Red Bull principal Christian Horner said the radio rules were “pretty clear” and questioned where Rosberg, who was booed by some in the crowd as he stepped onto the podium, would have finished had Mercedes not given him their advice.
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Rosberg had finished the race, won by Hamilton for the third year in a row, 1.3 seconds ahead of Red Bull’s Dutch teenager Max Verstappen.
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 has lodged its intention to appeal against the penalty handed to Nico Rosberg by the British Grand Prix stewards regarding its breach of Formula 1’s radio communications restrictions.
Hamilton led from first to last in a race which began behind the safety vehicle following a deluge of rain just 15 minutes before the start.
Lewis Hamilton said a fourth British Grand Prix triumph goes beyond his “wildest dreams” after he moved to within a solitary point of championship rival Nico Rosberg.
Hamilton’s victory completes a hat trick of consecutive home wins at the British GP for the Mercedes driver and is his fourth on home soil and 47th F1 career victory. Thus Verstappen would get promoted to second place.
Force India pair Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg were sixth and seventh respectively, while Toro Rosso duo Carlos Sainz and Daniil Kvyat took eighth and 10th respectively to round off the points-scoring positions.
Mercedes indicated at Silverstone on Sunday they would appeal the 10-second penalty imposed after the race that pushed Rosberg from second down to third.
Rosberg never got near him after starting second as Hamilton led the way for the first six laps behind the safety auto after a deluge soaked the track 15 minutes before the green lights. The gap in the championship, then, is down to one point and the momentum sits firmly with Hamilton.
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Mercedes non-executive chairman Niki Lauda told Sky Sports F1 after the race: “There was a gearbox issue, but we don’t know what it is basically”.
