Lewis Hamilton extended his lead in the Formula One drivers’ championship to 19 points after winning the German Grand Prix easily on Sunday, with Mercedes teammate and title rival Nico Rosberg only fourth.
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Victory in Germany means the Brit has now won six of the last seven races and must now be considered a strong favourite to retain his crown this season.
Meanwhile, Rosberg was handed a five-second penalty for pushing Max Verstappen off the track, thus finishing the German GP at fourth place behind the Red Bull driver. Rosberg finished fourth while the two Red Bulls of Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen were on the podium in second and third, respectively.
Lewis Hamilton says he will only feel ahead in the championship when he’s at least a victory clear of team-mate Nico Rosberg, as he will be forced to take an engine penalty at either the Belgian or Italian grands prix.
Kris Meeke became the first British and only the sixth non-Nordic driver to win Rally Finland in it’s 65-year history n Sunday.
After a likely second-place finish slipped through his fingers, Rosberg was critical of the race stewards, but Verstappen believes his adversary was in the wrong – as he was when judged to be at fault for a similar collision with Hamilton in Austria.
Suggested that, based on his current record, Hamilton is only beatable when he strikes problems, Wolff said: “The guy has great talent and speed, and on a good day he’s unbeatable”.
“It’s insane. I’m very happy with that”.
So we’ll keep this one nice and simple.
To add insult to injury on Rosberg’s second pit stop, the German came out just behind Verstappen.
“I think I definitely took one for the team today but that’s alright”. Since Verstappen’s promotion to the main team in Spain, the young Dutchman has only out qualified Ricciardo once.
Lewis Hamilton said the turnaround in form that had led to him opening a 19-point lead in the championship was “kind of crazy”.
“Two weekends in a row now it’s a podium”, said Ricciardo who celebrated by drinking champagne from his boot.
However, Rosberg’s troubles were compounded when his five-second penalty lasted for eight seconds.
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Sebastian Vettel was fifth on his first appearance in Ferrari colors on home soil, crossing the line 32.5 seconds adrift of Hamilton, with Finnish teammate Kimi Raikkonen capping a disappointing weekend for the Italian team in sixth.
