Hamilton faces a race of damage limitation, following his team’s decision to undertake numerous power-unit changes which consigns the Briton to the rear of the grid due to penalties.
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Four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari recovered from a first-corner collision with his own team-mate Kimi Raikkonen to take sixth ahead of Fernando Alonso, who had started 22nd on the grid.
Hamilton, who was meanwhile up to third on lap 18 after overtaking Alonso and Huelkenberg, pitted on lap 22 of the 44 laps with soft tyres, and again on lap 33 with medium.
Fireworks are not unlikely on this blistering hot weekend, and the Ferraris of Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel (third and fourth) will be hoping to get involved. A minor spin later, he realised his auto was too damaged and stopped.
The Renault duo of Magnussen and Palmer also departed, along with Carlos Sainz and German Pascal Wehrlein, who qualified in an impressive 16th place. Both drivers were out of the race, and they were soon joined by Carlos Sainz who suffered a right-rear tyre blow-out before coming to a stop with his auto in pieces.
Hamilton and McLaren’s Fernando Alonso were working together to move up through the field and they benefitted from a virtual safety auto, courtesy of a spectacular puncture for Carlos Sainz in the Toro Rosso, with nearly the entire field electing to pit for fresh rubber.
“It’s going to be a very, very hard race”, Hamilton told reporters after Saturday’s qualifying session where he drove only a handful of laps, watching the rest of it in his shorts in his driver’s room. The crash saw Magnussen’s Renault being completely destroyed, while he was lucky enough to limp away with a damaged left ankle having experienced forces up to 12g.
The Renault driver lost the rear of his vehicle at the top of Eau Rouge and went off heavily into the barriers.
But the first lap drama and the red flag helped him climb the numbers easily.
On lap 12 he swept past Alonso, and six laps later he was in a podium position after easing past the Force India of Nico Hulkenberg. He pitted again for a final time with 12 laps remaining, but was unable to close the gap to either Ricciardo or Rosberg, and crossed the line almost 30 seconds adrift of his Mercedes team-mate. He has maintained his lead at the top of the drivers’ championship, which now stands at 10 points.
Team mate Sergio Perez was fifth, on a strong day for the Silverstone-based team that took them ahead of Williams into fourth in the constructors’ standings.
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“It’s not disappointing, I’m happy with today”, a tight-lipped Rosberg said when asked about not closing the gap further. “Sure, I’m aware of it, but he had the big disadvantage at the weekend”. But he had the big disadvantage today, so I don’t think about it in that way and I’m just focusing on my thing and that’s it.
