Daniel Riccardo’s win in Canada came just when F1 critics were saying Mercedes were unbeatable. On a track which on paper favoured the Brackley-based team for its long straights, it proved to be the first time Mercedes lost their edge.

After another dominant qualify­ing, Hamilton and Rosberg suffered from the same problems to the hybrid units and Hamilton also suffered from brake deficiency, which also persisted in Austria.

Hamilton’s aggressive driving is hindering his tyre wear, and could lose him the champioship.

Red Bull, with Daniel Riccardo claiming his first ever win and the team’s first win for 2014 in Canada, gave them hope that they might be back where they belong; however the excitement was short-lived.

The team’s home coming at the revamped Red Bull Ring in Spielberg was a complete disaster for the Austrian-owned team.

In Canada, Renault claimed that they will be giving all to perform to their full potential; however, in Austria the situation just got from bad to worse.

Team principal Christian Horner openly criticised the engine supplier. The time might be right for Red Bull to switch to Mercedes from 2015, as McLaren will be switching to Honda. On equal power Red Bull will definitely get an edge on Mercedes F1 team.

Finally, after a number of years, Williams seems to be competitive again. This year’s performance has been quite good, with both Felipe Massa and Valterri Bottas scoring points. In Canada we saw an over-enthusiastic Massa, and in Austria, Finn driver Bottas claimed a podium finish for the Williams team, with Massa a close fourth.

Fernando Alonso might have had enough of people applauding him for bringing his ailing Ferrari within the point sheet. Alonso is more after trophies. He never imagined that in his fifth season he would still be without an additional championship.

It has become quite obvious that Montezemolo’s magic wand with Matteo Mattiacci did not go according to plan.

Even prodigal son Kimi Raikkonen seems to be struggling.

Also disappointing are McLaren. The Woking team, like Ferrari, sacked Martin Whit­marsh with the return of Ron Dennis but this resulted in no visible improvements.

I wonder what Honda are saying, knowing that they will join McLaren as official power plant supplier next season.

Next race is in Silverstone, another of my favourite tracks and a good track for Red Bull.

Williams, Mercedes and Force India consider Silverstone their back garden, and in front of their home crowd they will be fighting to do super well, unlike the other English athletes who just could not get it right in Brazil.

Canadian F1 Grand Prix

Team by team analysis

Mercedes
(Nico Rosberg 2, Lewis Hamilton retired)

Rosberg started from pole and extended his overall lead from four to 22 points with his fifth second place in seven races. Mercedes failed to win for the first time this season. Hamilton suffered his second retirement of 2014, this time with a rear brake problem after banging wheels with Rosberg.

Red Bull
(Daniel Ricciardo 1, Sebastian Vettel 3)

Ricciardo’s first Formula One victory and third successive podium after two third places. Red Bull’s first victory of the season, ending their longest win drought (six races) since 2009, and second in a row in Canada after Vettel last year. Ricciardo, now third overall, is the first Australian winner since Mark Webber in 2012. Also Renault’s first win with the new V6 turbo.

Ferrari
(Fernando Alonso 6, Kimi Raikkonen 10)

Alonso picked up some lucky points thanks to retirements ahead of him and took heart in Red Bull’s improvement since the start of the season. Raikkonen said he had a problem with the brakes and handling of his car.

Force India
(Nico Hulkenberg 5, Sergio Perez 11/retired)

Perez, on a one-stop strategy, ran as high as second place and challenged for the lead before having problems with an electrical issue and then colliding with Massa, for which he collected a five-place grid penalty for the next race. Hulkenberg was also on a one-stop and continued his record of scoring in every race so far this year.

McLaren
(Jenson Button 4, Kevin Magnussen 9)

Button went from eighth to fourth in the space of two laps at the end. Magnussen spent 22 laps behind Vergne. McLaren pulled clear of Williams.

Williams
(Valtteri Bottas 7, Felipe Massa 12/retired)

Massa set the fastest lap of the race and was chasing Perez for fourth, and his best result of the season, when he rammed into the back of the Force India on the final lap, a crash the stewards blamed on the Mexican for changing his line. Bottas suffered from high brake and engine temperatures.

