Hamilton dominates at Silverstoneposted in F110 | 07 | 2016
LEWIS HAMILTON DOMINATED the British Grand Prix to win his home race for the fourth time, and his third in succession. And after Mercedes team-mate was demoted from second to third, when stewards found him guilty of a radio breach, Hamilton heads to Hungary in a fortnight trailing the German by just one point.
The defending world champ, who started from pole position and was never headed in the race, took the checkered flag 6.9 seconds clear of Rosberg. Red Bull's Max Verstappen took his second successive podium in third, but was later promoted to second.
Rosberg’s radio infringement came when he was told to shift quickly through seventh gear and given a line of advice on settings. After the race, stewards deemed Mercedes had breached the restrictions on team radio.
After heavy rain had fallen as the cars completed their formation lap, the race started with six frustrating laps behind the safety car under clearing skies.
Immediately the safety car pulled in, a number of drivers — led by the Ferrari of fifth-placed Kimi Raikkonen — dived straight into the pits for intermediates. Hamilton, Rosberg and Verstappen elected to stay out.
That decision proved the correct one because minutes later, the virtual safety car was introduced when Pascal Wehrlein beached his Manor in the gravel. This allowed the top three to pit and rejoin with a sizeable gap on the rest.
Related: Hamilton wins in Austria after last lap clash
As was the cars in similar conditions in Monaco, Rosberg struggled for grip and performance and Verstappen passed the German with an audacious move round the outside within the high-speed complex at Becketts.
Ferrari’s No1, Sebastian Vettel, then started the trend for dry tyres soon afterwards, with the top three maintaining the same order as they moved to slicks.
Conditions though remained treacherous in some parts of the drying circuit which retained moisture. Both Hamilton and Verstappen were caught out by a puddle at Abbey, which pitched them over the runoff and allowed the top three to close to within five seconds just past half-distance.
And as the track continued to dry, Verstappen found himself under pressure from the improving Rosberg: the Mercedes driver eventually passed the 18-year-old Dutchman by going round the outside at Stowe.
Rosberg then closed on Hamilton, getting the gap down from eight to six seconds before the gearbox scare halted his chase.
Fourth went to Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo — for the fifth time in the opening 10 grands prix of 2016 — with Raikkonen, fresh from committing to staying at Ferrari for 2017, fifth.
The top 10 was rounded off by the Force India of Sergio Perez — who finished one place ahead of his seventh-placed team-mate Nico Hulkenberg — with the Toro Rosso of Carlos Sainz Jr, Vettel and Daniil Kvyat, sealing Toro Rosso’s fourth double points finish of the season, in 10th.
F1 — British Grand Prix, Silverstone (Result):
1. Lewis Hamilton GBR Mercedes-Mercedes 52 laps 1h 34m 55.831s
2. Max Verstappen NED Red Bull-TAG Heuer 8.2s
3. Nico Rosberg GER Mercedes-Mercedes 16.9s *
4. Daniel Ricciardo AUS Red Bull-TAG Heuer 26.2s
5. Kimi Raikkonen FIN Ferrari-Ferrari 69.7s
6. Sergio Perez MEX Force India-Mercedes 76.9s
7. Nico Hulkenberg GER Force India-Mercedes 77.7s
8. Carlos Sainz Jr ESP Toro Rosso-Ferrari 85.8s
9. Sebastian Vettel GER Ferrari-Ferrari 91.6s
10. Daniil Kvyat RUS Toro Rosso-Ferrari 92.6s
11. Felipe Massa BRZ Williams-Mercedes +1 lap
12. Jenson Button GBR McLaren-Honda +1 lap
13. Fernando Alonso ESP McLaren-Honda +1 lap
14. Valtteri Bottas FIN Williams-Mercedes +1 lap
15. Felipe Nasr BRZ Sauber-Ferrari +1 lap
17. Esteban Gutierrez MEX Haas-Ferrari +1 lap
16. Kevin Magnussen DEN Renault-Renault +3 laps
* Rosberg given 10s post-race time penalty for breach rule stating team cannot aid a driver over a radio transmission
Not Classified
Rtd. Jolyon Palmer GBR Renault-Renault 37 laps competed
Rtd. Rio Haryanto INA MRT-Mercedes 24 laps
Rtd. Romain Grosjean FRA Haas-Ferrari 17 laps
Rtd. Marcus Ericsson SWE Sauber-Ferrari 11 laps
Rtd. Pascal Wehrlein GER MRT-Mercedes 6 laps
Fastest lap
Nico Rosberg GER Mercedes-Mercedes 1m 35.548s Lap 49
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Jim McGill