{"id":2318,"date":"2016-07-10T15:21:49","date_gmt":"2016-07-10T15:21:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/f1vault.co.uk\/?p=2318"},"modified":"2016-07-10T15:21:49","modified_gmt":"2016-07-10T15:21:49","slug":"british-gp-hamilton-fourth-silverstone-victory-to-close-the-lead-to-rosberg-in-the-championship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.f1vault.co.uk\/index\/british-gp-hamilton-fourth-silverstone-victory-to-close-the-lead-to-rosberg-in-the-championship\/","title":{"rendered":"BRITISH GP \u2013 Hamilton fourth Silverstone victory to close the lead to Rosberg in the championship"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lewis Hamilton has taken a hat-trick of victories and his fourth overall victory to close the gap to his team-mate Nico Rosberg to four points in the championship at the British Grand Prix. The world champion took total control in conditions which he performs well in.<\/p>\n

His team-mate Nico Rosberg finished second and Red Bull\u2019s Max Verstappen was third. However Rosberg and Mercedes have been placed under investigation for a breach of the radio communication rules because the team is accused of helping the German solve a gearbox issue.<\/p>\n

Race winner Hamilton on the podium: “I’m really happy. All of a sudden it rained and it was so tricky in those conditions. I tried not to make any mistakes. That’s what I love about this race, it’s never smooth sailing. We have good British spirit here.”<\/p>\n

Rosberg told Sky Sports \u201cI’ve scored four points more\u00a0than\u00a0Lewis. That’s a glass half full perspective –\u00a0today I’m disappointed because I\u00a0wanted to win the GP.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adding \u201cLewis did a better job but I’m over it already now. It’s a great time because we’re fighting out there for race wins every time.”<\/p>\n

Verstappen joked on Channel 4 that he needed to change his passport after being cheered by the fans saying \u201cIt’s amazing, they are even cheering on for a non-British driver.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the beginning it was very difficult to see where I was going. But even on the slick tyres, the car was doing what it should do and we were close to the Mercedes<\/p>\n

It was a near faultless race for the champion who led every lap and made the right calls to open the gap and master the conditions at Silverstone. However Hamilton made a few mistakes after being caught out by standing water but this didn\u2019t stop the three time champion.<\/p>\n

The race began behind the safety car after a late shower made the track difficult to drive but as soon as the safety car came in Hamilton pulled away.<\/p>\n

Red Bull\u2019s Daniel Ricciardo finished fourth half a minute down on Hamilton. Ferrari Kimi Raikkonen\u00a0 and Sebastian Vettel appeared to struggle to compete with the leaders and were once again beaten by Red Bull and they were well down on the pace.<\/p>\n

Force India\u2019s Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg were sixth and seventh \u00a0respectively, while Toro Rosso duo Carlos Sainz took eighth and tenth to round off the points-scoring positions.<\/p>\n

Manor\u2019s Pascal Wehrlien was the first to crash out after aquaplaning and Rio Haryanto spun out at Abbey, tapping the barrier. It was a messy race from Jolyon Palmer who was given a 10-second stop-go penalty after his Renault team released him in the pits without a right-rear tyre before retiring later in the race.<\/p>\n

It was a difficult race for McLaren and Williams \u00a0with Jenson Button finished 12th for McLaren, one place ahead of team-mate Fernando Alonso, who was challenging Massa for ninth when he became one of many to fall victim to Abbey.<\/p>\n

Race Result<\/a><\/p>\n

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