Record Pole Run for Hamilton Marks Eventful British Homecoming

Photo Credit: Mercedes AMG

The British Grand Prix is among one of the original mainstays on the Formula 1 calendar since its inception in 1950. The previous Second World War airfield in Silverstone was first competed upon for a grand prix race in 1948 for which the circuit has undergone a series of redesigns. The current track for Formula 1 competition is a 5.891-kilometer, 18-turn configuration.

A classic event for the motor racing tour, the British Grand Prix's place as the 10th round in the 2016 Formula 1 series allowed it to immediate follow a surrealistic Austrian Grand Prix. Winning the race in a wild and controversial battle with teammate Nico Rosberg, Brit Lewis Hamilton arrives with the support of a friendly home crowd at Silverstone. In qualifying, Hamilton was intent to claim his fourth pole for the British Grand Prix.

Backed by a speedy Mercedes AMG race car, Lewis Hamilton almost foiled his own pole in the session. Sitting a top time early in the Q3 session, Hamilton's initial effort was celebrated by his home country crowd before the audience and driver were confronted with a sense of loss. Stewards judged Lewis Hamilton had fallen out of the racing boundaries on the Silverstone track section out of turn 9. Prior to qualifying, drivers were informed track limits would be enforced under a situation of zero-tolerance in certain areas of the Silverstone Circuit. Hamilton's pole time was disallowed leaving the reigning world champion in a late scramble to propel his Mercedes AMG back to the optimum position for the start of Sunday's British Grand Prix. Within the late stage of qualifying, Hamilton triumphantly reclaimed the pole position with a lap record of 1-minute, 29.287 seconds. Lewis Hamilton is looking for his third consecutive British Grand Prix victory on Sunday.

Starting on the front row of the British Grand Prix is 2013 race winner Nico Rosberg in the second Mercedes AMG 0.319 seconds slower than the pole sitting time. Contending for the all-important World Drivers' Championship, this season has put both drivers in the deepest direct conflict in their fourth year as teammates. Less than a week after the Austrian Grand Prix's last lap scuffle and an acrimonious exchange of words in post-race, Hamilton and Rosberg appears to be playing nice so far this weekend at Silverstone.  

A Red Bull Tag Heuer race car will be positioned right behind each front row starting Mercedes AMG. Occupying the second row, Max Verstappen emerged from qualifying faster than teammate Daniel Ricciardo. In the short history of Red Bull Racing current driver lineup, the British Grand Prix will be the first time Verstappen will start ahead of Ricciardo in a grand prix event.

Behind the Red Bull Racing owned second row, Scuderia Ferrari accounted collectively as the third-fastest time in qualifying. Possessing two former winners of the British Grand Prix. Kimi Raikkonen will start fifth in the first race since the announcement the Finnish driver will be returning to Ferrari next season. Raikkonen claimed an advantage of 6/10ths of a second over his teammate Sebastian Vettel. Vettel qualified 6th for the British Grand Prix but will have to start in 11th place following a gearbox change made to his Ferrari.

Ferrari S.p.A.

Promoted to sixth place on the starting grid, Williams Martini Racing driver Valtteri Bottas posted a runner-up finish in the 2014 event at Silverstone. Carlos Sainz Jr. is positioned in seventh spot alongside Force India driver Nico Hulkenberg. With the British Grand Prix track known for fast cornering, more encouraging signs are revealed by the Honda engine for 2016. Fernando Alonso splits Force India teammates Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez with his McLaren Honda race car in ninth place.

A race for 52 laps on the Silverstone Circuit, the British Grand Prix is set for 1 PM local time (8 AM eastern time).

2016 Formula 1
British Grand Prix
Starting Lineup

Pos # Car # Driver Team Engine

1 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes AMG Mercedes-Benz
2 6 Nico Rosberg Mercedes AMG Mercedes-Benz
3 33 Max Verstappen Red Bull TAG Heuer
4 3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull TAG Heuer
5 7 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari Ferrari
6 77 Valtteri Bottas Williams F1 Mercedes-Benz
7 55 Carlos Sainz Jr Scuderia Toro Rosso Ferrari
8 27 Nico Hulkenberg Force India Mercedes-Benz
9 14 Fernando Alonso McLaren Honda
10 11 Sergio Perez Force India Mercedes-Benz
11 5 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari Ferrari
12 19 Felipe Massa Williams F1 Mercedes-Benz
13 8 Romain Grosjean Haas F1 Team Ferrari
14 9 Esteban Gutierrez Haas F1 Team Ferrari
15 26 Daniil Kvyat Scuderia Toro Rosso Ferrari
16 20 Kevin Magnussen Renault Renault
17 22 Jenson Button McLaren Honda
18 30 Jolyon Palmer Renault Renault
19 98 Rio Haryanto Manor Mercedes-Benz
20 28 Pascal Wehrlein Manor Mercedes-Benz
21 12 Felipe Nasr Sauber Ferrari
22 9 Marcus Ericsson Sauber Ferrari

