Austrain GP

After an adventure on the second longest circuit in the calendar the F1 circus headed off to the Red Bull Ring in Salzburg, Austria i.e. second smallest circuit. This race didn't have the same level of excitement as the previous round in Azerbaijan, but such races are fun only if they happen on rare occasions.

Normal service between Ferrari and Mercedes resumed.
Valtteri Bottas of Mercedes started on pole and had what he called the start of his life(reaction time of 0.21 secs) and put in a spectacular drive right to the chequered flag. After a drab 68 laps, 4 time World Champion, Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari closed to within DRS range of Valtteri Bottas (1 second) and mounted a late challenge over the last 4 laps for the race lead.

Max Verstappen started fifth, but was taken out in a first corner collision triggered by Daniil Kvyat leaving his braking too late and tipping Fernando Alonso's McLaren into a spin. Both Verstappen and Alonso retired immediately. Alonso had scored the first championship points of the season for the beleaguered McClaren team and had made a good start to the race.  Home fans were slightly disappointed with Max's retirement as they were hoping to see both Red Bull cars on the podium.

Lewis Hamilton who had a 5 place penalty due to an unscheduled gearbox change was unlucky to miss out on a podium place as he was held off beautifully by Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo who thrilled the home fans(Red Bull is an Austrian team) with a 3rd place. The sheer pace of Ferrari and Mercedes means that they can afford to take a penalty for unscheduled gearbox and engine changes, rather than risk running a race with a failure that would result in a DNF.

The win was Valtteri Bottas’ second in his Formula 1 career

Ricciardo  performing the "shooey"(drinking champagne from his race boot) as per his own podium tradition

 

Courtesy his 2nd place finish, Sebastian Vettel increased his lead in the World Championship over Lewis Hamilton to 20 points.

It was also Daniel Ricciardo's 5th podium in a row and he continued the tradition of a shooey( drinking champagne from his race boot. Yes that sweaty race boot which was on the accelerator for the past 2 hours and he drove around the km circuit. )

Formula 1 will return next week from the Silverstone Circuit in Great Britain.