Hamilton takes championship lead with Hungary win

Lewis Hamilton heads the driver standings for the first time this year after a controlled drive to victory in Sunday’s Budapest race. Hamilton has a six-point advantage over Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg, who finished second at the Hungaroring, as Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo joined them on the podium.

Hamilton got the jump on polesitter Rosberg at the start, and from there only lost P1 during pit stops. Red Bull were able to push the Silver Arrows in the early stages, but their challenge faded and Ricciardo came home 25 seconds off the lead, with Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel right on his tail.

In the second Red Bull-Ferrari battle, Max Verstappen held on to win a tense and lengthy scrap for fifth with Kimi Raikkonen, while Fernando Alonso took a worthy if distant seventh for McLaren. His team mate Jenson Button was the race’s sole retirement. Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz, Williams’ Valtteri Bottas and Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg completed the top ten to take the remaining points.

Hamilton may have been up front, but the nip-and-tuck flow as the two Silver Arrows cut through lapped traffic ensured that the world champion was never able to relax, once Rosberg had got his second wind and reduced the advantage Hamilton had opened up in the first stint on the supersoft Pirelli tyre.

He seemed less happy on the two sets of softs that he used after that, whereas Rosberg could push harder on them than the supersofts, but the German could not gain track position. The closest he got was on lap 52 when the gap came down to 0.6s after Hamilton was blocked by backmarker Esteban Gutierrez in the Haas, and again when Hamilton had locked up and momentarily run wide in Turn 12 on the 62nd lap, but thereafter he regained momentum and had things under control to the flag.

Both Red Bull and Ferrari showed moments of potential. Riccardo so nearly went round the outside of both Mercedes for the lead at the start but having got by Rosberg in Turn 1 he then lost out to him almost immediately in Turn 2. Later the Australian was lapping faster than the Mercedes at times, but though he got the gap down to under five seconds to Hamilton mid-race, thereafter he faded and was only just able to keep Ferrari’s Vettel at bay by the end.

Team mate Verstappen’s race was compromised when Hamilton pinched him at the start as he tried to go down the inside of the Mercedes into Turn 1, and then ruined when he came out from his first pit stop behind Raikkonen, who had started his Ferrari on the soft tyre. The Finn resolutely kept him under control, losing the Dutchman any chance of the podium.

Towards the end the boot was on the other foot, however; Verstappen overtook Raikkonen when the latter stopped for fresh supersofts on lap 50. It seemed only a matter of time before the Ferrari repassed, but as Raikkonen tried a move in Turn 2 on lap 57, the Ferrari ran into the Red Bull as it changed direction. His left front wing endplate damaged, an unhappy Raikkonen had to settle for sixth, three-tenths in arrears.

The result gives Hamilton 192 points to Rosberg’s 186, as Ricciardo moves to third on 115 just ahead of Raikkonen on 114. Vettel is fifth with 110, as Verstappen closes up with 100.

In the constructors’ stakes, Mercedes have 378 points, Ferrari 224 and Red Bull are closing still with 223.

Behind the big boys, Alonso brought his McLaren home in seventh, getting three track violation warnings on the way, as Sainz took eighth for Toro Rosso ahead of Valtteri Bottas. Jolyon Palmer had his best race in F1 and was a contender for the final point for Renault until a spin on the 48th lap dropped him back behind the Force Indias of Hulkenberg, who took 10th, and Sergio Perez. Palmer ultimate finished 13th on the road, but picked up a place thanks to a 5-second time penalty handed to Gutierrez for ignoring blue flags.

Romain Grosjean kept Raikkonen at bay for a while early on before dropping back, taking 14th in the second Haas ahead of Palmer’s Renault team mate Kevin Magnussen. Daniil Kvyat was 16th in the second Toro Rosso from Felipe Nasr’s Sauber, Felipe Massa who had a woeful race in the second Williams, and the Manors of Pascal Wehrlein and Rio Haryanto which sandwiched Marcus Ericsson’s Sauber.

Button was the only retirement. After complaining of a brake pedal which kept going to the floor he was told by his team not to change gear, and then received a drive-through penalty for unauthorised radio communication. Later his hopes ended when his car suffered an oil leak.

Rosberg beats Hamilton wins Hungary pole

HUNGARY – Mercedes' Nico Rosberg on Saturday won the pole for Sunday's Formula 1 race in Hungary with a best lap time of 1:19.965 minutes.

Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton came in second, followed by Daniel Ricciardo, Max Verstappen, Sebastian Vettel, Carlos Sainz, Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button, Nico Hulkenberg, and Valtteri Bottas.

However, Rosberg's pole could be in doubt after being called to the stewards over allegedly failing to slow for yellow flags. If Rosberg is found to be in breach of the regulations regarding yellow flags, punishments could see him lose that lap time - thus dropping him to second behind Hamilton - or put to the back of the grid.

FULL QUALIFYING RESULTS: HUNGARY
Q1 delayed and red flagged on four occasions as a result of heavy rain and accidents for Marcus Ericsson, Felipe Massa and Rio Haryanto. Qualifying ends almost an hour later than scheduled; Q2 damp-to-dry; Q3 dry racing line 

1. Nico Rosberg GER Mercedes-Mercedes 1m 19.965s 
2. Lewis Hamilton GBR Mercedes-Mercedes 1m 20.108s 
3. Daniel Ricciardo AUS Red Bull-TAG 1m 20.280s 
4. Max Verstappen NED Red Bull-TAG 1m 20.557s 
5. Sebastian Vettel GER Ferrari-Ferrari 1m 20.874s 
6. Carlos Sainz ESP Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m 21.131s 
7. Fernando Alonso ESP McLaren-Honda 1m 21.211s 
8. Jenson Button GBR McLaren-Honda 1m 21.597s 
9. Nico Hulkenberg GER Force India-Mercedes 1m 21.823s 
10. Valtteri Bottas FIN Williams-Mercedes 1m 22.182s 

11. Romain Grosjean FRA Haas-Ferrari 1m 24.941s 
12. Daniil Kvyat RUS Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m 25.301s 
13. Sergio Perez MEX Force India-Mercedes 1m 25.416s 
14. Kimi Raikkonen FIN Ferrari-Ferrari 1m 25.435s 
15. Esteban Gutierrez MEX Haas-Ferrari 1m 26.189s 
16. Felipe Nasr BRA Sauber-Ferrari 1m 27.063s

17. Jolyon Palmer GBR Renault-Renault 1m 43.965s 
18. Felipe Massa BRZ Williams-Mercedes 1m 43.999s 
19. Kevin Magnussen DEN Renault-Renault 1m 44.543s 
20. Marcus Ericsson SWE Sauber-Ferrari 1m 46.984s 
21. Pascal Wehrlein GER Manor-Mercedes 1m 47.343s 
22. Rio Haryanto INA Manor-Mercedes 1m 50.189s

Manor Racing recap of day two of Silverstone testing

SILVERSTONE TEST, 12-13 July
Day Two
Wednesday 13 July
Silverstone Circuit
Driver: Jordan King, Manor Racing Development Driver
Chassis: MRT05-01
Laps: 70
Best Lap Time: 1:35.060
Position: 10th/11

Jordan King:

A positive day in which you managed to dodge the rain and crack through a busy programme?

“Yes, it’s been a really good day - and a relatively smooth one - so we’ve had plenty of track time to achieve our objectives. Our morning session was slow-going, because we were working through some very specific aerodynamic tests with rakes on the car, so they were just out-and-in single lap runs, with modifications between each run and quite a bit of time in the garage. It’s painstaking stuff, but then I’m a Development Driver and that’s what I’m here for. This afternoon we were able to get into more substantial runs while we evaluated some new mechanical developments.”

Are you pleased with how your day has gone? 

“Very much so. It’s always very rewarding to get back in the current race car, knowing that the feedback you’re giving is genuinely contributing to driving the package and the team forward. The emphasis is on evaluation work rather than headline times, so unfortunately I didn’t get to try out the Supersoft for a qualifying run. However, within the team, we have all the information to take a good read on relative performance and I’m pretty pleased with how we’ve ended up. A good team effort I think and I look forward to seeing some of the hard work paying off in the races ahead. The car has come a long way since the last time I tested at Barcelona in May and I’m grateful for another opportunity to drive it.”

Luca Furbatto, Chief Designer:

“It’s great to bring our two day test at Silverstone to a positive conclusion, with a 70 lap tally and the completion of our planned programme. Today we’ve been able to focus more on our aerodynamic tests, as well as the continued evaluation of our mechanical developments. It’s quite a frustrating day’s work for a driver; the nature of the programme means it’s quite stop-go, with time in the garage between runs to make various changes. Jordan has done an excellent job working through the plan and provided us with some quality feedback, so he can be pleased with his contribution.

