DHL Fastest Lap Award: 2016 FORMULA 1 BRITISH GRAND PRIX

Lewis Hamilton dominated the British Grand Prix weekend at Silverstone. In all the free practice sessions, in qualifying and – most importantly – in the race itself, the 31-year-old Mercedes driver led the field. In only one other classification did another driver prevail, as Nico Rosberg took the honors for the fastest race lap. The German contender thus picks up another DHL Fastest Lap Award, a competition in which he now leads his team-mate by a score of five to two. Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull), Nico Hülkenberg (Force India) and Daniil Kvyat (Toro Rosso) are the other drivers with their names on the 2016 scoreboard, having claimed one Grand Prix fastest lap each.

In the race at Silverstone, Rosberg once again lost out to the current world champion. Hamilton secured pole position in a dramatic qualifying session. The first of his fast laps in Q3 on Saturday was disallowed by the race stewards after he was adjudged to have strayed across track limits with all four wheels. For a while, it looked as if Rosberg would be starting from the very front of the grid. But right at the last moment, Hamilton struck back with a brilliant drive.

Rain just before the start of the race called for special measures. Although it was only a short shower, it left a lot of water on the track. The stewards took the decision to start the field behind the safety car. When the safety car eventually came in, the positions at the front remained the same: Hamilton ahead of Rosberg and the precocious talent Max Verstappen in a Red Bull.

With the track drying fast, all the drivers then made a prompt change to intermediate tires. As the race progressed, Verstappen managed to get past the Silver Arrow of Rosberg. The Mercedes man later counterattacked and wrested back second place from the Dutchman.

On the 44th of 52 laps, Nico Rosberg set the time which earned him the DHL Fastest Lap Award for the British GP – 01:35.548 minutes. Immediately after, however, Rosberg found himself in difficulties with a damaged transmission – gear seven could no longer be engaged. When his engineer advised him as such over the radio, this was deemed to be a breach of the regulations governing team radio instructions introduced at the start of the season which strictly restrict the nature of communication between drivers and pit wall. The idea behind this was to make the drivers themselves more responsible for managing their own Formula 1 car.

Rosberg crossed the finish line just ahead of Verstappen to finish second but was subsequently hit with a ten-second penalty. As Verstappen’s Red Bull finished less than two seconds behind, the two drivers swapped places: Rosberg was now classified third, while Verstappen moved up to second. This had major implications for the drivers’ championship. Rosberg lost three points as a result of the penalty, and his lead on Lewis Hamilton was reduced to a single point. The tension continues to mount.

The Formula 1 teams will remain at Silverstone for a while longer after the British Grand Prix where two days of testing are scheduled for Tuesday 12th and Wednesday 13th July. After that, the teams pack up and prepare for the Hungarian Grand Prix which takes place on the weekend of 22nd - 24th July in Budapest.

Fastest race laps: 2016 FORMULA 1 BRITISH GRAND PRIX

01 Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) 01:35,548 - on Lap 44
02 Fernando Alonso (McLaren) 01:35,669 - on Lap 43
03 Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 01:35,771 - on Lap 45
04 Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull) 01:36,013 - on Lap 52
05 Felipe Massa (Williams) 01:36.141 - on Lap 40
06 Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 01:36.407 - on Lap 41
07 Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) 01:36.933 - on Lap 44
08 Kimi Räikkönen (Ferrari) 01:36,994 - on Lap 39
09 Valtteri Bottas (Williams) 01:37,383 - on Lap 45
10 Carlos Sainz (Toro Rosso) 01:37,401 - on Lap 43