SEASON REVIEW – Part 3 – Hamilton does the quadruple in July
Hamilton masterclass
Would Red Bull get their own way when F1 arrived at the Red Bull Ring for the Austrian Grand Prix? It didn’t look like it as Hamilton was in fine form in wet/dry conditions taking pole from Nico Rosberg, however the German would drop back to seventh following a crash in FP3 meaning a gearbox change. Drama saw both Force India’s Perez and Toro Rosso’s Kvyat suffering suspension failures. So it would be Hamilton, Hulkenberg and Jenson Button on the front row!
Hamilton went onto win despite a messy race including a pit stop error, but that wasn’t Mercedes worry as once again both made contact. There was other drama too, as Sebastian Vettel’s tyre exploded on lap twenty seven when he was leading spreading rubber across the track. Verstappen finish second thanks to the contact on the last lap.
There was other last lap drama too, Perez hit mechanical problems which saw him crash out promoting Bottas to ninth an Pascal Wehrlein to tenth. Wehrlein points were well deserved following the difficult 2014-15 and there first since Monaco 2014.
Sliver-arrow-stone
Hamilton had it all to do in the final moments of qualifying at Silverstone after his previous two laps in Q3 were removed because he had exceeded track limits. He pulled it together when it mattered, going three tenths faster than Rosberg. The Sliver Arrows were in a class of their own comfortably ahead of the Red Bull, so much so that Hamilton broke the lap record not once but twice.
The mixed British summer weather continued into Sunday, but that didn’t worry Hamilton who delivered a near faultless drive while drivers were being caught out by the weather. Hamilton was on it right away opening the gap over Rosberg while others struggled the first casualty was Wehrlein who was caught out and aquaplaned into the barrier. Things weren’t better for team-mate Haryanto, who spun off at Abbey. Jolyon Palmer’s debut at Silverstone ended with a rear tyre falling off after a pit stop, as for Button he was out of the points.
Verstappen had another great drive, like Hamilton proving himself as a great in the wet getting a podium and then joked he needed to change his passport after being cheered by the fans saying “It’s amazing, they are even cheering on for a non-British driver.”
Hungary
It was another wet afternoon for qualifying when F1 moved to Budapest, but it was Rosberg who had the upper hand this time, the German stole pole from Hamilton after the track improved throughout the session. But his lap was in doubt, did he improve under yellow flags? When Alonso went off. The steward decided he didn’t, so he started ahead of Hamilton.
Red Bull put in another good performance to out qualify the Ferrari’s but they were also caught by the yellow flags stopping them from improving their times. Like at Silverstone there was many casualties along with Alonso, Ericsson locked up going off and Massa relationship with Turn Four wasn’t improving, when his car sapped sending him once again into the barriers after touching the white line.
Hamilton looked in great form getting past Rosberg, but for a few corners lost out to Ricciardo off the line. Once he got past the Australian he remained in the lead for much of the race taking his fifth victory at the circuit to take the lead of the championship. It was a great ace for Ricciardo, he was not far behind and had led during the pit stops, he also didn’t respond to pressure from Vettel.
Jenson Button described his afternoon as the “race from hell.” Because of a hydraulic issue which McLaren were giving him help for. But the stewards deemed was illegal assistance giving him a penalty.
Germany
Rosberg set himself up well for his home race at Hockenheim beating Hamilton to pole despite an electronic issue early on in the session. Hamilton tried to use that to his advantage, but the German responded and when Hamilton tried to respond to him he made two errors on his last run in Q3, this meant Rosberg needed to get a good lap. Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo will start third ahead of team-mate Max Verstappen who once again out-qualified the Ferrari’s
Would Hamilton keep his lead after winning all four races in July, when F1 returned from its summer break at Spa?
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