“After nine days trackside here at Silverstone, we make the very short trip home to Banbury this evening to start evaluating the information we’ve gathered and implementing these developments for forthcoming races."

Silverstone testing concludes with Ocon on top

ENGLAND – Esteban Ocon led the second day of testing at Silverstone with a best lap time of 1 minute and 30.665 seconds.

Ocon was followed by Kimi Raikkonen, Pierre Gasly, Nikita Mazepin and Stoffel Vandoorne.

The full results from today's test are below.

1	Esteban Ocon	Mercedes	1m30.665s	103 laps
2	Kimi Raikkonen	Ferrari	1m31.212s	139 laps
3	Pierre Gasly	Red Bull	1m31.429s	103 laps
4	Nikita Mazepin	Force India	1m31.561s	69 laps
5	Stoffel Vandoorne	McLaren	1m31.764s	114 laps
6	Valteri Bottas	Williams	1m32.423s	98 laps
7	Santino Ferrucci	Haas	1m33.141s	107 laps
8	Jolyon Palmer	Renault	1m33.308s	98 laps
9	Sergio Sette Camara	Toro Rosso	1m34.040s	82 laps
10	Joshua King	Manor	1m35.060s	70 laps
11	Pascal Wehrlein	Pirelli test	1m36.182s	128 laps

McLaren: Silverstone Test - Day Two Recap

Stoffel Vandoorne got back into the cockpit of the McLaren-Honda MP4-31 for the final day of in-season testing at Silverstone Circuit. Track conditions were considerably drier than yesterday and the team was able to make full use of the remaining dry tyres left over from yesterday’s wet running. A heavy rain shower shortly after lunch put a brief halt on proceedings, but the storm quickly passed and Stoffel was able to complete a productive day of testing.

The final day’s programme was a continuation of Fernando’s run plan yesterday, with further aero correlation work, multiple set-up changes, power unit functionality and systems checks, and tyre compound tests. 

The afternoon’s dry running meant Stoffel was able to test a number of set-up and balance configurations over short runs, as well as complete longer runs to monitor tyre and power unit performance, before the chequered flag fell at 18:00hrs to mark the end of the test.

Today’s running was once again trouble-free, and Stoffel clocked a total of 114 laps with a best time of 1m31.764s.

STOFFEL VANDOORNE, McLaren-Honda reserve driver

"We’ve had quite a successful day – a lot of aero stuff to do this morning and then after that I got some good runs in. We’ve been testing various new systems we’ve got on the car. It’s the final day of in-season testing so there’s always a lot on the programme to complete – not just aero and set-up but also power unit-related work.

“We weren’t too rain-affected and made the most of the dry conditions today. The car felt positive and I could push straight away, which is always a nice feeling after a few months out of the cockpit. We pressed on with a lot of development to try and resolve some of the issues we had during the British Grand Prix weekend, which wasn’t always easy as the wind changes a lot here as the day goes on and it makes quite a big difference to car balance.

“Luckily, we had a lot of tyres left because of all the rain yesterday, so in between set-up changes we tried to get as many laps in as possible, and I’m pleased with how today has gone.”

DAVID REDDING, McLaren-Honda team manager

“Stoffel started the day carrying out further aero correlation work started by Fernando yesterday. Once this was successfully completed, the programme switched to medium-term development items for both the power unit and chassis.

“Stoffel was straight up to speed and drove consistently throughout the day despite the gusting wind and occasional rain shower. Overall, we are very satisfied with how the two days of testing have gone – it’s provided us with a huge amount of valuable data to pore over, which will be put to good use by our engineers to help shape the development of the MP4-31 over the coming months and beyond.” 

SATOSHI NAKAMURA, Honda R&D Co Ltd principal engineer

“Similar to yesterday, everything went smoothly for the final day of running, and we were able to complete all aspects of our test programme. The functionality and reliability of the newly upgraded ICE intake system was further confirmed, and we were able to check for any potential shortcomings at the Hungaroring. We were also able to work on good data set-up for Hungary. This data will now be analysed on the dyno in both Milton Keynes and Sakura before the next race weekend.

