Hamilton took pole position by half a second on Saturday, but a poor start opened the door for teammate Nico Rosberg to take the lead at the first corner and cruise to victory. “I’m feeling great. The race is on with Lewis of course, it’s always going to be a great battle and I look forward to what’s to come”, he was quoted as saying by the official website of F1.
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Rosberg’s victory means Hamilton’s summer-break lead of 19 points has already been eroded to just two after wins for the German in Belgium and Italy, and Hamilton knows that it was a case of damage limitation once his teammate got away.
It was a sea of red at Monza, as the crowd cheered for the Italian drivers.
Hamilton began the race in bad fashion, slipping from pole to sixth.
5 with Ricciardo third, until he took his delayed second stop for more super-softs to equip him for a final high-speed scrap with Bottas. Hamilton now worked his way back up as he first passed through Ricciardo through Curva Grande taking the fifth place. Then he jumped into a group of his team members who hoisted him into the air.
“Obviously the start, but it’s still a great day for Mercedes Benz and I’m proud to be a part of it”, Hamilton added as the Rosberg and himself dominated yet another day in the 2016 season. The challenge was short lived as Rosberg quickly pulled away and Hamilton recovered to move into second place but Vettel drove hard and clean guaranteeing a Ferrari driver on the podium.
By lap 20, Hamilton had cut the gap to 13. Aside from a solid third-place run at Pocono two weeks ago, he’s finished no better than 12th in the last six races after reeling off a seventh, third and fourth in consecutive weeks.
Ryan Hunter-Reay (28) makes a pit stop during the IndyCar Grand Prix at The Glen auto race, Sunday, Sept. 4, 2016, in Watkins Glen, N.Y. That helped him catch and pass the Finn in the closing stages.
Sure, the Silver Arrows have still won 13 of 14 races this year, but at least you can’t count on them to make a flawless start and ride off into the sunset. Raikkonen in the end had to settle for fourth. Fernando Alonso, Max Verstappen, Daniel Ricciardo, Jolyon Palmer and Sergio Perez lined-up for Team F1 and showed us exactly why they’re racing drivers and not football players. Once the lights go out we hope we can find a good traction which the tires should give us.
Making a comeback after the massive crash last weekend, Kevin Magnussen finished 17th, behind Caros Sainz Jr. and Marcus Ericsson.
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Manor’s Pascal Wehrlein then retired on lap 26 when he suffered a drop in oil pressure, before Daniil Kvyat parked his Toro Rosso some 10 laps later. Torro Rosso driver Daniil Kvyat had to retire as well due to a technical issue, while Pascal Wehrlein was asked to stop the auto at Lap 28 and switch off, ending his run.
