Taking a 19-point advantage over Nico Rosberg after a victory in the German Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton says he feels “closer to leading” the title race.
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“The clutch was too much engaged, but it caught me by surprise also”, Rosberg, who won the opening four races of the season but has not triumphed since last month’s European Grand Prix in Baku, said of his start.
Just as in Hungary seven days ago, the Stevenage-born racer emphatically beat Rosberg off the line and from there his victory never looked in doubt.
The day got even worse for Rosberg, as he was handed a five-second penalty for forcing Verstappen off the track.
“It’s a tough one, really hard”. He served the penalty during his second pit stop on Lap 44, and joined the race at fourth position. Finishing fourth was down to the penalty. Both drivers did not have the pace to keep up with the Mercedes and Red Bull Racing drivers. Drivers are required to serve in-race time penalties during pit stops – with the team unable to touch the vehicle until the penalty has elapsed – and Mercedes served Rosberg’s at his final pit stop. Team chief Toto Wolff blamed the delay on a faulty stopwatch. “It just completely went wrong at the start with a lot of wheel spin I didn’t expect that at all”.
“There will be one race where I’ll fall further behind”, he said. I’m going to enjoy them for sure, it’s going to be awesome – once I recover from this day. He forced me off the track.
Behind the Mercedes and Red Bulls it was the Ferraris of Vettel and Raikkonen, whose fifth and sixth place finishes mean Ferrari now trail Red Bull in the constructors championship.
Australian Daniel Ricciardo finished second behind Hamilton at Hockenheim while Mex Verstappen clinched the final spot on the podium following another strong performance.
“We set off with the objective of at least trying to do one on the two-stop, but then the tyre degradation was a little higher than we wanted”, he said. “I thought the battle with Max was good, that’s about it”.
Now after Rosberg finished fourth, with the gap extended, Hamilton feels more in control.
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Ricciardo celebrated his second place by drinking champagne from his boot on the podium.
