Rosberg wins Austrian GP to extend F1 lead

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 Nico Rosberg extended his lead at the top of the drivers' standings to 29 points after winning the Austrian Grand Prix.

Nico Rosberg won the Austrian Formula One Grand Prix in a Mercedes one-two finish in Spielberg yesterday to stretch his championship lead over teammate Lewis Hamilton to 29 points after eight races.

Williams drivers Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa, who had started on the front row, finished third and fourth.

The victory was Rosberg's third of the season and his team's seventh. It was also Mercedes' sixth one-two finish of the year and came after Massa had ended its run of seven successive pole positions.

"It was not the easiest of races, trying to manage certain things which were right on the limit on the car. But in the end I had a very, very fast car again," Rosberg said on the podium.

"It was fantastic to win today. It was great also to get a one-two here in Austria. It's been great to come back here," added the German after his eighth successive podium finish and sixth career win.

In the first Grand Prix held in Austria since 2003, champion Red Bull was eclipsed at its own track with quadruple world champion Sebastian Vettel retiring and Australian Daniel Ricciardo finishing eighth.

Rosberg has 165 points to Hamilton's 136 in the drivers' standings. Mercedes has 301 points to Red Bull's 143 in the constructors' title race, with 11 races left but with double points on offer in the final one.

The race was decided in the pitstops, with Rosberg starting in third place with Massa leading away from pole while Hamilton made a sensational leap from ninth to fourth at the end of the opening lap.

Bottas, celebrating his first Formula One podium, led for a lap after Massa's first stop that saw the Brazilian drop down the order and was ecstatic with his team's best performance since 2012.

"It's been a long way for us since last year and many many years at Williams. Now it's so much better," said the Finn.

Ferrari's Fernando Alonso finished fifth with Force India's Sergio Perez sixth and Danish rookie Kevin Magnussen seventh for McLaren.

Germany's Nico Hulkenberg was ninth for Force India and Kimi Raikkonen took the final point for Ferrari.

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