The victory meant Hamilton edged ahead of Rosberg in the battle for this year’s Formula One title, with Hamilton on 192 points, six more than the German driver. Rosberg fell to third behind Daniel Ricciardo at Turn 1 but was back in second by the exit of Turn 2 before heaping the pressure on Hamilton though the three stints of the race. Fernando Alonso showcased his pace clinging on to his seventh place finish. Of course, Rosberg is right to say there is still a long way to go, and all is not lost, but you would struggle to find a single soul in the paddock on Sunday night who now believes Hamilton will not convert his championship lead into a fourth title.
Advertisement
Jenson Button, meanwhile, endured a miserable afternoon after a hydraulic issue in the opening laps dropped him to the back of the field.
It was enough for Hamilton to take precedence as another set of softs was fitted after 41 laps, with Rosberg following a lap later, and both stayed ahead of the early-stopping Ricciardo.
At the time of Rosberg’s signing. And so it proved.
The final ten laps were smooth sailing for the rest of the field as Hamilton crossed the line nearly two seconds ahead of Rosberg. “I want to go into the summer break with what lead I have now, at least”.
“I’m driving to the best of my ability with these tyres”, Hamilton replied.
“It was all down to the start in the end”, said Rosberg of Sunday’s race.
The stewards handed the Haas F1 man a five second time penalty for ignoring the flags, which Gutierrez felt was somewhat harsh stating that he was just looking for the safest place to let the two cars come by. But in reality, his win was never under threat.
His victory completed a hat-trick of successes in consecutive races, was his outright record fifth in Hungary, his fifth of the season and the 48th of his career. Red Bull Racing driver Daniel Ricciardo managed to come home with the final place on the podium ahead of his former teammate Sebastian Vettel, followed closely by Max Verstappen and Kim Raikkonen in fifth and sixth respectively.
Formula One returns to Hockenheim this weekend (July 31) after a one-season hiatus for the 2016 German Grand Prix.
He was told to continue which prompted a rather sarcastic reply from the 2009 world champion.
He has suggested taking two at the same race, to create a pool of parts. The team did a fantastic job with the strategy. “It’s the result of great work of such a large group of people, I’m really just a chink in the chain”.
“It was all down to the start in the end”, admitted Rosberg.
Advertisement
“I don’t know what he was annoyed about because he (Gutierrez) didn’t keep him back this long”, said the Italian.