“Both our drivers have done a good job over these past few days, driving solidly and giving precise, detailed feedback for us to work with, so thank you to Fernando and Stoffel. Last but not least, the team has done an incredible job during these gruelling back-to-back races and test conditions."

WHAT'S NEXT

Our team disperses to its respective bases in Woking, Milton Keynes and Sakura to process the data from the test and continue development of the MP4-31, before heading to the next grand prix of the season in Hungary in a week’s time.

TEST DATES

Two days (Tuesday 12 July – Wednesday 13 July).

Kimi gets down to work: 39 laps before lunch

ENGLAND – The second day of testing got underway this morning at the Silverstone circuit.

After Charles Leclerc made his debut on Tuesday, today it was Kimi Raikkonen who took to the track in the SF16-H. The first part of the programme focused on the usual set-up work and on aerodynamic testing. Kimi ran the Soft and Medium compound tyres, completing 39 laps, with a best time of 1.32.730 set on the Mediums.

Leclerc gave a description of his test on Tuesday.

“This morning I was able to run in the dry. Driving a Ferrari is always an incredible experience," Leclerc said. "This afternoon, the bad weather didn’t help, but all the same I’d like to thank the guys for all their hard work and help. It was a really a great experience. I felt very confortable in the car. This morning we did some aero work, while in the afternoon, we had a problem with an old power unit, so we didn’t do so much running, especially as the weather wasn’t that good. All in all, I’m very happy with my day."

Hamilton wins wet-dry Silverstone thriller

The 2016 Formula 1 British Grand Prix started on a soaked circuit, but ended with the sun shining down on Lewis Hamilton as the world champion collected his third successive Silverstone victory. Hamilton's team mate Nico Rosberg finished second on the road, but a post-race penalty - issued as a result of Mercedes providing the German with illegal instructions - dropped him to third behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen.

The opening laps were run behind the safety car after a heavy downpour shortly before the start, but once it had peeled off it was non-stop action as the track gradually dried, prompting the field to switch first from wet to intermediate tyres, and then to slick rubber from around one-third distance.

As Hamilton controlled from the front, Rosberg and Verstappen were locked in battle for much off the afternoon, both men pulling off superb passes on the other. Barely a second separated them at the flag, as Rosberg held on despite late transmission issues which required him to avoid using seventh gear - although the positions were subsequently reversed.

Daniel Ricciardo was a distant fourth in the second Red Bull, with Kimi Raikkonen an even more distant fifth in what was a dismal afternoon for Ferrari. Team mate Sebastian Vettel was ninth after picking up a penalty for forcing another car off track.

The Force Indias of Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg took sixth and seventh places, with the top ten completed by the Toro Rossos of Carlos Sainz and Daniil Kvyat in eighth and tenth respectively.

After the heavens had opened 15 minutes before the start, and the first five laps run behind the safety car, the track was ready for intermediate Pirelli tyres in place of the mandatory wets on which everyone had started.

Once the wholesale pit stopping was over, and the racing began again after a brief Virtual Safety Car deployment on Lap 7 as Pascal Wehrlein aquaplaned his Manor off into retirement, Hamilton was 4.8s ahead of Rosberg, who was initially struggling for a while in the slippery conditions. For the next eight laps the Silver Arrows were running one-two, until Rosberg made a mistake and the ever-threatening Verstappen went round the outside of him in a brave move at Chapel to snatch second place.

As Hamilton continued to lead after the next round of pits stops saw everyone switching to the medium Pirellis, Rosberg had a real battle on his hands to repass Verstappen, and that’s where he lost his chance of victory. The Dutchman not only stayed in front for lap after lap, but kept Hamilton honest at the same time. Both he and Hamilton had lurid off-track moments at Abbey and Farm, as did many others as the track remained greasy, but time and again the Red Bull driver resisted the second Mercedes at Stowe.

Eventually Rosberg found a way by there on the 38th lap, just as a very distant Vettel, down in ninth, eased Felipe Massa’s Williams off track and earned himself a five second time penalty.

Finally freed to push hard, Rosberg then launched a flurry of fastest laps as he cut the gap from 8.7s to 6.1s by lap 45. But then on the 46th lap he reported gearbox problems and was instructed by his crew to change through sixth to eighth gears, without using seventh. Remarkably, he still managed to close the gap to Hamilton, who was simply doing what he had to do to manage his race. By the finish the gap between the two Mercedes was 6.9s.

