Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo of Australia steers his auto during the German Formula One Grand Prix in Hockenheim, Germany, Sunday, July 31, 2016.
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Heading into the summer break, Lewis Hamilton has earned a strong lead of 19 points.
Rosberg bogged down at the start, dropping to fourth as Verstappen went round the outside of Ricciardo through Turn 1 to take second behind clear leader Hamilton.
The world champion has surged into the lead of the 2016 title race by matching the best winning run of his career with six victories from the last seven races.
The home fans at Hockenheim did have another German to cheer as four-time champion Sebastian Vettel finished fifth ahead of his Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen and compatriot Nico Hulkenberg, who was seventh on home turf for Force India.
Rosberg won the opening four rounds of the season largely unchallenged after Hamilton encountered a number of vehicle issues.
“A big thank you to everyone who has come out”, Hamilton said after the race, according to the BBC.
After the first round of pitstops, the same top six positions were maintained and only started to change halfway through the thrilling race, after the second pitstops. “I had no problems”, said a disappointed-looking Hamilton, giving brief answers at the post-qualifying news conference.
“On a good day I think that he’s unbeatable”.
“Yesterday wasn’t flawless but you learn from those things, and today was a real show of looking at the glass half-full”.
Not wanting to take anything away from Nico, who is a very good driver and has driven some fantastic races with many race wins, seems that he isn’t able to live up to his teammate’s standards.
“A first double podium for Red Bull in over a year, so it’s an awesome way to close out the first part of the season”. “19 points is not tough”, he said, but quickly added that it might take some time before he gets over a GP that went “completely wrong”.
McLaren’s Jenson Button outwitted Williams’ Valtteri Bottas on the penultimate lap to claim an eighth-placed finish, while Sergio Perez of Force India claimed the final point on offer.
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Formula One now heads into its annual summer break before reconvening for the Belgian Grand Prix on August 28.
