Second Place Is Worth Its Weight In Gold At The Austrian Grand Prix

Second Place Is Worth Its Weight In Gold At The Austrian Grand Prix Image Credit Ferrari Media
 

• Vettel extends championship lead, Kimi takes 5th

Ferrari is back on the podium thanks to a second place for Seb Vettel, who thus extends his lead over Hamilton to 20 points, while Kimi was fifth at the end of 71 very closely contested laps.

Second Place Is Worth Its Weight In Gold At The Austrian Grand Prix Image Credit Ferrari Media

All eyes were on the start lights, with Seb on the front row alongside Bottas, with Kimi right behind. The first two tore away while Kimi was immediately in a fight with Ricciardo which saw him go off track: time to get back on track in every sense of the word and that fight began with a nice passing move on Grosjean. The Stewards were investigating a possible jumped start from the pole man. The track surface was boiling hot, almost 50° and that was giving the tires a harder time than expected. Kimi was fourth, coming under attack from Hamilton, but the Finn was doing well to hold him off. Out in front, nothing much happened until lap 32, when Lewis pitted to take on Ultrasofts. Raikkonen stayed out, while Ricciardo pitted. Then, on lap 34, Seb came in and, as planned, switched to the red-banded tires. Bottas’ Ultrasofts were done and he pitted on lap 42, coming out on track behind Kimi who, having yet to stop, was in the lead. The Iceman held him off until turn 4 and so it was time for him to come in for new tires. Seb and Kimi were nibbling away at the gaps to their closest rivals. Vettel posted the race fastest lap on lap 50. Four laps later and Kimi did better, but the back markers didn’t help his cause and he repeatedly had to brake on the dirty part of the track. The final stages were very close with traffic typical of a short track like this one, as lap times tumbled and the leaders suffering from blistering on the tires as did more and more of the pack. In the final two laps, Seb was within DRS distance of Bottas and Hamilton was in the same situation with Ricciardo, but that was the order at the flag, with Vettel coming home second to increase his lead by a further six points in the Drivers’ championship. “Guys, we really tried.” And Kimi brought home a further 10 points to add to the haul.

Maurizio Arrivabene:
“It was a very close race, which, once again showed that Ferrari is on the pace. Sebastian was able to fight for the win right to the very last corner, having produced a great drive. It was a shame for Kimi, who already on the opening lap, ran wide at turn 3 while fighting with Ricciardo. If not for that, with the car he had today, he too could have had a good race. The next race at Silverstone is just a few days away and as usual, we will be working flat out to prepare for it.”
 

Second Place Is Worth Its Weight In Gold At The Austrian Grand Prix Image Credit Ferrari Media

 

Sebastian Vettel:
“Today I struggled in the first stint with the first set of tires, the Ultrasofts. I think they were just getting too hot. Then the clouds came in and the balance of the car improved. That’s why I think we were starting to get quicker. It was a shame that we couldn’t win, because we were close. We learnt more about the car in these days and there are many positive aspects regarding this race, but I feel like I could have won today and I didn’t, so I am not entirely happy. At the beginning of the race I was just not quick enough. The pace was there, but the balance wasn’t. I like this place, which has a lot of history and it’s the place where I drove a racing car for the first time, in 2003. It’s a long time ago, but I still have beautiful memories. And now I am already looking forward to going to Silverstone.”

Second Place Is Worth Its Weight In Gold At The Austrian Grand Prix Image Credit Ferrari Media
 

Kimi Raikkonen:
“In the first part of the race we had some difficulties with the balance of the car. I struggled a little bit with the first set of tires at the beginning, but then it was getting better and better. The second set was fine: at the beginning of the last stint the car felt very good and we had good speed, but at that point we were too far behind to try to recover. As the tires were getting older we obviously started to go slower, but we were still doing good lap times and the balance was improving. Overall, though, it was not a very easy weekend.”