Nico Hulkenburg, Carlos Sainz Jr, Sebastian Vettel and Daniil Kvyat rounded off the points positions.
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The duo had a last-lap collision last weekend in Austria, before Hamilton claimed a controversial victory, further straining already frosty relations between the two.
“We’re getting closer, he [Rosberg] has had a pretty good year to be honest, which hopefully requires me to have a simpler year in terms of issues going forward”.
He then ran and cavorted in front of them before getting in among the spectators.
“I don’t know if you can be as happy as me but I’m really happy”, Hamilton told the 130,000-strong crowd that stood and cheered him all the way round the final lap with the sun shining brightly at last.
“I did everything I could in the race to save the engine, I saved it for quite a long period of time”. I had a gap of six seconds so there’s no need to do more or less.
“It was a tricky start in the wet”.
“I did everything I could in that race to save this engine”, he said with one eye on the next grand prix in Hungary, adding for the crowd: “I hope you keep your fingers crossed”.
Dark clouds had loomed ominously above the Northamptonshire circuit and heavy rain began to fall 15 minutes before the race started. That lifted him to his fourth pole at his home grand prix, his sixth pole this season, and the 55th of his career. “Every time we do a podium, apart from standing there holding the trophy up and the bottle, there’s no real way of connecting with people”.
Lewis Hamilton is pursuing his third straight F1 series title and he comes into this race as a three-time victor and two-time defending champion.
Rosberg qualified second for the race at Silverstone, finishing three tenths of a second behind teammate Lewis Hamilton.
With five laps left, Rosberg encountered gearbox problems that had him stuck in seventh gear, and stewards are now checking to see if the amount of information exchanged exceeded the maximum allowable under the new team radio rules.
Mercedes said it would launch an appeal against the penalty.
“Having considered the matter extensively, the stewards determined that the team gave some instructions to the driver that were specifically permitted”, said the statement.
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Team boss Toto Wolff read out part of the regulation on “driver aids”, saying the list of permitted messages included “indication of a critical problem with the car”.
