QUALIFYING REPORT
“Lewis in Silverstone with the
crowd behind him, it gives him an
extra one tenth,” said the team’s
non-executive chairman Niki Lauda.
Rosberg, who has an 11 point
advantage over Hamilton after nine
of 11 races, was due to line up in
second place but was summoned
to see stewards for an alleged rules
breach at the start of qualifying.
After meeting with the Mercedes
driver and a team representative,
FIA race stewards soon ruled that
no offence had been committed.
Mercedes team bosses are sure
to be watching nervously on race
day after collisions between their
drivers in three of the last five races.
Hamilton and Rosberg
have been told they are on a
final warning, with new rules of
engagement and the threat of tough
sanctions if they make contact again
to the detriment of the dominant
Mercedes team.
Dutch teenager Max Verstappen
out-qualified his Red Bull team mate
Daniel Ricciardo for the first time
since his promotion to the senior
team from Toro Rosso, with the pair
filling the second row with Ferrari’s
Kimi Raikkonen fifth.
Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel
qualified sixth but will have a five
place grid penalty for the second
race in a row due to a gearbox
change.