If anyone cares - Austria

[J.Clark]

1.  Hamilton      Mercedes   1m 08.455
2.  Rosberg              Mercedes   1m 08.655
3.  Vettel              Ferrari   1m 08.810
4.  Massa              Williams   1m 09.192
5.  Hulkenberg      Force India   1m 09.278
6.  Bottas              Williams   1m 09.319
7.  Verstappen       Toro Rosso   1m 09.612
8.  Kvyat              Red Bull   1m 09.694
9.  Nasr              Sauber   1m 09.713
10. Grosjean      Lotus     No time

11. Maldonado      Lotus    1m 10.374
12. Ericsson      Sauber   1m 10.426
13. Sainz Jr              Toro Rosso   1m 10.465
14. Ricciardo      Red Bull   1m 10.482
15. Alonso              McLaren   1m 10.736
16. Perez              Force India   1m 12.522
17. Button              McLaren   1m12.632
18. Raikkonen      Ferrari   1m 12.867
19. Merhi              Manor    1m 14.071
20. Stevens      Manor    1m 15.368

Times were tight up front.
Hamilton lucky - Rosberg not lucky
Good job by Vettel and Massa
Hulk continues to shine

What the heck was Ferrari thinking?  It reminds me of what the did in qualifying to Massa few times.  Kimi will fortunately gain some grid positions from the penalties of a few ahead of him.

[Scott]

In the Q session on Sky, they were suggesting that Ferrari was blaming Kimi for not putting a lap together in time.  Kimi seemed to not know what happened, and not really care either.

Another note in Qualifying involves starting a bit of a conspiracy theory. 

I downloaded Q, so just was watching it now, and I would put it to you that Niki and Toto are lousy actors and their pretend show of amazement, combined with the fact that neither car was really in a position to get damaged, makes me think it was a setup.  Maybe there was a deal for whatever position the cars were in after the first go in Q3 would stand for the race.  After that it was simply theatrics to spice up the show.  Merc is also under a lot of pressure because everyone is screaming about what a joke F1 is thanks to them not wanting to move an inch on the engine rules, so it could even be that their own board is putting pressure on them to spice things up.  I only came up with this after I watched their strange reaction to the strange situation of both Merc's going out in the last moment of Q3. 

[Irisado]

It was a more exciting qualifying session, but the race didn't deliver on that promise.

The first part of the race was quite exciting, thanks to the slightly mixed up grid generating some overtaking.  The second half though was pretty dull, enlivened only by Maldonado's battle with Verstappen, which was pretty dramatic.

Raikkonen's crash with Alonso was a bit strange really.  It's not the first time Raikkonen has lost his car at a strange moment, it happened last time out in Canada, and he did a similar thing at the British Grand Prix last year on the first lap.  Alonso and Stevens (whose car suffered a broken oil line after running over the debris) were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Speaking of McLaren, what a disaster!  I wonder if this could turn out to be their worst season since the early 1980s.  It's looking that way.  Honda just cannot get on top of the engine problems.  It's pretty embarrassing.

Rosberg had his best weekend of the season, and Hamilton's relative lack of pace did surprise me, especially over a short lap.  Ferrari dropped the ball, Williams picked up the pieces, and it was also a good race for Force India.

[Jericoke]

It was a more exciting qualifying session, but the race didn't deliver on that promise.

The first part of the race was quite exciting, thanks to the slightly mixed up grid generating some overtaking.  The second half though was pretty dull, enlivened only by Maldonado's battle with Verstappen, which was pretty dramatic.

Raikkonen's crash with Alonso was a bit strange really.  It's not the first time Raikkonen has lost his car at a strange moment, it happened last time out in Canada, and he did a similar thing at the British Grand Prix last year on the first lap.  Alonso and Stevens (whose car suffered a broken oil line after running over the debris) were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Speaking of McLaren, what a disaster!  I wonder if this could turn out to be their worst season since the early 1980s.  It's looking that way.  Honda just cannot get on top of the engine problems.  It's pretty embarrassing.

Rosberg had his best weekend of the season, and Hamilton's relative lack of pace did surprise me, especially over a short lap.  Ferrari dropped the ball, Williams picked up the pieces, and it was also a good race for Force India.

I think the 5 second penalty took the wind out of Hamilton's sails.  Why fight Rosberg to MAYBE pass him, and MAYBE get a few seconds ahead if he's going to finish second anyway?  Baby the car, keep the engine and transmission safe for later on when he needs them.

Hulkenberg seemed to be buoyed by his success at LeMans.  If the calendar allows, I expect to see more active F1 drivers take it on in the near future.

It's amazing how McLaren can get things so spectacularly wrong, and then suffer bad luck on top of it.

[Scott]

I'm pretty sure Alonso's front wing had something to do with Kimi and Alonso coming together.  Something bothered the back end spectacularly, and I don't think it had much to do with Kimi.

Honda CAN'T fix the engine.  They have to run what they brung for the first race, and that's the rule this year.  They failed in a huge way with the initial design, but thanks to the stupid, stupid, stupid engine rules, they will not be able to fix it until what, 2017??  I will be watching curling or golf by then if it's just a Mercedes procession for the next two years.

[Irisado]

I'm pretty sure Alonso's front wing had something to do with Kimi and Alonso coming together.  Something bothered the back end spectacularly, and I don't think it had much to do with Kimi.

Have you seen some video evidence that there was contact Scott?  Everything I've seen suggests that Raikkonen lost it and collected Alonso.

[Scott]

Nope, entirely circumstantial, and now that I've read both driver accounts, I have to say it wasn't Alonso.

[Steve A.]

Yeah I think Kimi lost it, tried to bring it back but with all the cars so close he simply picked up Alonso. Nothing either one could do