Mercedes' Nico Rosberg wins Austrian Grand Prix

It was the German's third victory of the season, and the seventh time a Mercedes driver has finished top of the podium in eight outings this season.

Rosberg came home 1.9 seconds ahead of Hamilton, thus increasing his overall standings lead over the Brit to 29 points.

Williams' Valtteri Bottas, who began the day second on the grid behind team-mate Felipe Massa, secured his first ever podium finish, 8.1 seconds off the pace of the victor.

Having started third on the grid, Rosberg immediately jumped ahead of Bottas and tucked in behind Massa, although the Finn did regain second spot at turn two.

A more impressive start was made by Hamilton, who began the race in ninth after spinning off in qualifying on Saturday.

After the first lap, Hamilton had made up five places to fourth and was chasing down the three men ahead of him.

Sebastian Vettel's struggles continued as the reigning champion was forced to retire midway through the race, having earlier slipped down the field when momentarily losing drive on the second lap.

With Hamilton, Rosberg, Bottas and Massa all pitting in quick succession after the 40th lap, Ferrari's Fernando Alonso briefly led.

However, the Spaniard still had his second stop to make and Rosberg hit the front, followed by Hamilton, when Alonso did pit on lap 47.

The Mercedes pair continued to do battle throughout the final stages, but Hamilton was unable to claw back any significant time on the German and was forced to settle for second, a respectable result considering his starting position.

Massa finished fourth, over nine seconds adrift of Bottas, while Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo, the only non-Mercedes driver to have won a race this season, finished down in eighth.