In a familiar refrain, Mercedes finished 1-2 again in a Formula One race – this time at the rain-soaked 2016 British Grand Prix at Silverstone in England. Defending champion Lewis Hamilton won the pole and was never seen again in winning easily while his teammate Nico Rosberg endured a brief struggle with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen before dispatching of Verstappen in the latter portion of the race, albeit, not without controversy though, as Rosberg may be penalized for having communication with his pit about the operation of his car during the race. But for now, barring post-race penalization, Rosberg was second on the track.
The first five laps of the race were run behind the safety car as the track was allowed to dry – somewhat – from a passing rainstorm which had soaked most of the track, although some spots were clearly wetter than others. The unpredictable wetness of the track created predictable spins throughout the race and at least four cars were claimed in the race’s first 30 laps by weather conditions.
Eventually the track dried out enough to allow the cars to move to a different set of racing tires but as far as the podium positions were concerned, the only drama was for second and third as Verstappen held off Rosberg for 10 laps before finally ceding the position to the hard-charging Rosberg.
With the victory, Hamilton inches to within four points of Rosberg in the overall season points standings for the drivers with Rosberg leading with 171 points to Hamilton’s 167 points and Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari sitting in a distant third with 106 points.
2016 British Grand Prix – Silverstone Circuit – 52 laps – 190 miles
1 Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes 25 1:34:55.831
2 Nico Rosberg – Mercedes 18 +6.911 Sec
3 Max Verstappen – Red Bull 15 +8.250 Sec
4 Daniel Ricciardo – Red Bull 12 +26.211 Sec
5 Kimi Raikkonen – Ferrari 10 +1:09.743 Sec
6 Sergio Perez – Force India 8 +1:16.941 Sec
7 Nico Hulkenberg – Force India 6 +1:17.712 Sec
8 Carlos Sainz Jr. – Toro Rosso 4 +1:25.858 Sec
9 Sebastian Vettel – Ferrari 2 +1:31.654 Sec
10 Daniil Kvyat – Toro Rosso 1 +1:32.600 Sec
11 Felipe Massa – Williams
12 Jenson Button – McLaren
13 Fernando Alonso – McLaren
14 Valtteri Bottas – Williams
15 Felipe Nasr – Sauber
16 Esteban Gutierrez – Haas
17 Kevin Magnussen – Renault
18 Jolyon Palmer – Renault
19 Rio Haryanto – Manor
20 Romain Grosjean – Haas
21 Marcus Ericsson – Sauber
22 Pascal Wehrlein – Manor