Lewis Hamilton Wins Intensely Dramatic Austrian Grand Prix

Photo Credit: Mercedes AMG

For what was a thrilling 71-lap grand prix on the 4.326-kilometer Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Austria, it took the last lap to decide the victor in the 2016 competition between the drivers and teams of Formula 1. For the win, it was an interteam battle between the Silver Arrows appears to reveal a hint at allies in crisis with each other once again.  

Catapulting from a fifth place starting spot to first place late in the Austrian Grand Prix, current Formula 1 points leader Nico Rosberg heading into the race had leapfrogged the Red Bull Racing car of Max Verstappen on lap 62. Verstappen was persevering from a lap 15 pit stop in the late stage as his team elected for a one-stop strategy. Both Mercedes AMG cars were placed on two-stop plans proving to be an advantage late in the grand prix.  

An event Rosberg had gotten used to winning in the past to trips to the Red Bull Ring, the German's final laps were not a pleasure cruise. The use of supersoft Pirelli tires and late-race braking meant Rosberg was unable to built a defining interval over challengers. Snaking past Verstappen on lap 63, Lewis Hamilton began to reel in his teammate's car. Starting the race on pole, Hamilton's first pit stop featured a shaky left rear tire change. While it resulted in no more than a second delay, that stop and Rosberg being on softer tires following the second trip to pit road placed Hamilton behind his teammate on lap 56. As both cars swept past the Red Bull Tag Heuer race car, Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg were within a second of each other by lap 67.

Starting the final lap, Rosberg flew by the start/finish line with Hamilton close in tow seeking an opportunity to steal the Austrian Grand Prix from his teammate. The moment presented itself into the first turn on lap 71 as the #44 machine of Lewis Hamilton braked late. As Hamilton gained momentum on the outside of Rosberg, the German on the inside line went wide into the corner. Through the block of his teammate for the final lap, the cars of Rosberg and Hamilton made contact with each other. Despite Hamilton being forced to recover into the runoff area outside of the first turn, the #44 car would roar ahead of Nico Rosberg's car as the collision damaged the front wing of the 2014 and 2015 Austrian Grand Prix winner.

Through the remaining distance of the final lap, Lewis Hamilton was left unopposed as he collected his 46th career Formula 1 victory and 1st win at the Austrian Grand Prix. As for teammate Nico Rosberg, the shattered front wing on his Mercedes AMG car resulted in him falling into the clutches of both Max Verstappen and Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen. Crossing the line fourth, Rosberg would later penalized by stewards for the collision between himself and Hamilton. A 10-second time penalty, the German driver retained the position since he held a roughly 14-second advantage on the fifth place car.

Photo Credit: Mercedes AMG

The latest of many incidents that have occurred between the Mercedes AMG teammates since the 2014 season, the 2016 season sees both drivers on a perhaps the most equal competitive plane. In the ongoing championship, Nico Rosberg now holds an 11-point lead on Lewis Hamilton following the Austrian Grand Prix.  While Hamilton seemed content to accept the last lap contest as a racing deal, Rosberg without the race win was understandably less accepting. "I had the inside line and we both went into the corner a bit long. I was surprised that Lewis turned in and it ultimately meant that we came together" said Rosberg in post-race transcript. Even the Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport Toto Wolff could not ignore the last lap incident. "It was incredibly frustrating for the team to see a one-two finish potentially become a double DNF on the final lap of the race" commented Wolff who realizes he may be facing heated tensions between the Mercedes AMG drivers. "As for the collision, I am not going to try and put blame more on one side than the other; it always takes two to tango and, as we have said before, this should not happen between team-mates. We will now let the emotions settle before we sit down and discuss our next steps." Wolff added.

Photo Credit: FOTO STUDIO COLOMBO PER PIRELLI MEDIA

Max Verstappen's second place finish 5.7 seconds behind Hamilton was an impressive homecoming finish by Red Bull Racing. Narrowing beating Raikkonen to the finish line, Verstappen earned his first podium result since his win at the Spanish Grand Prix.

