The German led from start to finish in Azerbaijan and finished 16.6 seconds ahead of runner-up Sebastian Vettel.
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Hamilton, now 24 points behind his Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg who cruised to his fifth victory of the season, was asked how it felt as he attempted to resolve the issue while racing at speeds in excess of 220mph.
Mexican Sergio Perez qualified second for Force India but will drop five places due to an unscheduled gearbox change after he crashed in final practice on the Baku street circuit.
It allowed the German, who was lapping a second faster than his rivals, to claim a routine fifth win of the season – and a first since the Russian Grand Prix on 1 May.
Nico Rosberg has always refused to contemplate either his increasing points lead or the times when it was diminishing. And even in the race, it was a special feeling out there in the auto because it felt like I could do whatever I wanted [and] the thing would just stick to the line, stick to the ground.
It was not so much a case of “computer says no” in yesterday’s European Grand Prix, more computer says try again, and again, before you stumble upon the right answer.
Former Formula One driver and current Porsche sports-car ace Mark Webber thinks reigning F1 world champion Lewis Hamilton can bounce back and secure his third consecutive title this year.
Defending three-time champion Hamilton and 2007 champion Raikkonen were upset by their respective Mercedes and Ferrari teams’ radio silences on technical issues.
The problem eventually resolved itself.
“This is ridiculous guys, I don’t know”. I didn’t have the feeling that something would go wrong at any point today.
Indeed, Hamilton feels the incident prevented him from continuing his charge up the order, arguing it ruined the spectacle of the Baku race.
Mercedes: “We do not advise that Lewis”.
“My first lap in Q3 I went wide and made a few mistakes so we needed that last run and I’m glad I was able to execute a good one”. “No, that’s not allowed. Let’s just get our heads down and focus on the job”, he was told. Rosberg was able to rectify the issue after just half a lap – partly thanks to an earlier setting change that put him closer to the solution – but it took Hamilton until lap 42 to make the change.
However Mercedes later clarified that, saying the situation was more complicated.
“All the team can tell me is that there is a switch error, so I am looking at every single switch thinking, ‘Am I being an idiot here?”
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Kvyat said: “This was another disappointing week for me and the team”.
