Every driver has had a night's sleep after the
Austrian Grand Prix now, so it's time for us to discuss who probably has a case of the Monday blues, and who slept like a baby after yesterday's action.
Who slept well?
Romain Grosjean
Grosjean is probably still sleeping right now, as he'll be dreaming about yesterday's race for a long time to come.
The Frenchman has had a very difficult season up until this point, as he had scored no points after eight races. Only him and Williams rookie Sergey Sirotkin hadn't put any points on the board, and given that Grosjean has a very potent car this year at Haas, that was kind of embarrassing.
That's why this weekend must have felt extra good. He already surprised a lot of people by qualifying in sixth, in front of Daniel Ricciardo (and Sebastian Vettel after he got his penalty).
His race wasn't special by any means, but he drove a clean race while all the drivers in front of him were dropping like flies. He moved up to fourth without doing much, but a finish this high means that he finally, fínally has points on the board, which should do wonders for his confidence.
Max Verstappen
Much like Grosjean, Verstappen has been under a lot of criticism at the start of the season, as the Dutchman was kind of reckless in his driving.
In the last weeks, however, he starting to show consistency. Still driving aggressively, yes, but not nosediving into every gap that isn't there which results in him crashing. Austria was his third podium finish in a row, which is very impressive, as well as his first win of the season.
The silence of his doubters must have given him some quiet, peaceful sleep last night.
Maurizio Arrivabene
A double Mercedes retirement, that doesn't happen often, does it? Ferrari took advantage by finishing with two cars on the podium behind the winner Max Verstappen, meaning Sebastian Vettel is back in the championship lead by one point, and Ferrari are now also in the lead in the constructors' championship.
A double championship for Ferrari looks unlikely, but if Mercedes continue to struggle mechanically like they did yesterday, who knows what might happen?
Who slept badly
Daniel Ricciardo
What a bad present on your 29th birthday. Ricciardo was in second place but got some mean blistering on his left rear, meaning he had to come in early to pit. He came out in P5 and was catching up, but a technical issue meant that the Aussie had to call it a day early. It looked like Red Bull could've had a one-two for a while, but it wasn't meant to be for the Honey Badger at Spielberg. He'll be thinking about what could have been for the coming nights.
Toto Wolff
Wolff already dubbed Austria the worst Mercedes race since he's been there. Lewis Hamilton, famous for his relentless consistency, retired from the race as he lost power, and Valtteri Bottas, who started from pole, also had to stop his W09 as he had a hydraulics issue.
We think that all of the Mercedes mechanics will have had nightmares last night, waking up to the sound of Bottas's hydraulics system failing, but Wolff has all of the responsibility in the end. He's a sore loser, so he probably was up all night thinking how things could've been done better.
Brendon Hartley
Yet another DNF for the Kiwi. Like many of his DNF's, he could do nothing about it, but they are really adding up, whether he likes it or not. He's under a huge amount of pressure and probably the most expendable driver on the grid right now, so the fact that his Honda engine gave up on him yet again is not what you call a lucky break.
Hartley is probably up all night guarding his Toro Rosso seat, with the thought that Pascal Wehrlein and Robert Kubica might be stealing it soon.
Valtteri Bottas
Speaking of bad luck. When is poor Valtteri ever going to catch a break? Every time when it looks like he's winning, something tragic happens. Sure, he was in second this time, but his car giving up on him halfway through the race after having driven to pole position is just cruel, especially with the past incidents he's had in mind.
Last weekend, Vettel spinning him around wasn't his fault, his tyre puncture in Baku wasn't his fault, it's never his fault. Yet he'll be having sleepless nights, thinking that it might be.