2014 Austrian Grand Prix

Championship standings

Rosberg leads the Drivers’ Championship with 140 points, ahead of Hamilton on 118 and Ricciardo on 79. Alonso is fourth with 69 points, Vettel fifth with 60.

Previous race

Ricciardo won in Canada to claim his maiden Formula One victory — the first win for an Australian driver since Mark Webber’s 2012 British Grand Prix. He drove from sixth on the grid, passing Rosberg in the final two laps after both Mercedes cars were struck by kinetic motor–generator unit failures mid-race. Hamilton was forced to retire with overheating rear brakes following his own MGU-K failure. Rosberg finished second, extending his championship lead to 22 points. Vettel took third for Red Bull.

Between-race developments

Pérez has received a five-place grid penalty for this race after the stewards deemed him to have caused the final-lap collision with Massa in Canada — a crash that briefly hospitalised both drivers. Chilton carries a three-place grid penalty for causing a first-lap collision with Bianchi in Canada.

Track changes

The Austrian Grand Prix returns to the Formula One calendar for the first time since 2003, revived after a ten-year absence. Red Bull reached an agreement with Bernie Ecclestone to bring the race back to the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg. The circuit was previously known as the A1-Ring when it last hosted the Grand Prix.

Tyre choices

Pirelli brings the yellow-banded soft compound as the prime and the red-banded super-soft as the option, along with intermediate and full wet weather tyres.

Practice

Rosberg was fastest in FP1 with a lap of 1:11.295. Hamilton led FP2 at 1:09.542. Bottas topped the third session at 1:09.848.