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Austrian GP: Massa takes podium 3rd for Williams Martini


By Andrew Hooper
June 21 2015

The results of the 2015 Austrian GP would see the Williams Martini team secure a second podium finish of the season with Felipe Massa coming home a fantastic third after fighting of Vettel in the closing stages of the race. Felipe would be supported by team-mate Valtteri Bottas who would finish in fifth. A double points scoring finish is a a brillant result coming after their podium finish in Canada. Next stop Silverstone!

 
 Austrian GP Race Review
 
Bottas
 

The Williams Martini team would secure fourth and sixth on the grid for the seventy one lap 2015 Austrian Grand Prix. It should be noted that there are several penalties that drivers will have to take. In-race penalties would go to Ricciardo, 5-second stop/go at first stop, a drive-through for Alonso & Button with a 10-second stop/go to be taken in the first three laps. For Williams they would be looking at a repeat of their 2014 races that saw Valtteri Bottas take a podium finish. After the wet track conditions from Saturday it was a dry track as the field moved away with Hamilton on pole from Rosberg and Vettel. Out of the top ten only Maldonado in tenth would start the race on the soft tyre. He would be joined by Perez, Raikkonen, and Ricciardo.

The grid would form and the lights would go out and it would be a great start from Rosberg leading after turn one. Felipe was in fourth and Valtteri down in seventh. But there would be a major accident with Raikkonen and Alonso with the McLaren finishing up on top of the Ferrari. Kvyat would pit having his nose replaced. The Safety Car would come as replays showed Raikkonen losing control of his car coming across on Alonso seeing the McLaren trapped between the Ferrari and the guard rail ending on top of the Ferrari. For Williams Valtteri had lost a place coming out of Turn one. It was Rosberg leading from Hamilton, Vettel, Felipe, Hulkenberg, Verstappen, Valtteri, Nasr, Sainz, and in tenth Grosjean.

 
Massa
 

Ericcson had also pitted switching to the soft tyre and getting a new front nose. The Safety Car would go in and Rosberg would make a good restart. Button would take his stop & go penalty while Sainz would pass Grosjean making slight contact for tenth. Perez would also pass Grosjean seeing Grosjean eleventh. Rosberg was leading by 1.5 seconds as Button pitted again to retire his McLaren. Lap twelve and Rosberg was now leading by 2.3 seconds. Felipe was now 1.7 seconds behind Vettel with Valtteri right behind Verstappen looking to use his DRS. Ericsson was given a jump start penalty, currently in fifteenth.

Fourteen laps and the race was fairly static with reasonable gaps between the top ten cars. But Valtteri was able to get past Verstappen using the DRS coming out of Turn two. This would see Valtteri sixth while Felipe was still fourth but was 2.4 seconds behind Vettel. Valtteri was 2.0 seconds behind Hulkenberg in fifth. Lap twenty two and Rosberg was now leading by 2.6 seconds with Vettel 7.0 seconds behind the Mercedes. Felipe was 3.9 seconds behind Vettel. Valtteri was 21.0 seconds behind the leader as Grosjean pitted on lap twenty five. Valtteri was told that he was in the pit stop window. On lap twenty four Rosberg was 1.1 seconds quicker than Hamilton. Valtteri had closed the gap to Hulkenberg and would pass the Force India at Turn three around the outside taking fifth.

 
Bottas
 

Hulkenberg would pit joined by Sainz. Sainz would have a slow stop as Nasr tried to pass Grosjean for twelfth. Valtteri would pit on the following lap and would come back out behind Hulkenberg now on the soft tyres. Hulkenberg was now seventh and Valtteri eighth. Perez was fifth and Maldonado sixth while Felipe continued in fourth still on the option tyre. Lap thirty and Rosberg's lead was 3.2 seconds while Felipe was 4.4 seconds behind Vettel. But Felipe was 0.8 seconds per lap slower than Valtteri. Grosjean would pass Kvyat for eleventh as Rosberg pitted on lap thirty five. His stop would be smooth with Hamilton now leading as Felipe pitted on lap thirty six. Hamilton would pit on lap thirty seven also having an error free stop but he would come back out behind Rosberg. Vettel was now leading from Rosberg and Hamilton. Felipe was again fourth while Valtteri would get past Hulkenberg to be seventh.

Vettel would pit on lap thirty eight having a very slow stop with a problem with the right rear. This would see Felipe get past the Ferrari. Valtteri would get past Maldonado and be in sixth while Hamilton was under investigation for crossing the pit line on exit. Hamilton would get a five second penalty for crossing the line with this being added to his race time. This would not hurt him in terms of losing second to Felipe as the Williams was 17.1 seconds behind. Valtteri would get fifth as Perez pitted changing to the option tyre. Maldonado was now ninth and Nasr tenth. Lap forty six and Rosberg was leading by 6.7 seconds while for Williams Felipe was still third 3.1 seconds ahead of fourth placed Vettel.

 
Massa
 

Lap fifty four and Rosberg was leading by 5.3 seconds while Felipe was able to keep the gap to Vettel at around 2.0 seconds while Valtteri was 20.0 seconds behind Vettel in fifth. Hulkenberg was sixth followed by Verstappen, Maldonado, Perez, and Nasr. Lap sixty and Vettel was finding a few tenths as he tried to close the gap to Felipe. It was now 1.8 seconds as Felipe started to close in on slower cars. Lap sixty three and the gap was down to 1.1 seconds with eight laps remaining. Vettel was now putting the pressure on Felipe while at the front Rosberg complained about a vibration getting worse on the right front. Vettel was now right behind the Williams but Felipe continued to hold him off. There was so little between the Williams and the Ferrari. Both cars would start the final lap with Vettel running out of time.

Rosberg would cross the line to take victory in Austria from Hamilton while Felipe would keep Vettel behind to secure a podium finish. Vettel was fourth and Valtteri fifth. Hulkenberg was sixth followed by Maldonado, Verstappen, Perez, and Ricciardo. A great result for the Williams team with a double points scoring finish. This podium was the first one this year for Felipe with Felipe coming in to getting out of his car and going to see his son being very happy. This result was a result that proved that Williams was back on it. The next race is their home one at Silverstone.

 
Massa
 

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Austrian GP: Massa takes podium 3rd for Williams Martini
Discussion started by Williams F1 , 21/06/2015 14:47
Williams F1
21/06/2015 14:47
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