Toro Rosso
(Jean-Eric Vergne 8, Daniil Kvyat retired)

Vergne hailed his race as possibly the best of his F1 career so far, and gained a position on Alonso at the start. He scored his first points since the opener in Australia. Kvyat suffered a drive train failure and stopped on track.

Lotus
(Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado retired)

Double retirement for Lotus. Maldonado suffered a power unit failure on lap 21 while Grosjean damaged his car’s rear wing and retired in lap 59.

Marussia
(Jules Bianchi and Max Chilton retired)

After scoring the team’s first points in F1 at the previous race in Monaco, Bianchi did not even complete a lap after being rammed by team-mate Chilton, who was handed a five-place penalty for the next race for causing the turn four collision.

Sauber
(Adrian Sutil 13, Esteban Gutierrez 14/retired)

Still no points for the Swiss team. Sutil drove an uneventful race and was lapped while Gutierrez stopped near the end with an energy storage system problem.

Caterham
(Kamui Kobayashi, Marcus Ericsson retired)

Kobayashi had a rear suspension problem, Ericsson retired to save the engine after a problem with a pipe connected to the turbo.

(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Greg Stutchbury)

Austrian F1 Grand Prix

Team by team analysis

Mercedes
(Nico Rosberg 1, Lewis Hamilton 2)

Rosberg won from third place on the grid. His third victory of the season takes his career tally to six, one more than world champion father Keke managed. Rosberg is now 29 points clear of Hamilton, who started in ninth place and was fourth at the end of the first lap. Mercedes’s seventh win in eight races and sixth one-two finish.

Red Bull
(Daniel Ricciardo 8, Sebastian Vettel retired)

Vettel lost drive on the second lap due to an electronics problem and fell to the back of the field. He and Gutierrez had a coming together that forced the German to pit for a new front wing. The champion then retired just after the half distance while a lap down to save engine life. Ricciardo was swamped at the start and fell back from fifth. He recovered eighth place from Hulkenberg on the last lap.

Ferrari
(Fernando Alonso 5, Kimi Raikkonen 10)

Alonso said it was his best race of the season so far. He led briefly and challenged former team-mate Massa for fourth before finishing 18 seconds behind the winner. Raikkonen spent much of the race fighting the car and had problems with the brakes overheating.

Force India
(Sergio Perez 6, Nico Hulkenberg 9)

Perez had a five-place grid penalty carried over from Canada and started 16th. He took the lead when others pitted during a long 29 lap first stint. The Mexican also set the fastest lap. Without the penalty, he felt he had the pace to be on the podium. Hulkenberg struggled with balance and lost eighth to Ricciardo on the last lap.

Williams
(Valtteri Bottas 3, Felipe Massa 4)

Bottas celebrated the first podium finish of his F1 career. The Finn started second, his highest qualifying position, with Massa on pole for the first time since 2008. The Brazilian’s race was dictated by the pitstops.

McLaren
Magnussen lost sixth place to Perez in the closing laps. Button said he was pushed wide by Hulkenberg at the first corner and dropped from 11th to 13th at the start. McLaren drop behind Williams in the standings.

TORO ROSSO
(Daniil Kvyat and Jean-Eric Vergne retired)

Kvyat retired when his rear right tyre blew on lap 26, damaging the suspension. Vergne had brake problems.

Lotus
(Pastor Maldonado 12, Romain Grosjean 14)

Still no points for Maldonado, who must be wondering about the wisdom of leaving Williams at the end of last year. The Venezuelan started 13th. Grosjean started from the pit lane after a gearbox change. Both had brake issues.

Marussia
(Jules Bianchi 15, Max Chilton 17)

Both drivers did a one-stop strategy and held off the Caterhams.

Sauber
(Adrian Sutil 13, Esteban Gutierrez 19)

Gutierrez collected a 10-second stop/go penalty for an unsafe release from his first pitstop when he moved off with an unsecured wheelnut. He also had a coming together with Vettel. Sutil was told mistakenly to stop his car in an instruction meant for the Mexican, which cost him plenty of time.

Caterham
(Kamui Kobayashi 16, Marcus Ericsson 18)

Still a long way from a first point.

(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Gene Cherry)

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