Lewis Hamilton has admitted he was beaten fair and square by Nico Rosberg’s superior pace in the Austrian GP.
After losing out to his team-mate into the first corner, Hamilton trailed Rosberg throughout the race and had fallen over four seconds behind even before the levy of a five-second penalty for a pitlane infringement called a halt to the contest.
"Nico did a fantastic job," accepted Hamilton. "He was quicker in the race. I had a bad start but after that l was pushing as hard as l could."
Hamilton’s championship lead over his Mercedes stable-mate has now been trimmed to just 10 points. "It is getting very close, he doesn't have a huge advantage and Lewis now has a fight on his hand for the championship," declared Sky F1's Damon Hill.
After a slow getaway off the line, when his Mercedes became bogged down from pole position, the Englishman briefly trimmed Rosberg’s lead to just two seconds before being hit with a penalty after he crossed the white line on the pitlane exit.
“I had no idea what happened, I didn’t think l went over,” Hamilton said afterwards.
“It is very unusual,” Mercedes technical boss Paddy Lowe observed of Hamilton’s mistake, in which he clearly transgressed the track limits. “But there are so many man-traps out there and it was just a little error. I think it’s more extraordinary to think about how few errors Nico and him make like that.”
Perhaps more concerning for Hamilton is Rosberg’s rejuvenation. The German has won three of the last four races and delivered a near-faultless performance at the Red Bull Ring.
“Lewis didn’t have an answer to Nico’s speed,” concluded Sky F1’s Martin Brundle. “Other than that one lap in qualifying when he went off, Nico had the pace all weekend.”
It is just as well for Hamilton that the home comforts of the British GP are next on F1’s agenda – and look out for a subtle dig from the world champion at the expense of Rosberg who he described as “not really German” last season as he looked ahead to the Silverstone event...
“I’m looking forward to seeing lots and lots of Brits and driving that track because Silverstone is a great circuit," said Hamilton. "The home race is always your favourite and Nico got to win his home GP in Monaco.”