Besides the chaotic end at the front for the end of the 2016 Austrian Grand Prix, the event was filled with moments that skewed from brilliant to wacky. Among the most alarming incident was a tire failure on the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel. Occurring on lap 29, the Ferrari sailed down the Red Bull Ring's front stretch as the rear right Pirelli racing slick shredded apart. A sudden failure, Vettel's car slid sideways briefly before impacting the track's inner retaining wall front end first. Thankfully, the impact with the wall was not severe enough to cause injury to the four-time world champion driver as Vettel climbed out of the Ferrari with the race under a safety car. Having yet to pit on the supersoft tires he started the race on, there was also reports Sebastian Vettel brushed the notorious curbing on the Red Bull Ring. With Ferrari, Pirelli is investigating the tire failure. A podium finish obtained by the second Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen provided some consolation to the efforts for the Italian team.

Back to the start of the 2016 Austrian Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton shared the front row with the Force India race car driven by Nico Hulkenburg in a surprise qualifying result. Unfortunately, Hulkenberg was quickly displaced from the position on the start of the race falling to fifth in the first lap. The German driver of the Force India-Mercedes ultimately had to retire his car with braking issues. While Nico Hulkenberg's race ended in the pits reacting to a brake problem, teammate Sergio Perez crashed on the final lap of the Austrian Grand Prix stopping power on his car was impaired.

Photo Credit: Force India F1 Team

A retirement overshadowed by the Mercedes AMG scuffle on the final lap, Perez's retirement affected the back end of the top-10 running order. As the Force India dropped out of its eight-place position, the major benefactor was the driver running 11th. Pascal Wehrlein, first-year Formula 1 pilot for Manor Racing, scored his first-ever point in competition as he crossed the checkered flag in tenth-place. The 2015 DTM champion German racer collected the first point for the entity Manor Racing since the buyout when it was known as Marussia F1 Team.

Other remarkable finishes in the Austrian Grand Prix included Jenson Button crossing the line in sixth place after a strong qualifying effort by the Honda-powered McLaren. 71 laps at the Red Bull Ring also ended favourably for the Haas F1 Team car driven by Romain Grosjean. After scoring points in three of the first four races for the rookie organization, the American-based Formula 1 team has been brought to reality by the competition of the series. Five races since Haas F1 Team's last top-10 finish, Grosjean collected a seventh place result.

With the 2016 Formula 1 season approaching its halfway point, the British Grand Prix at historic Silverstone is the next round. The 10th race of the 2016 tour is set for July 10th.

   
2016 Formula 1
Austrian Grand Prix
Race Results

Pos #/ Car #/ Driver/ Team/ Engine

1 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes AMG Mercedes-Benz
2 33 Max Verstappen Red Bull TAG Heuer
3 7 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari Ferrari
4 6 Nico Rosberg Mercedes AMG Mercedes-Benz
5 3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull TAG Heuer
6 22 Jenson Button McLaren Honda
7 8 Romain Grosjean Haas F1 Team Ferrari
8 55 Carlos Sainz Jr Scuderia Toro Rosso Ferrari
9 77 Valtteri Bottas Williams F1 Mercedes-Benz
10 28 Pascal Wehrlein Manor Mercedes-Benz
11 9 Esteban Gutierrez Haas F1 Team Ferrari
12 30 Jolyon Palmer Renault Renault
13 12 Felipe Nasr Sauber Ferrari
14 20 Kevin Magnussen Renault Renault
15 9 Marcus Ericsson Sauber Ferrari
16 98 Rio Haryanto Manor Mercedes-Benz
17 11 Sergio Perez Force India Mercedes-Benz
18 14 Fernando Alonso McLaren Honda
19 27 Nico Hulkenberg Force India Mercedes-Benz
20 19 Felipe Massa Williams F1 Mercedes-Benz
21 5 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari Ferrari
22 26 Daniil Kvyat Scuderia Toro Rosso Ferrari

 

Hamilton's Pole Brings Reality to Bizarre Starting Grid for Austrian Grand Prix

Photo Credit: Mercedes AMG

The 2016 Formula 1 season is quickly approaching its halfway point and is only four races away from its month-long summer break. Following a picturesque European Grand Prix on the city streets of Baku, Formula 1 drivers and teams are reacquainted with a permanent, purpose-built track in Spielberg, Austria. The 2016 Austrian Grand Prix is occurring on the 4.326-kilometer Red Bull Ring well-known for providing similar punishments as street courses for mistakes.

Saturday's qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix was dominated by the familiar Silver Arrows race car. In all three sessions of time trials at the Red Bull Ring, Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes AMG vehicle was at the top including in Q3 where he posted a 1-minute, 7.922-second lap time to claim pole. Achieving the time on Pirelli's ultrasoft tires, the effort was accomplished as the track dried late in Q3 after rain started in late Q2. While Hamilton is a favourite to win, the past two Austrian Grand Prix races have not been won by the pole sitter.

