The Good, Bad, & Ugly from the 2016 Austrian GP

The 2016 Austrian Grand Prix has been run and won, and The Gurgler provides thoughts on all things Formula 1 in Austria and from the race that was. We watch and give you point form review so you don’t have to.

With the racing on offer throughout the field, and the crashing at the front, maybe this year’s F1 World Championship isn’t so bad.

GOOD

THE RED BULL RING
The Red Bull Ring returned to it’s former glory as a track where stuff happens, with overtaking a plenty and tremendous racing throughout the field, with the exception of the front which was a decent enough battle anyway.

RED BULL LEDERHOSEN UNIFORM
F1 tales it self far too serious sometimes, with commercial interest taking the maximum interest of all the teams. So the Red Bull drivers racing outfit done in the style of the local dress of choice Lederhosen was a refreshing and humourous change from the norm.

Check out the gear from the Red Bull website below.

A PASS FOR THE LEAD ON THE TRACK!
A rarity these days, but always great to see, as these days any change at the front is usually done in the pits or between two cars on completely different strategies. Although the way the Merc dealt with the Red Bull shows why they are the best cars by some distance.

ANOTHER MERCEDES CRASH
Still too good, and made their next best compeditor look quite ordinary, but trying their best by runninginto each other at every possible opportunity.

PASCAL WEHRLEIN
After qualifying an amazing 12 in the Manor, he looked to have provided an first class choke by slotting into Felipe Massa’s empty grid slot instead of his own. Then appearing to reverse back into his place as the red lights were on.

So to finish 10th was a mighty achievement and a result to match the hype from pre season, hype that looked slightly overcooked when he hadn’t blown away his Indonesian team mate so far in 2016.

THE BAD

NOT ENOUGH RAIN

Pretty hard to please if you could think of a real negative from the race. Sure a Mercedes still won, but it was all right. Only whinge could be a shower around the 2/3 mark to spice it up a notch. As it was the Mercedes drivers provided their own spice.

The rain certainly added to the fun of the GP2 and GP3 which have both become well worth following.

THE UGLY

THE POST RACE DEBRIEF FOR VETTEL AND FERRARI
Sebastian Vettel didn’t look happy about his huge tyre failure on the main straight, and why would he when he was leading at the time.

THE FALLOUT FROM ANOTHER MERCEDES CLASH/CRASH
Talk of team orders? Pffft, stick Team Orders up your arse. You can’t have the best car by a mile and then tell them they can’t race. The beauty of two Mercs in front lately is the growing possibility of a crash and the hate the comes with it.

RACE RESULTS

Pos Driver Car Grid Time
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull 8 +0:05.719
3 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 4 +0:06.024
4 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 6 +0:26.710
5 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 5 +0:30.981
6 Jenson Button McLaren 3 +0:37.706
7 Romain Grosjean Haas F1 13 +0:44.668
8 Carlos Sainz Jnr Toro Rosso 15 +0:47.440
9 Valtteri Bottas Williams 7 Lapped
10 Pascal Wehrlein Manor 12 Lapped
11 Esteban Gutierrez Haas F1 11 Lapped
12 Jolyon Palmer Renault 19 Lapped
13 Felipe Nasr Sauber 21 Lapped
14 Kevin Magnussen Renault 17 Lapped
15 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 18 Lapped
16 Rio Haryanto Manor 20 Lapped
DNF Sergio Perez Force India 16 Crashed (69)
DNF Fernando Alonso McLaren 14 Retired (64)
DNF Nico Hulkenburg Force India 2 Retired (64)
DNF Felipe Massa Williams 10 Retired (63)
DNF Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 9 Retired (26)
DNF Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 22 Retired (2)

CHAMPIONSHIP