Austrian Grand Prix 2014: Top 10 Readers’ Results!

The eighth Grand Prix of the season, in Spielberg, was won by Nico Rosberg, ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas. The rest of the top 10 included, in order, Felipe Massa, Fernando Alonso, Sergio Pérez, Kevin Magnussen, Daniel Ricciardo, Nico Hülkenberg, and Kimi Räikkönen. Let’s see if the 100 voters followed the order of the race…

1. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) – 25 points

Starting “only” third, the German driver did not miss the chance to take the lead of the race at the end of the second stint by overtaking the bottleneck Pérez to secure his third victory of the season, allowing him to further extend his lead over his teammate in the championship.

2. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) – 18 points

Starting from the 5th row on the starting grid, the Briton’s race could have been more complicated… except in the case of a perfect first lap, and that’s exactly what the 2008 world champion achieved, quickly gaining an advantage over his competitors. Once behind Rosberg, he couldn’t engage in a direct duel and, despite constant pressure during the final stint, had to settle for second position.

3. Valtteri Bottas (Williams) – 15 points

Dominated by his teammate in qualifying, the Finn completed a shorter first stint, which allowed him, thanks to good management of this moment, to come out in third position, between the two Mercedes, before calmly handling the end of the race to secure the first podium of his career.

4. Felipe Massa (Williams) – 12 points

In the lead during the first relay, after a good start, the Paulist poleman pitted late, which, combined with average in and out laps, led to his drop to fourth position. Unable to catch his teammate, he ultimately settled for securing fourth place, without being really threatened by Alonso at the end of the race.

5. Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) – 10 points

Almost invisible during the race, the 2005 and 2006 world champion still managed to secure a convincing top 5 finish, losing position only to a logically faster Hamilton at the end of the first lap. Slower than the top four but more competitive than his pursuers, the Spaniard kept a struggling Scuderia afloat.

6. Sergio Pérez (Force India) – 8 points

Starting from 16th position, the Mexican opted for a different strategy in its execution but not in its format: two stops, yes, but beginning with a long stint on softs, which allowed him to lead a few laps of the Grand Prix before switching back to softs and finishing the race on super-softs, taking Magnussen’s scalp to claim 6th place.

7. Kevin Magnussen (McLaren) – 6 points

Quietly but surely, the young Dane has secured his place in the top 10 of the race by managing to build on his strong qualification, driving a McLaren that appeared to experience a resurgence at the Austrian track.

8. Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull) – 4 points

If Red Bull was generally not celebrating in Austria, the Australian was the only – very measured – satisfaction for the team in the race, even though he quickly realized he would be stuck at the back of the top 10. His final overtake on Hülkenberg, who had been holding him up for several laps, will remain as one of the images of the race.

9. Nico Hülkenberg (Force India) – 2 points

New arrival in the points for the German who, nonetheless, suffered in comparison to his teammate, who was more comfortable starting from further back. Balance issues evidently made his race more challenging.

10. Daniil Kvyat (Toro Rosso) – 1 point

Surprisingly, you decided to reward the young Russian – even though during his actual top 10 finishes it hadn’t been the case – when he quickly had to retire, victim of a problem with the right rear wheel. His good qualification, in the top 10, was notable, especially compared to that of his teammate.

Readers’ rankings