Formula 1: Williams outfoxed – Rosberg wins!

Williams-Martini Racing is one of those teams with a legitimate claim if they announce that they have been there and done that. Ask Team Chief, Frank Williams and I am certain he will beam with pride when he recounts stories about Damon Hill, Jacques Villeneuve, Nigel Mansell, Alain Prost and arguably the best driver to have ever raced the F1 circuit – Aryton Senna – all drivers who have driven Williams machines. Williams has secured a total of 9 championships, but the current F1 era has ignored Williams’ attempt at a championship-claiming rebirth.

The 2014 season has offered new hope though and Williams is taking maximum advantage of the opportunity Mercedes power has presented. Exhibit number 1 – Massa, devoid of wings, confirmed that miracles still occur – he drove to pole! The usual front-runners were discarded with aplomb. Massa’s team-mate, Bottas, was not willing to ignore the spotlight. He claimed his fair share and qualified P2. Rosberg retained team pride and grabbed P3. So, for the first time in 2014, Williams held the front row. And Red Bull Racing machines? Buried in the flock (P5 and P12)!

Massa

When the red-lights lost their glow in Austria, Massa was bold and forthright in his approach and despite Rosberg’s crafty attempt, Bottas remained resilient and retained P2. As the laps disappeared, it was obvious that it would be a Williams, Mercedes AMG showdown, but the Williams engineers took their eyes of the tires and lost the strategy-war.

Mercedes AMG drivers, Rosberg and Hamilton were summoned and they discarded the abused tires and went for super-fast lap times. When Williams woke up and ordered their drivers to ‘box this lap’ the damage was already done. When Massa re-emerged, Rosberg, a former Williams driver, was sitting comfortable in P1.

Williams would not recover. The team was outfoxed, but thanks to their determination, Bottas and Massa were still able to claim P3 and P4 respectively. Rosberg and Hamilton benefitting from superior team strategy, resumed their battle at the front, but at the Red Bull Ring, Rosberg was King and Hamilton had to settle for the runner-up spot.

Red Bull Racing

Red Bull Racing is still trying to wake up from the nightmare the weekend presented. Defending World Champion, Vettel, was struck by another electrical gremlin which eventually forced a DNF while Ricciardo, who snatched P1 in Canada, could only snatch P8 on Red Bull home-soil.

Despite not claiming P1 and 2, the Williams pair must now be feeling somewhat motivated with the realization that there is no massive performance gap between themselves and Mercedes AMG.

Rosberg

With his third victory, Rosberg extends his lead to 29pts ahead of his team-mate (165 to 136), but I also noticed that Bottas is only 5 points outside of the top five. He claimed his first podium finish, so he should still be celebrating. He deserves it! The next round at Silverstone promises to be rather intriguing! Any predictions?

Cecil Munroe Gleaner On-Line Writer