The Overview I

Lewis Hamilton took a nearly flawless victory before a sellout British Grand Prix that began on a rain-soaked track behind the safety car and ended in dazzling sunshine. It was his 47th win and also the first time a driver had won the British Grand Prix three years in a row since Jim Clark in the 1960s. Ominously, it was also his fourth win in five races this season.

Behind him, teammate Nico Rosberg trailed by 6.9 seconds in second. After splitting the Mercedes duo for a majority of the race, Max Verstappen was firmly in third for his second successive podium. He had again closed on Rosberg when his Mercedes developed a gearbox malfunction. It was those problems that ultimately brought Rosberg’s finishing position into question. The stewards investigated Rosberg’s Mercedes race engineer’s possible breach of the rules concerning radio transmissions advising Rosberg to change chassis settings and avoid shifting to seventh gear.

Two hours after the podium ceremonies, Rosberg received a 10-second penalty for Breach of Art. 27.1 of the Sporting Regulations for receiving unpermitted instructions. The penalty demoted Rosberg to third; Verstappen stepped up to second. Mercedes will likely appeal.

Hamilton now trails Rosberg by just one point in the driver’s championship with 11 races to go.