GPI 2016 Grand Prix of Europe Edition | Page 63

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