However, Rosberg's subsequent 10-second post-race penalty - which Mercedes intend to appeal - dropped him behind Verstappen, who was just 1.3s behind at the flag. The latter’s performance was hugely popular, and he finished 17.9s ahead of team mate Ricciardo.

Behind them, a terrible day for Ferrari yielded a best finish of only fifth for Raikkonen who overtook Perez’s well-driven Force India with six laps to run. By the flag, the Mexican had team mate Hulkenberg right on his tail, as Sainz gave Toro Rosso more points with eighth. Vettel retained ninth place by 0.9s from Kvyat once his penalty was applied.
It was a tough day for Williams and McLaren too, with Massa 11th from Jenson Button, and Fernando Alonso 13th after a huge, high-speed spin through the gravel at Abbey, ahead of Valtteri Bottas.

Both Manors spun off and both Renaults retired, with Jolyon Palmer having picked up a stop-go penalty after his crew released him from a pit stop with his right-rear wheel not properly attached.

Sauber’s Felipe Nasr and Haas’s Esteban Gutierrez took 15th and 16th as their respective team mates Marcus Ericsson and Romain Grosjean failed to go the distance.

Hamilton’s hat-trick - his 47th F1 win - makes him the first three-in-a-row British Grand Prix winner since the legendary Jim Clark in the Sixties, and the gap to points leader Rosberg is now down to just one point - 168 to 167 - with the notional seasonal midpoint coming up in Hungary in a fortnight.

Formula 1 Race Recap.

Raikkonen and Vettel continue partnerships with Ferrari

Ferrari on Friday announced they will retain Kimi Raikkonen for the fourth straight Formula 1 season, and us continuing their partnership with Sebastian Vettel until 2017.

"Scuderia Ferrari announces that it has renewed its technical and racing agreement with Kimi Raikkonen,” read Ferrari’s brief statement. “The driver line-up for the 2017 racing season will still consist of the Finnish driver and Sebastian Vettel.”

Raikkonen has 20 Grand Prix wins to his name, nine of those with Ferrari.

In his second stint with Ferrari, the 36-year-old has scored seven podium finishes. He partnered Fernando Alonso in 2014, before Vettel joined Ferrari in 2015, since when the German his taken three race wins.

Raikkonen previously drove for Ferrari from 2007 to 2009, winning the drivers’ title in 2007.

Hamilton beats Rosberg after thrilling finish in Austria

Lewis Hamilton won Sunday’s Grand Prix in Spielberg in dramatic fashion after passing Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg for the lead on the very last lap. The pair made contact in the move, leaving Rosberg to trail home fourth, as Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen completed the podium.

After a stewards' investigation, Rosberg - whose brake-by-wire system went into passive mode on the penultimate lap - was handed a 10-second penalty for causing a collision, but kept fourth place. He also recieved a reprimand for failing to stop with a seriously damaged car. 

Behind Hamilton, Verstappen drove another superb race to take second, 5.7s behind and only three-tenths of a second ahead of a charging Raikkonen. The Finn’s partner Sebastian Vettel had looked comfortable in front after early leader Hamilton had stopped to switch his ultrasoft Pirelli tyres for softs, but the Ferrari suffered a violent right-rear supersoft puncture on the 27th lap and crashed into the pit wall. Pirelli say they will investigate the cause fully.

Hamilton had led at the start as McLaren’s Jenson Button kept fast-starting Raikkonen at bay until the eighth lap. Rosberg was the first pit stopper, on lap 10, but Hamilton made his ultrasofts last until the 21st lap. A delay with his left-rear tyre enabled Rosberg, who had started sixth, to get ahead, however, which set up their epic fight.

Hamilton’s stop dropped him to fourth as Raikkonen led for a lap before his own stop, and that put Vettel ahead from Rosberg and Hamilton, as Raikkonen dropped behind the Red Bulls of Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo.

The safety car was deployed as Vettel’s debris was cleared up - for two laps cars were diverted through the pits - then Rosberg took up the lead from Hamilton as racing resumed on the 32nd lap. The gap between the battling Silver Arrows was rarely more than two seconds as Hamilton bided his time. Rosberg seemed to have things nicely under control, though, despite carrying some rubber debris from Vettel’s tyre and damage to his left barge board, and as they chased one another, single-stopping Verstappen firmly established himself in third place as Ricciardo kept Raikkonen under control.

