F1 2016: Hamilton Wins Pole at German GP; Penalised Rosberg Finishes 4th

Having won the last F1 race at Hockenheim in 2014, Rosberg was expected to put up a tough fight to the current season leader Hamilton and things did look promising till qualifying. At pole position on the grid in the final race, Rosberg had a terrible start pushing his position to four, which Hamilton as well as Red Bull utilised to their advantage with the former leading the race from turn one with a gap of 1.3 seconds. The dry track ensured that drivers started on super softs, while moving to soft compound tyres in the following laps.

The move that led to Rosberg being penalised

Rosberg pitted for his second lap at the end of lap 27, and was soon followed by Verstappen who moved to the pits in the following lap. The young Red Bull driver soon joined just ahead of Rosberg, who lunged him back and elbowed him into the corner at the Spitzkehre hairpin bend, making him turn wide over the kerbs. Verstappen alleged that Rosberg pushed him off track, while Rosberg claimed he was at full steering lock and couldn't have turned more. The matter was investigated by stewards, which led to Rosberg being given a 5 second penalty for forcing a driver off track.

As the Mercedes' and Red Bulls were batting it for the top four spots, Sesbastian Vettel of Ferrari managed to retain the fifth spot being 16.725 seconds shy of Rosberg, followed by teammate Kimi Raikkonen (+37.023) ahead of Force India's Nico Hulkenberg. At the eight spot was Jenson Button of McLaren, who managed to retain the spot ahead of Valtteri Bottas of Williams racing. Sergio Perez of Force India finished tenth in the German GP.

The gap between Hamilton and Rosberg increases further in champion standings

As for retirements, Felipe Massa complained of being hit by Jolyson Palmer of Renault and eventually retired, after having to pit for repairs. Another late retirement was Felipe Nasr in his Sauber that came to a stop in the pitlane.

Securing his sixth win for the season, Hamilton has moved up the ladder on the championship standing, increasing the gap between himself and Nico Rosberg. It is only going to get difficult for the German driver to catch up to the British racer from here on. With the Belgian GP scheduled towards the end of this month, Rosberg will certainly have a comeback plan in place.

Images Source: Formula 1