Austrian Grand Prix 2016: Lewis Hamilton returns to winning ways after 'brainless' last-lap crash with Nico Rosberg

Hamilton and Rosberg collided on the final lap that resulted in the latter losing the lead and finishing down in fourth

(Getty)

Lewis Hamilton returned to winning ways at the Red Bull Ring in Austria despite a last-lap crash with his Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg as the battle between the championship rival once again turned ugly.

Toto Wolff labelled the collision “brainless” as the pair collided for the third time this season, having taken each other out in Spain as well as bashing tyres in Canada, and the blame was firmly laid at Rosberg’s feet as he ran deep into turn two before sliding into Hamilton.

Mercedes were keen to stress that Rosberg was struggling with a brake failure on the final lap, but the sight of Wolff hitting the work bench in the pits in anger summed up the feeling among the German manufacturer.

Hamilton was booed by a partisan crowd on the podium, to which is responded “it’s not my problem, it’s theirs”, and the three-time world champion will head home to Silverstone for next weekend’s British Grand Prix with the championship lead down to just 11 points.

Lewis Hamilton won the Austrian Grand Prix after a last-lap crash (Getty)

“He made a mistake into turn one, and I had an opportunity to go down the outside into turn two,” Hamilton said among the jeers on the podium after the race. “I went down the outside and he locked up and crashed into me. I think he might have had a problem with the brakes though.”

Wolff was less understanding though. “Brainless. It does need a comment, we were marginal on brakes, if not completely over on the brakes. We couldn’t tell the drivers. Nico had a brake by wire failure on the final straight. It could have been a double DNF.”

Mercedes non-executive director and Austrian racing great Niki Lauda added: “We have to look into it carefully, but it was not funny to watch it. I guess that Nico had a brake problem when he came to the last corner. He went long, and Lewis was then pushed to the outside.

“Why afterwards they then crashed I do not understand. I know Nico had a brake problem. The first issue is he had a brake problem, but then why they hit each other is probably Nico’s fault.”

The race came to life on the final lap after strategy meant that Hamilton lost his lead to Rosberg. Hamilton, for once this season, made a strong start off the line to hold the lead, with Jenson Button slotting into second after Nico Hulkenberg bogged down on the line. The McLaren started to hold up the rest of the field and allowed Hamilton to break away at the front, with Rosberg pitting early as he struggled with tyres.

But with the pace at the front somewhat laboured and Rosberg getting the best out of his fresh tyres, Hamilton came out from his first stop behind Rosberg, much to his bemusement. The two Mercedes’ were having to follow the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel though as he attempted to run his tyres much longer that the rest of the field, but the decision would come back to bite Ferrari hard.

Final Positions after Race (71 Laps):

1 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes GP 1hr 27mins 38.107secs,

2 Max Verstappen (Ned) Red Bull 1:27:43.826,

3 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1:27:44.131,

4 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Mercedes GP 1:27:54.817,

5 Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Red Bull 1:28:09.088,

6 Jenson Button (Gbr) McLaren 1:28:15.813,

7 Romain Grosjean (Fra) Haas F1 1:28:22.775,

8 Carlos Sainz (Spa) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:28:25.547,

9 Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Williams at 1 Lap,

10 Pascal Wehrlein (Ger) Manor Racing at 1 Lap,

11 Esteban Gutierrez (Mex) Haas F1 at 1 Lap,

12 Jolyon Palmer (Gbr) Renault at 1 Lap,

13 Felipe Nasr (Bra) Sauber-Ferrari at 1 Lap,

14 Kevin Magnussen (Den) Renault at 1 Lap,

15 Marcus Ericsson (Swe) Sauber-Ferrari at 1 Lap,

16 Rio Haryanto (Ina) Manor Racing at 2 Laps,

17 Sergio Perez (Mex) Force India at 2 Laps,

18 Fernando Alonso (Spa) McLaren at 7 Laps,

19 Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Force India at 7 Laps,

20 Felipe Massa (Bra) Williams at 8 Laps

Not Classified: 21 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Ferrari 26 Laps completed, 22 Daniil Kvyat (Rus) Scuderia Toro Rosso 2 Laps completed

As Vettel ran down the start-finish straight, his right-rear tyre exploded and pitched him into a spin that resulted in the Ferrari hitting the inside pit wall and spearing back across the track, luckily coming to a rest with collecting the approaching Manor of Ryo Haryanto.

Once the racing resumed the action was somewhat subdued, with Hamilton maintaining the gap to the now leading Rosberg at a second. Both pitted, with Mercedes going against team policy to pit the second driver first in an effort to give Hamilton the undercut after implementing a negative strategy. The undercut didn’t work, but the decision to put Hamilton onto soft tyres as opposed to the super softs that Rosberg had, did. On the final lap, Rosberg clipped the inside kerb at turn one as he struggled for grip and compromised his run down the long straight. Hamilton got a brilliant exit though an attacked Rosberg, moving to the outside as Rosberg defended the inside line.

From this position, Rosberg should have been able to hold the lead, but instead of turning in to the apex of the corner, Rosberg ran deep and hit the side of Hamilton with his front wing. Hamilton was able to get back on track and pass Rosberg as they entered a yellow flag zone due to a late crash for Sergio Perez. Despite claims from Red Bull that Hamilton passed Rosberg for the win under yellow flags – which he did – regulations state that a slow car struggling with damage or a technical issue can be passed under yellow flags.

With Rosberg struggling as his front wing wedged under the car, Max Verstappen and Kimi Raikkonen were able to pass Rosberg on the final lap to seize podium finishes, although it still proved a disappointing race for Ferrari who had aspirations of a race win on Sunday morning.

Rosberg was called to the stewards’ office after the race for failing to stop with a heavily damaged car, while Hamilton was left to try and explain himself to the fans that were clearly angry with seeing the Briton on the top step of the podium.

Wolff took to Sky Sports afterwards and revealed that the threat of implementing team orders on Hamilton and Rosberg was now a real possibility given the latest collision between the Mercedes duo, and all eyes will be on them when they head to Silverstone in under a week for the British Grand Prix where Hamilton will be bidding for his fourth victory and third consecutive win on home soil.