Hamilton was loudly jeered after his controversial win in Austria earlier this month and British fans gave Rosberg the same harsh treatment at the podium after Hamilton triumphed on Sunday at Silverstone.
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Nico Rosberg believes the radio instructions he received from the Mercedes Formula 1 pitwall to get around gearbox problems during the British Grand Prix were within the regulations.
Rosberg had a great tussle with Verstappen, getting overtaken by the Red Bull driver at one point.
Mercedes confirmed it has accepted the decision and penalty by dropping its intention to appeal but will begin talks with F1 bosses on the “over-regulation of the sport”, after the radio bans have continued to come under heavy criticism.
“There was a point where I’m 43 points behind and scraping rock bottom, somehow through fan messages, family, friends, faith I’ve continued to push”.
It marked another iconic moment for Hamilton in a career where he is now just three wins short of his half-century. “So now, keep your fingers crossed, I’m catching him!” he added, pointing at Rosberg, who didn’t offer a direct reply. “It is just phenomenal”.
Lewis Hamilton has won the British Grand Prix for the third year in a row after leading from start to finish at Silverstone.
For Hamilton, there was no such drama as he claimed his fourth victory in five races to get the defence of his championship firmly back on track.
When asked how hard it was to manage such a situation, he replied: “It’s enormously hard, because no matter how much those guys say they are team players, they are contractors and they are racing for themselves”.
Nico Rosburg’s championship lead over Hamilton is down to one point.
No direct congratulations for Hamilton from team-mate and rival Nico Rosberg on his Twitter feed though – he saves those for the Silverstone crowd and for Portugal’s Euro 2016 victory over France.
Red Bull’s other driver Daniel Ricciardo finished fourth, and fifth went to Ferrari’s Kimi Räikkönen more than a minute off the pace of the victor.
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Mercedes non-executive chairman Niki Lauda told Sky Sports F1 after the race: “There was a gearbox issue, but we don’t know what it is basically”.
