Lewis Hamilton will head into Formula One’s summer break with a 19-point lead over title rival Nico Rosberg after cruising to victory in Sunday’s German Grand Prix.
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The Australian claimed his second successive podium at Sunday’s German Grand Prix, finishing second to Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, but above teammate Max Verstappen on the podium.
Hamilton seized the advantage at the start from pole-sitter Rosberg, who drove an underwhelming race in front of his home fans, and was never headed.
But as in the controversial race in Austria earlier this month, in which he collided with Hamilton on the final lap, Rosberg appeared to leave little room for the Dutchman.
The defending world champion has recorded six victories from the last seven Grands Prix and momentum is certainly with the Brit as the teams enter the mid-season break. Verstappen overtook Ricciardo from the outside as they raced into the first corner but Ricciardo later regained the second place to finish 6.9 seconds behind Hamilton.
The race only got worse from there for Rosberg, with the 31-year-old struggling to make up the lost ground and collecting the penalty for his pass on Verstappen, which he was surprised to get.
“That happened and he got a five-second penalty, so for me it was just trying to stay within these five seconds to get him back after the pit stop”. “But it’s a good start to the weekend”, said Rosberg.
“So I was really optimistic and thinking that I can bring it home today so just really disappointed that everything went wrong”.
He insisted that the Hockenheim incident could not be compared with his last lap clash with Hamilton in Austria: “It’s not comparable, different positioning”.
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.
“I feel like l am closer to leading it”, the world champion joked after securing his 49th F1 win with a faultless display at Hockenheim. I think this is why he’s not winning every single race.
“This is two weekends in a row now with a podium”, Ricciardo said.
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“There are still nine races to go, with still over 200 points to collect, and anything goes”.
