- Austrian GP - Race
Victory never in doubt for Rosberg
Nico Rosberg says he knew Williams did not have the pace to challenge Mercedes for victory after extending his championship lead in Austria.
Rosberg jumped the leading Williams pair of Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas at the first round of pit stops at lap 15, after which he put in a very measured performance out in front to bring home a Mercedes one-two. Despite seeing his good start undone by Bottas at Turn 2 on the opening lap, Rosberg says he knew before the race that patience would be the key to victory.
"To be honest, yes," Rosberg said when asked if the race went as expected. "It was pretty much exactly like we were expecting. I thought I would get Valtteri at the start and I did but they are so quick on the straights, so he just went flying straight by me again which was not good.
"I knew pre-race that even if I'm third after the start the chances are still very good to win the race as we just have a bit more pace and less tyre degradation than the Williams, or expected to have less at least, so we went aggressive on the stops, which we did and it worked out well.
"It wasn't the easiest of races, trying to manage certain things which were a bit on the limit on the car. I'm extremely happy with that result and to extend the championship lead which was my goal coming to Austria."
In the final few laps team-mate Lewis Hamilton was chipping away at the lead but Rosberg says he was never concerned about his team-mate getting by, even though he ran wide on Turn 3 on the final lap.
"I generally felt comfortable in the last few laps, I thought I could keep a nice gap. On the last lap my tyres dropped away a little bit but as soon as I got past the first couple of hairpins I knew that it was going to be fine. It wasn't as close as some other races have been really."
The win moves Rosberg 29 points clear of Hamilton ahead of the team's home race at Silverstone on July 6.
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