Yesterday at 12:55
This weekend sees F1 descend on the Red Bull Ring, home of the
Austrian Grand Prix. The track has a long history with the sport
and has been the scene of many highlight moments in the past. Few
are as iconic as the clash between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg
on the final lap of the 2016 edition of the race as they battled
for the victory. The relationship between Hamilton and Rosberg had
already soured in the years prior as they fought for titles in 2014
and 2015. But the 2016 season, the final year of their famous
rivalry, was undoubtedly the most intense. There were several
clashes, with one of the most prominent occurring in the Styrian
hills. Round nine of 21 in 2016 saw the paddock descend upon the
Red Bull Ring for the latest event in the season, whose storyline
was squarely focused on the Mercedes duo. Nico Rosberg held a
24-point advantage over Hamilton, but the mood inside the Mercedes
camp was still somewhat bitter after their infamous coming together
in Barcelona a handful of events before. Pole position for the
Austrian Grand Prix went the way of Hamilton while Rosberg was
demoted from second to sixth for a gearbox change penalty. Rosberg
worked his way through the traffic during the race, while a scrappy
grand prix for Hamilton placed him on the back foot. Towards the
end of the race, after their strategy options played out, Rosberg
found himself in the lead ahead of his chasing team-mate. The
gloves were well and truly off as the race reached its climax. With
two wins to Rosberg's five, Hamilton was seeking to get back in
control of the championship fight. However, Turn 3 at the Red Bull
Ring would signal another headache for Mercedes to deal with.
Hamilton got the better run out of the first corner, setting up a
move into the next braking zone. As Rosberg covered the inside,
Hamilton moved to the left to try set up the move on the exit of
the corner - but before he could even turn his car, he was met by
his team-mate who ran deep into the turn. Rosberg suffered a
heavily damaged front wing and dropped to fourth place, while
Hamilton emerged from the corner with significantly fewer ailments,
allowing him to snatch the win. It marked another fallout between
the Mercedes drivers and left the team with another missed
opportunity. Mercedes threaten team orders Having been beaten to
the previous two F1 titles, there was little surprise Rosberg took
a more aggressive stance during the 2016 campaign. However, he was
deemed to have overstepped the mark in Austria by the F1 stewards,
who handed the German a 10-second time penalty. Niki Lauda, a key
figure in Mercedes' management structure, aimed criticism at
Rosberg for his defensive manoeuvres. Toto Wolff, while furious,
offered a more diplomatic response as he refused to point fingers.
But after lap one clashes in Spain and Canada (the former having
far more severe consequences), Wolff threatened to implement team
orders going forward. "It was brainless," said furious team boss
Toto Wolff at the time. "Cars colliding seems a deja-vu. It's
absolutely not what we want. "We are looking like a bunch of idiots
and it's disrespectful to 1500 people who work their nuts off
to prepare the cars and this is why it needs to end. "It seems that
talking doesn't bring us any further so we need to think about all
possible solutions and go as far as implementing the not very
popular team orders. "This is on the table now. This is what we are
going to discuss, because maybe it's the only way we can manage the
situation." The race would mark the start of a great run for
Hamilton, who went on a four-race winning streak. The championship
ultimately went to Rosberg following a final round showdown in Abu
Dhabi.
