RACE REPORT
Ricciardo though had
taken supersofts in his second
stop and he quickly closed
on his team-mate. With the
Australian seeking to close
down Rosberg, Verstappen
ceded P3 to his team-mate on
lap 40. Ricciardo arrowed in
on Rosberg and the Mercedes
driver, running slower and
older soft tyres, gave up
on the fight, headed for a
final stop in lap 44. It was a
painful one too. Mercedes
opted to serve his five-second
penalty during the stop but
inexplicably they held the
German stationary for well
over the duration and he lost
more time to Verstappen.
That promoted Ricciardo
to P2 and after his final stop
on lap 46, the Australian set
about building a gap to thirdplaced Verstappen.
Ricciardo, pushing hard
on his new supersofts, closed
to within seven seconds of
Hamilton but the Briton was
always in control and after
67 he took his 49th career
win, his sixth of 2016 and
his fourth in a row to extend
his champsionship lead over
Rosberg to 19 points as the
sport heads into its traditional
summer break.