Hamilton got the gap down to 0.9s on the 44th lap, before Rosberg eased it up again, then the Englishman pitted on the 54th lap to get the undercut. He had no new supersoft tyres left, so had to go to another set of softs; Rosberg pitted a lap later and took his remaining supersofts, and came out still in the lead. He maintained that at just over a second for a long time, as both caught and passed Verstappen, who had taken the lead during their stops. But on the 67th lap Hamilton really went on to the attack and sliced the gap to 0.7s, then 0.4s for two laps. But Rosberg was unflustered until making a mistake in Turn 1 on that last lap and letting Hamilton get a big run on him going down to Turn 2. He got inside Rosberg in the preceding gentle left curve, but that left him on the outside of Turn 2. Rosberg appeared to let his car run wide until contact was made, and Hamilton was eased into the run-off area. The stewards later said that the German had failed to leave 'racing room'.

The pair nearly collided again as Hamilton kept his foot in, rejoined the track and swept past Rosberg's ailing car on the approach to Turn 3. Rosberg’s wing was damaged in the contact, and as he was slowing Sergio Perez complicated the issue by going off the road in a big shunt at Turn 3 after a brake failure, putting the final touch to a brutally disappointing race for Force India.

With Rosberg hobbled, Hamilton sped on to his 46th career victory, as Verstappen just kept Raikkonen at bay and the second Mercedes limped home for fourth.

He still holds the championship lead on 153 points, but Hamilton is now only 11 points behind on 142. Vettel and Raikkonen each have 96, with Ricciardo on 88 and Verstappen on 72.

Front-row starter Nico Hulkenberg faded quickly and failed to finish thanks to brake concerns on his Force India, but it was a great day for McLaren in their best race thus far in the turbo-hybrid era, and Button was delighted with sixth after a feisty drive.

Romain Grosjean took seventh for Haas despite a five-second time penalty for pit-lane speeding, and finished ahead of Carlos Sainz who rescued what at one stage looked like an awful race for Toro Rosso, and Pascal Wehrlein hounded Valtteri Bottas’ Williams to the flag to score a hugely valuable point for Manor - and the first of his F1 career. He was only six-tenths ahead of Esteban Gutierrez in the second Haas by the end, however.

Jolyon Palmer brought his Renault home 12th ahead of Sauber’s Felipe Nasr, who was mighty at times after starting on softs and doing a 43-lap stint on them, as Renault’s Kevin Magnussen was also penalised five seconds for pit-lane speeding and took 14th ahead of Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson and final finisher Rio Haryanto in the Manor.

Besides Vettel, Hulkenberg and Perez, Williams’ Felipe Massa failed to finish due to rising brake temperatures, having started from the pits because of a front wing problem on the formation laps. Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat also began his afternoon from the pit lane after an overnight chassis change but was the first retirement, while the energy store battery pack system on Fernando Alonso’s McLaren let him down with just a handful of laps remaining.

From F1.

Qualifying - Hamilton and Hulkenberg on front row in Austria

Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton will start Sunday’s Spielberg race from pole position after a dramatic wet-dry qualifying session at the Red Bull Ring. Five-place grid penalties for team mate Nico Rosberg - second fastest - and Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel - fourth - mean Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg joins Hamilton on the front row of the grid, with McLaren’s Jenson Button third.

Q3 started on a wet track which required intermediate tyres, but ended on a rapidly drying one, forcing drivers to switch back to slick rubber. Kimi Raikkonen ended up fifth for Ferrari, ahead of Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo, Williams’ Valtteri Bottas, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Williams’ Felipe Massa.

A dry Q1 saw Hamilton come out fighting, setting the track’s fastest-ever times of 1m 07.014s and then 1m 06.947s before Vettel jumped to second with 1m 07.030s and then Rosberg, his car brilliantly repaired in time by Mercedes after his FP3 crash (with help from Hamilton’s mechanics too), slammed in a 1m 06.690s and then improved that to 1m 06.516s just after Vettel had reduced his time to 1m 06.761s. Great stuff.

