Motorsport: Five things we learned from Austrian Grand Prix

Nico Rosberg of Germany leads Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain during the Formula One Grand Prix of Austria 2016. Photo / Getty Images.

The Austrian Grand Prix hasn't been known to host many classics over the years but it staged arguably the most exciting race of the season so far at the Red Bull Ring.

While it was no surprise to see Mercedes battling for victory, the desperation to win from Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg was clear as two collisions on the final lap between the pair ensured the race finished in controversial circumstances.

The focus wasn't entirely on the civil war at Mercedes though as we look at five things we learned from Spielberg.

The gloves are off between Hamilton and Rosberg

There is little doubt that Hamilton is blameless following his last-lap collision with Nico Rosberg.

But the clash between the Mercedes team-mates is just the latest in a long line that stretches back to Spa in 2014.

The days of fair, honest wheel-to-wheel racing between the pair, seen at Bahrain in 2014 for instance, are long gone.

In the last year the pair have already tangled in Japan, United States, Canada and Spain battling for the lead.

Toto Wolff has insisted he may need to enforce team orders but given the history between the team-mates, would they ever follow them?

Could you see Nico or Lewis obeying a 'Multi 21' call? Forget it....

Pirelli come under the spotlight following Vettel tyre failure

There may have been passing of the buck at Mercedes, but the blame game wasn't just at the Silver Arrows.

Following Sebastian Vettel's dramatic tyre failure which put him out on lap 27, questions quickly surfaced over who was at fault.

Despite the tyres being nearly 30 laps old, Ferrari insisted that their telemetry showed no problems on Vettel's car before the incident on the pit-straight.

On Twitter, Pirelli initially put the failure down to debris on the circuit before deleting their tweet. Either way it's Vettel who lost out again following a similar incident in Belgium last year.

Red Bull finally find home comforts in lederhosen

The Red Bull Ring has been a nightmare track for Red Bull in the last couple of years.

With a previous best finish of eighth, the team had struggled to compete with Mercedes and Ferrari with a vastly inferior Renault power unit.

But with lederhosen inspired attire on their race suits, the team claimed a podium on home territory.

It may have come courtesy of benefitting from Rosberg and Vettel incidents, but having finished ahead of Kimi Raikkonen it proves that the Renault engine is closing the gap out front.

Button proves he can still race with the best

Having already qualified fifth, started third and moved up to second by the first corner - Button's weekend was already a mini success.

The Brit managed to hold on for six more laps before eventually being passed by the vastly superior Ferrari of Raikkonen, but he wasn't to leave Austria empty handed.

Button finished fifth and best of the rest outside Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull. There's still work to be done at McLaren Honda but the Woking outfit appear to be making encouraging gains.

Manor take one step back to go two forward

It looked like being a disaster of a Sunday for Pascal Wehrlein having starred on Saturday to line-up 12th on the grid.

On the parade lap, the Manor driver parked in the empty spot left by Felipe Massa in 10th before quickly reversing to get back into his correct grid position before the race start.

It looked like a certain penalty would be heading his way but after stewards realised he hadn't broken a rule, the German took full advantage to claim his and the team's first points of the season after Sergio Perez crashed out on the last lap.

It lifts them off the bottom of the constructors' standings and above Sauber who are now the only team without a point.