 |
Mercedes'
Lewis Hamilton has won six of the last seven races
|
Lewis Hamilton will head
into Formula One's summer holiday with a smile on his face after extending his
lead in the championship to 19 points by winning Sunday's German Grand Prix.
Press
Association report continues:
While
his deflated title rival Nico Rosberg endured a miserable home race at
Hockenheim, in which he crossed the line only in fourth, Hamilton sauntered to
his sixth win in seven races.
Indeed
having been 43 points behind Rosberg in May, Hamilton is now comfortably ahead
of his Mercedes team-mate by virtue of an unbeaten July with victories in
Austria, Silverstone, Hungary and here in Germany on Sunday.
"It
is kind of crazy that it's gone by so quickly," a jubilant Hamilton, whose
defence of his third title had been fraught by a number of mechanical issues,
said.
"It
feels like only a couple weeks ago we were in Barcelona and I was 43 points
behind thinking, 'jeez, I might come away 50 points behind'.
"I
was finding it hard to find a way through the woods, through the trees, having
to navigate through that, not giving up, to keep going and keep believing the
light is beyond the bushes.
"My
mechanics have all stayed super focussed which has enabled me to do the same.
They have shown no signs of giving up and that's inspired me to do the same,
and this result shows to never give up. So, I really owe it to them. This is
the best way to go on holiday."
Hamilton
was left kicking himself on Saturday night after a mistake in qualifying paved
the way for Rosberg to claim pole. But the defending champion vowed to bounce
back with a victory in Rosberg's back yard and he did not disappoint.
Just
as in Hungary seven days ago, the Stevenage-born racer roared off the line to
emphatically beat Rosberg on the short run down to turn one, and from there his
victory never looked in doubt.
In
contrast, Rosberg will be desperate to forget a race which turned sour from the
moment the lights flicked to green.
The
German was fourth after his sluggish start, and he spent much of the opening
phase of the race behind the Red Bull pair of Max Verstappen and Daniel
Ricciardo.
Rosberg
emerged from his second pit stop behind Verstappen and on the run down to the
hairpin on lap 29 he dived underneath the 18-year-old Dutchman.
But
as with the Austrian Grand Prix, in which he dramatically collided with
Hamilton on the final lap, Rosberg appeared to leave little room for the
Dutchman, and he was hit with a five-second time penalty for forcing his
opponent off the road.
Rosberg
will now head into the three-week summer break having seen a 43-point
championship lead over Hamilton turn into a 19-point deficit in just seven
grands prix. And with nine races left, Hamilton is now the overwhelming
favourite to win title number four.
Sebastian
Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen crossed the line in fifth and sixth for Ferrari while
Jenson Button finished eighth for McLaren after passing the Williams of
Valtteri Bottas on the penultimate lap.
British
rookie Jolyon Palmer started 14th and made three places off the start line, but
a clumsy collision with Felipe Massa on lap one saw him drop to last, and he
ended the race only 19th.
No comments:
Post a Comment