The stopwatch never lies they say in Formula One but in Nico Rosberg’s case it did and that was one of several things which went wrong for the German in a woeful home race on Sunday.
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Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo of Australia steers his auto during the German Formula One Grand Prix in Hockenheim, Germany, Sunday, July 31, 2016.
Second was Daniel Ricciardo, with Max Verstappen, his young Red Bull team-mate, third.
Three-time world champion Hamilton heads into the summer break with a 19-point lead over his Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg, having been the beneficiary of a 62-point swing since May’s Spanish Grand Prix when he trailed the German by an alarming 43 points.
It was Hamilton’s sixth victory in the last seven races and fourth in succession.
But a bullish Rosberg, who finished his home race only in fourth following an afternoon he will wish to forget in a hurry, dismissed the notion that it would now be hard for him to retain the belief that he can beat Hamilton and win his maiden title.
Further back, Sebastian Vettel led home the Ferraris in fifth and sixth, 4.5 seconds up on team-mate, Kimi Raikkonen.
In contrast, Rosberg will be desperate to forget a home race which turned sour from the moment the lights flicked to green.
Rosberg was forced to take five-second penalty before his pit stop after the stewards ruled he drove Red Bull’s Max Verstappen off the track.
“A big thank you to everyone who has come out”. “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”. “He had a good run on the outside”, Ricciardo said. On the other hand, Rosberg had one of his worst starts and saw himself being passed by both Red Bull by the first corner.
“I think we’ve worked, and worked and worked, and just consistency and really trying to be precise with the whole procedure”.
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.
Ricciardo celebrated his second place by drinking champagne from his boot on the podium.
Ricciardo said: “That is two weeks in a row I’ve been on the podium and it is great to have the race back here in Germany”.
Formula 1 now takes a four-week break before resuming in Belgium at the end of August.
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“I think it is the first double podium for us in over a year”.
