The Overview II

The race began with six laps behind the safety car, with the cars on full wet tyres after a heavy shower rolled through 15 minutes before the start.  A majority of the drivers, including fifth place Kimi Raikkonen, immediately pitted for intermediates once the safety car pulled in; Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo Red was the last to pit on lap 7. Hamilton, Rosberg, and Verstappen, however, chose to stay out in the lead.

It was the first pivotal decision of the race, as Pascal Wehrlein immediately slid off the track nearly burying his Manor in the runoff area and triggering a virtual safety car period. As the pace slowed, the leading trio pitted and returned with a huge gap over the rest of the field; Hamilton was now in control 4.5 seconds clear of Rosberg, who was losing more than a second a lap to his teammate. The most unfortunate victim from the VSC was Ricciardo, who was at the tail end of the pre-VSC pit stoppers and would run the rest of the race a lonely fourth.

Verstappen’s high-downforce Red Bull had a huge grip advantage over Rosberg, and made a breathtaking pass around the outside of the championship leader at the high-speed Becketts complex and pulled away with laps three seconds faster. Verstappen in second was now lapping as fast as Hamilton.