Following a start under the Safety Car brought about by heavy rain in the build-up to the race, pole sitter Hamilton controlled matters from the front with apparent ease. When the safety car peeled away to allow racing to begin after five laps, a stream of cars headed towards pit lane to move from full wet Pirelli tyres to intermediate rubber but the lead four cars, of Hamilton, Rosberg, Verstappen and the second Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo stayed on track.
Hamilton pitted after seven laps, taking on intermediates and then after 17 laps the Mercedes driver moved to medium tyres, which he kept for the remainder of the race. Aside from one incident where, like many drivers during the race, he was momentarily caught out by lingering damp conditions at Turn One and was forced off track, Hamilton controlled matters expertly to eventually claim a fourth British Grand Prix victory and to become the first man to claim three consecutive wins at Silverstone.
Behind Hamilton, it was a more eventful race for second-place starter Rosberg. The championship leader held his starting position once the Safety Car left the track but he soon found himself under pressure from Verstappen and on lap 15 Rosberg was surprised by an audacious move from the Dutch teenager around the outside through the high-speed Becketts corner.
After taking on medium tyres, Rosberg then set about rectifying the situation and after shadowing the Red Bull driver for some 20 laps, he passed the Dutchman with a good move around thee outside at Stowe as Verstappen struggled with the rear tyre wear.
That should have cemented the title leader into second place but a handful of laps from home, he got on the radio to say that he was experience gearbox issues. He was told to make some setting changes and the exchange with his engineer quickly saw him placed under investigation for potentially contravening regulations governing the kind of assistance a driver can receive from his pit wall. Despite Verstappen closing in, Rosberg managed to hold onto second place in the race and afterward said he was sure the instructions he received were legal.
With Verstappen taking his third podium finish of the season with third place, fourth place in the race went to the Dutch driver’s Red Bull team-mate Daniel Ricciardio. Ricciardo pitted for intermediate tyres as soon as the Safety Car left the track and emerged to find himself behind Force India’s Sergio Perez. The Australian spent some time bottled up behind the Mexican and when he eventually got past Ricciardo found himself 16.5s behind then third-placed Rosberg.
The Australian upped his pace to match Hamilton’s pace at one point but he could make no inroads on the gap to the leaders and he crossed the line almost 18 seconds behind his team-mate. After being passed by Ricciardo, Perez clung on to fifth under heavy pressure from Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen. But seven laps from home Raikkonen found a way past and the Finn took fifth place ahead of the Mexican. Seventh place went to Perez’s team-mate Nico Hulkenberg, with Carlos Sainz taking a useful eighth place for Toro Rosso.
Sebastian Vettel finished in ninth place after an eventful afternoon. The Ferrari driver was the first to take on slick tyres early in the race but soon after spun at Turn One and dropped down the field. He hauled his way back but then while attempting to pass Williams’ Felipe Massa for P8, Vettel outbraked himself and both he and Massa were forced off track. The incident resulted in a five–second time penalty for Vettel but with Daniil Kvyat six seconds adrift, Vettel held ninth ahead of the Russian.
2016 British Grand Prix, Silverstone
52 laps, 306.198km., Weather: Rain/Sunny.
CLASSIFIED:
P. DRIVER TEAM TIME/GAP
1. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes AMG 1h34:55.831
2. Nico Rosberg Mercedes AMG + 6.911
3. Max Verstappen Red Bull + 8.250
4. Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull + 26.211
5. Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari + 1:09.743
6. Sergio Perez Force India + 1:16.941
7. Nico Hulkenberg Force India + 1:17.712
8. Carlos Sainz JR. Toro Rosso + 1:25.858
9. Sebastian Vettel Ferrari + 1:31.654
10. Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso + 1:32.600
11. Felipe Massa Williams + 1 lap
12. Jenson Button McLaren + 1 lap
13. Fernando Alonso McLaren + 1 lap
14. Valtteri Bottas Williams + 1 lap
15. Felipe Nasr Sauber + 1 lap
16. Esteban Gutierrez Haas + 1 lap
17. Kevin Magnussen Renault + 3 laps
Fastest Lap: Nico Rosberg - 1:35.548
2014. L.Hamilton - Mercedes AMG - 2h26:52.094
2015. L.Hamilton - Mercedes AMG - 1h31:27.729
NOT CLASSIFIED:
Driver Team
Jolyon Palmer Renault
Rio Haryanto Manor
Romain Grosjean Haas
Marcus Ericsson Sauber
Pascal Wehrlein Manor
After 10 races:
Drivers: Constructors:
1. Nico Rosberg 171 1. Mercedes AMG 338
2. Lewis Hamilton 167 2. Ferrari 204
3. Kimi Raikkonen 106 3. Red Bull 195
4. Daniel Ricciardo 100 4. Williams 92
5. Sebastian Vettel 98 5. Force India 73
6. Max Verstappen 87 6. Toro Rosso 41
7. Valtteri Bottas 54 7. McLaren 32
8. Sergio Perez 47 8. Haas 28
9. Felipe Massa 38 9. Renault 6
10. Romain Grosjean 28 10. Manor 1
11. Nico Hulkenberg 26
12. Carlos Sainz JR. 26
13. Daniil Kvyat 23
14. Fernando Alonso 18
15. Jenson Button 13
16. Kevin Magnussen 6
17. Pascal Wehrlein 1
18. Stoffel Vandoorne 1
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