Sergio Perez was forced to retire his Force India early on with a suspected rear suspension failure, and with just under two minutes remaining, Daniil Kvyat showed how tricky the kerbs can be here. The Russian ran wide on the exit to Turn 8, and his oversteering Toro Rosso broke its right rear suspension as it went over the punishing undulations.

The Toro Rosso slithered down towards the apex of Turn 9, where Kvyat was lucky to avoid hitting the pit entry wall sideways on, before bouncing uncomfortably over his own battered wheels and stopped in the run-off area.

After a brief red-flag period the session was restarted with just 1m 44s left on the clock, and there was immediate drama as Carlos Sainz’s Toro Rosso’s engine appeared to blow up. Hulkenberg improved, pushing the startling Pascal Wehrlein from ninth to a nonetheless hugely impressive 10th in the Manor, but that didn’t change anything for the final six.

Kevin Magnussen and Renault team mate Jolyon Palmer failed to improve and that left them 17th and 18th on 1m 07.941s and 1m 07.965s respectively. Rio Haryanto improved to 1m 08.026s for Manor to take 19th ahead of Kvyat on 1m 08.409s, with Marcus Ericsson narrowly heading Sauber partner Felipe Nasr, 1m 08.416s to 1m 08.446s.

As the remaining drivers prepared for Q2, the risk of rain increased. Eight minutes was the ETA.

Cleverly, Ferrari ran Vettel and Raikkonen on supersoft tyres, meaning they can use them to start their races. Vettel was a strong third fastest on 1m 06.602s, Raikkonen seventh on 1m 06.940s. Red Bull ran Ricciardo and Verstappen on ultrasofts to begin with, but on supersofts both improved, to 1m 06.840s and 1m 06.866s respectively, leaving them fourth and fifth and thus able to use them at the start too.

Hamilton this time aced Rosberg, with 1m 06.228s to 1m 06.403s, but Mercedes gambled too long on making the same switch from ultrasofts to supersofts. Rosberg quit straight away as the first rain spots fell with four minutes left; Hamilton continued and was only a tenth down on Rosberg’s best sector one time, but by sector two he was 10 seconds off. That has thus set up a fascinating strategic battle for the race. Mercedes must start on the fragile ultrasofts, while their four strongest rivals can use the much more durable supersofts and thus run longer opening stints.

Jenson Button slipped off the road in Turn 3 but still made Q3 for McLaren, by six-thousandths from Esteban Gutierrez on 1m 07.578s for Haas. Next came the impressive Wehrlein on 1m 07.700s in Manor’s best performance of the year, and Romain Grosjean on 1m 07.850s for Haas. Fernando Alonso had one moment reported zero rain and pitted his McLaren, then regretted it when it arrived suddenly and left him 14th on 1m 08.154s.

Neither Sainz nor Perez was running, so they took 15th and 16th.

Q3 thus began in slippery conditions, with everyone on intermediate tyres. It became a session of two parts.

In both, lap times fell faster than you could write them down, but as everybody sped pitward with only minutes remaining, to switch to ultrasofts for the drying track, the order was Hamilton, Button, Ricciardo, Rosberg, Raikkonen, Hulkenberg, Vettel, Massa, Bottas and Verstappen.

Hulkenberg was the first to switch rubber, and he had spells on top, but the times were improving every lap as conditions improved. Massa, Raikkonen, Hamilton, Hulkenberg again, Vettel, and then Hamilton again all had turns at the top, and in the end it was the world champion on pole yet again with 1m 07.922s, Rosberg was next with 1m 08.465s, with Hulkenberg third on 1m 09.285s ahead of Vettel on 1m 09.781s, Button on 1m 09.900s, Raikkonen on 1m 09.901s and Ricciardo on 1m 09.980s. Bottas was eighth with 1m 10.440s ahead of Verstappen on 1m 11.153s and Massa on 1m 11.977s.

Both Vettel and Rosberg have five-place grid penalties for unscheduled gearbox changes, while Palmer, Nasr and Haryanto all picked up three-place penalties for failing to slow sufficiently for yellow flags in Q1.

Thus the provisional grid will line up: Hamilton, Hulkenberg; Button, Raikkonen; Ricciardo, Rosberg; Bottas, Verstappen; Vettel, Massa; Gutierrez, Wehrlein; Grosjean, Alonso; Sainz, Perez; Magnussen, Kvyat; Ericsson, Palmer; Haryanto, Nasr.

From F1.