The overarching narrative from this year’s Formula One world championship is – was – Lewis Hamilton’s 43-point deficit to his team-mate and former championship leader Nico Rosberg.
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Daniel Ricciardo will start the German F1 Grand Prix on an all-Red Bull second row of the grid after qualifying third fastest.
Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo clinched second, 6.9 seconds behind, with team-mate Max Verstappen completing the podium in third.
Lewis Hamilton extended his lead in the Formula One drivers’ championship to 19 points after winning the German Grand Prix easily on Sunday (July 31), with Mercedes team-mate and title rival Nico Rosberg fourth.
Rosberg surrendered his lead from pole to the Briton, who stormed away to claim his sixth win in seven races and strengthen his grip in the title chase.
On returning to the track Rosberg was unable to close on the Red Bulls ahead, and thus dropped 19 points behind team mate and title rival Hamilton in the drivers’ standings.
That turned into an eight-second penalty because the stopwatch Mercedes used to time it broke and although he returned to the race less than five seconds behind Verstappen, he was not able to catch him. Tough is losing the race in the way I did today.
“I think the whole team and everyone back at the factory has worked so hard this first half of the season and they all need a break, we all need a break”.
The next race is the Belgian Grand Prix on August 28.
Just as in Hungary last Sunday, Hamilton roared off the line to emphatically beat Rosberg on the short run down to turn one, and from there his victory never looked in doubt. The British driver, however, made the most out of Rosberg’s slow start.
“When a day goes completely wrong all those things come together”, Rosberg said, adding that being 19 points behind was not tough to take. “I could still see his hands going straight so I don’t know if that is full lock”.
“There were lots of things going through my mind at the time [after Spain]”, he went on.
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Seventh place went to Hulkenberg in the Force India, and Jenson Button managed eighth place for a couple of points for McLaren (although Alonso finished in 12th), with Bottas in the Williams and Perez in the Force India completing the points places in Germany.
