2016 GRAND PRIX OF EUROPE EDITION
The Finn had risen as high as second place in the
race, passing team-mate Vettel with an undercut, but he
later ceded the position back to the quicker German and
then found himself fending off Perez.
Raikkonen was also hit with a five-second penalty
due to crossing the white line at the pit entry and
while Perez was safe in the knowledge that with a 0.5
seconds gap to Raikkonen he would take P3 in the
classification, the Mexican was determined to take the
position on the track. He managed it on the final lap.
“I knew that the podium was secure but when I saw
the opportunity, that it was safe enough to do it and no
risk at all, I went for it, because it obviously feel a lot
nicer to finish the race P3,” said a delighted Perez who
rose from seventh on the grid to take third place, after
a gearbox change following an FP3 crash dropped him
from P2 in qualifying.
With Hamilton fifth, Valtteri Bottas took a lonely sixth
for Williams, ahead of the Red Bull duo Daniel Ricciardo
and Max Verstappen.
Ricciardo started the race from P2 but while he
held the position in the early stages he quickly went
backwards following an early stop for soft tyres and then
again when he took on medium tyres in a second stop.
Verstappen was on a similar strategy and while he
dropped to as low as P18 after starting in P9, both Red
Bull drivers eventually began to climb back through
the pack as their more durable tyres gave them an
advantage of the soft tyres at the end of the race.
Nico Hulkenberg took ninth place for Force India,
while Felipe Massa took a solitary point for Williams with
tenth position.
Rosberg’s victory extends his championship lead
over Hamilton to 24 points, while Vettel closes the gap to
second place to 21 points. Raikkonen is 15 points further
back in fourth.
GPI