Spielberg (Austria), July 3: British driver Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes won the Austrian Formula 1 Grand Prix, ahead of Dutchman Max Verstappen of Red Bull and Finn Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari in a thrilling finish here on Sunday (July 3).

A vibrant final lap saw Hamilton overtaking team-mate Nico Rosberg, who until then was leading the race. The manoeuvre forced Rosberg to swerve and hit his team-mate's spoiler. In the end, Rosberg became relegated to the fourth position, reports Efe.

Hamilton's victory, the 46th in his career and the fourth this season, helped him gain ground on Rosberg, who still leads the drivers' standings with 153 points, 11 more than Hamilton, while Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari and Raikkonen are tied at 96 points, sharing third place.

Australian Daniel Ricciardo of Red Bull came in fifth, followed by a surprise sixth place by Jenson Button of McLaren Honda.

Frenchman Romain Grosjean (Haas) finished seventh, while Spaniard Carlos Sainz (Toro Rosso) came in eighth position, followed by Finn Valteri Bottas (Williams) and German Pascal Wehrlein (Manor).

Spaniard Fernando Alonso (McLaren) once again had to quit the race five laps before the finish, as did Mexican Sergio Perez (Force India) a short time thereafter.

German Vettel, Brazilian Felipe Massa (Williams) and German Nico Hulkenberg (Force India) were also forced to abandon the race due to technical setbacks.

IANS