Sunday's start of the Austrian Grand Prix will be another occasion two Mercedes-Benz powered machines will be on the front row. However, the second vehicle counting for the honour will not be Nico Rosberg. While Rosberg was second fastest in the Q3 session, his Mercedes AMG car has been shuffled deeper down the starting line due to a penalty. Instead, the Mercedes-Benz engined Force India race car of German driver Nico Hulkenberg has possession of second place starting spot. A Force India F1 Team car showed remarkable speed in Baku in the hands of Sergio Perez and ultimately finished third.

Photo Credit: Force India F1 Team

Qualifying results and starting line-up for the 2016 Austrian Grand Prix features many adjustments due to grid penalties. Mercedes AMG's Nico Rosberg and Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel have both been handed five-grid place penalties for gearbox changes made prior to qualifying. Rosberg actually start in fifth place since Vettel was in fourth position where he was demoted. Nico Rosberg has won both Austrian Grand Prix races held since the race was reinstated on the Formula 1 calendar. Renault's Jolyon Palmer, Rio Haryanto for Manor Racing and Sauber's Felipe Nasr have also been penalized by three places for insufficiently slowing down for yellow flags effectively placing them at the back of the field.

With big names like Rosberg and Vettel leaving qualifying with less than satisfying starting positions, surprises in the final results have seen some less heard names near the front for Sunday's race in Austria. A stunning qualifying result for the McLaren Honda team was achieved by Jenson Button. The 2009 Formula 1 World Drivers' Champion will start third alongside Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari. Just outside of the top-10, Estaban Gutierrez starts 11th for the Haas F1 Team two positions ahead of teammate Romain Grosjean. Sandwiched between the two Haas F1 Team cars is Pascal Wehrlien. The Manor Racing powered Mercedes-Benz race car

The Austrian Grand Prix's 2016 edition marks the third year Formula 1 cars have returned to the track formerly known as the A1 Ring and before than the Osterreichring. After being off the world racing series' schedule since 2003, the race was revived in 2014 after Red Bull co-founder Dietrich Mateschitz bought the race complex and reestablished to its current state. With Mateschitz also the owner of two Formula 1 race teams (Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Toro Rosso) there seems to be a reason to believe some added pressure is on the four cars to make a strong showing. Daniel Ricciardo in a Red Bull Tag Heuer led the contingent with what has resulted in a fifth place starting position following Rosberg's penalty. The second Red Bull Racing car of Max Verstappen is placed eighth for the Austrian Grand Prix.

As for the team of Scuderia Toro Rosso, qualifying proved to be a nightmare for drivers Carlos Sainz Jr and Daniil Kvyat. While Kvyat was able to post a lap time, the Russian ended the session in the track barriers when his vehicle's suspension was damaged. Becoming the third suspension failure on a Toro Rosso vehicle less than two weeks following a double-failure during the European Grand Prix, team's Chief Race Engineer Phil Charles cited the large curbing of the Red Bull Ring the source of breakage. Carlos Sainz Jr starts in 15th place after the Ferrari engine for his race car was changed after the final practice session.

Scheduled to start at 2PM local time (8AM eastern time) the 71-lap Austrian Grand Prix is likely to be a two pit stop race according to Pirelli.

2016 Formula 1
Austrian Grand Prix
Starting Grid

Pos #/ Car #/ Driver/ Team/ Engine

1 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes AMG Mercedes-Benz
2 27 Nico Hulkenberg Force India Mercedes-Benz
3 22 Jenson Button McLaren Honda
4 7 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari Ferrari
5 3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull TAG Heuer
6 6 Nico Rosberg Mercedes AMG Mercedes-Benz
7 77 Valtteri Bottas Williams F1 Mercedes-Benz
8 33 Max Verstappen Red Bull TAG Heuer
9 5 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari Ferrari
10 19 Felipe Massa Williams F1 Mercedes-Benz
11 9 Esteban Gutierrez Haas F1 Team Ferrari
12 28 Pascal Wehrlein Manor Mercedes-Benz
13 8 Romain Grosjean Haas F1 Team Ferrari
14 14 Fernando Alonso McLaren Honda
15 55 Carlos Sainz Jr Scuderia Toro Rosso Ferrari
16 11 Sergio Perez Force India Mercedes-Benz
17 20 Kevin Magnussen Renault Renault
18 26 Daniil Kvyat Scuderia Toro Rosso Ferrari
19 9 Marcus Ericsson Sauber Ferrari
20 30 Jolyon Palmer Renault Renault
21 98 Rio Haryanto Manor Mercedes-Benz
22 12 Felipe Nasr Sauber Ferrari