Lewis Hamilton
won the
Austrian Grand Prix
after an extraordinary final lap in which he collided with his Mercedes team-mate and title rival,
Nico Rosberg
.
The incident left the world champion in the lead and dropped Rosberg to fourth. It was a climactic moment that denied Mercedes their third one-two in succession at the track.
Hamilton was greeted with boos on the podium. It is his third victory this season, the 46th of his career and it reignited the world championship.
Stewards are investigating Rosberg, who started from sixth on the grid, for causing the collision at turn two on lap 71 and for not stopping with a damaged front wing that could have been deemed dangerous.
Hamilton said: “That was intense at the end. He made a mistake into turn one on the last lap. I left him a lot of room at turn two but he locked up and crashed into me. I am here to win, that’s all. I don’t know [why they are booing]. It’s their problem not mine.”
The fans' reaction was reminiscent of the reception that greeted Sebastian Vettel after the incident when he overtook Mark Webber against team orders.
Restart
On lap 27 Vettel’s right-rear tyre exploded, triggering the safety car. After the safety car restart Rosberg had a two-second advantage over Hamilton and the pair traded fastest laps as the gap stayed within a 10th of that for five circuits.
As the pair drew up behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who had yet to make a second stop and led the race, the gap between them was seven-tenths.
Rosberg passed Verstappen on lap 61 but Hamilton could not make the pass for two more laps, letting Rosberg extend his lead.
In in a thrilling finale Hamilton would not be denied. He had a superb run into turn one and made the move on Rosberg in two, and the German, struggling with his brakes, clashed with his team-mate, leaving his front wing severely damaged.
Hamilton took the flag and Rosberg was passed by Raikkonen and Verstappen, for second and third, the latter scoring Red Bull’s best finish at their home grand prix. Guardian Service
