doesn't hide his disappointment after the explosion of the right rear tire that led to his retirement while he was leading the Austrian Grand Prix.

"I felt the failure, but the tyre suddenly exploded out of nowhere. Before, everything was normal, on the pitwall everything seemed under control and the pace was like before. Debris? I don’t know what happened, the performance was constant and we didn’t have any negative sign on that front. Our idea was to go for a one-stop and go as long as possible, but now I don’t have that much to add. Why the tyre failed like this is still a question mark".
Same opinion for Kimi Raikkonen, who says:
"With the speed we had we didn’t achieve what we deserved. We’ll try to do a better job in the next races. It hasn’t been an easy day for us, obviously, I did my job. Maybe we had the chance to overtake Max (Verstappen) but there was a yellow flag. He was great, these are races. I’m sorry for Seb and for the issue he had".
For the rest, the Austrian Grand Prix highlights a reborn McLaren (despite Alonso's retirement, as usual) since Button was seen fighting at the front for a long time before finishing sixth. More importantly, they managed to compete with Red Bull with authority, showing they have a powerful engine (like does Honda) on a track where horsepower is crucial. Speaking of Red Bull, kudos to the usual Verstappen, who drove like a lion and was rewarded with a well-deserved second place, gifted by Rosberg. And finally, applause for Manor, which earned its first-ever point in Formula 1 history, thanks to the talented Wehrlein. Formula 1 is also about the underdogs.