2017 F1 Round 9, Austrian Grand Prix Race: Bottas wins from pole as Vettel closes to 0.658s on the final lap

The Austrian Grand Prix ran for 71 laps. Bottas kept the lead from pole and won in 1 hour 21 minutes 48.523 seconds. Vettel pursued him throughout and finished second, just 0.658 seconds behind, with Ricciardo third.

On the opening lap, Kvyat locked his wheels under braking for Turn 1 and hit Alonso, who then collided with Verstappen. Alonso and Verstappen could not continue. Kvyat carried on, but received a drive-through penalty for causing the collision and ultimately finished several laps down.

Bottas controlled the first half of the race and gradually extended his advantage over Vettel. Tyre condition reduced his lead in the latter stages, while Vettel kept closing on newer supersofts. Their fight for victory continued into the final laps, with Vettel at one point entering Bottas’s DRS range.

Hamilton started eighth after a gearbox penalty. He gradually gained positions after the start and used his pit-stop strategy to chase the cars ahead. He later passed Räikkönen, but could not catch Ricciardo in the closing stages and finished fourth, around 1.4 seconds short of a podium place.

Ricciardo secured third at Red Bull’s home circuit, the Red Bull Ring, holding his position under sustained pressure from Hamilton. Räikkönen finished fifth and Grosjean sixth, bringing Haas a valuable points haul. Force India’s Pérez and Ocon were seventh and eighth, respectively.

Massa and Stroll finished ninth and tenth for Williams, followed by Palmer in 11th and Vandoorne in 12th. Sainz retired with a mechanical problem, while Magnussen also failed to finish. Alonso and Verstappen, who retired on the opening lap, were credited with one completed lap and no completed timed lap, respectively.

Bottas claimed his second win of the season, converting pole position into victory. Vettel retained his championship lead and came close to wiping out the gap to Bottas before the finish. The race ran without an accident-induced stoppage, and all classifications follow the official 71-lap result.

The table below lists the official final positions, completed laps, times or gaps and points for all 20 drivers. The first 16 drivers were classified, while Sainz, Magnussen, Alonso and Verstappen were recorded as retirements. The account of the first-lap incident and its penalty also follows the stewards’ decisions.