The month of July was dominated by reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton, winning all four races in Austria, Britain, Hungary and Germany.
Hamilton went into the fifth month of the season 24 points behind teammate Nico Rosberg who had dominated the final race in June which took place in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Hamilton stormed to his second pole at the Red Bull Ring ahead of teammate Rosberg. The start of Q3 saw rain fall which meant intermediates were the choice of tyre initially. Nico Hulkenberg and Jenson Button made the most of the changeable conditions, qualifying third and fifth respectively but would start second and third due to penalties for five-place grid penalties for Rosberg and Sebastian Vettel for unscheduled gearbox changes.
Hamilton maintained his lead as Rosberg steadily made his way through the pack from sixth on the grid. A slow stop for Hamilton on lap 22 surrendered his lead to Rosberg. Vettel was forced to retire from the race after suffering a puncture on the start-finish straight, resulting in a safety car period. Rosberg led Hamilton, Verstappen, Ricciardo and Raikkonen at the restart.
Verstappen opted to remain on the soft tyres he fitted on lap 15 and would take the lead as Rosberg, Hamilton and Raikkonen pitted for fresh rubber. The Dutchman lost the lead to Rosberg on lap 61 with Hamilton also making light work of the Red Bull driver a couple of laps later.
The battle for the lead of the race went down to the final lap with Hamilton applying serious pressure on Rosberg. The three-time champion attempted to overtake Rosberg into Turn 2. The latter gave Hamilton no room forcing him off the circuit – Rosberg suffered front wing damage which demoted him to fourth with Hamilton taking his first win in Austria. Verstappen finished second ahead of Raikkonen. Sergio Perez’s late retirement elevated Pascal Wehrlein into 10th, scoring Manor’s first and only points of the season.
A week later was a trip to Silverstone for Hamilton’s home Grand Prix. The Brit stormed to pole position once again ahead of Rosberg and Verstappen.
Race day was greeted with rain which meant the race commenced behind the safety car. The race officially began on lap five with many drivers in the midfield immediately opting for intermediate tyres. The virtual safety car was deployed after Wehrlein became the first casualty of the day.
Hamilton dominated at the front while teammate Rosberg was embroiled in an intense battle with Verstappen. The Dutchman pulled out one of the moves of the season, overtaking Rosberg around the outside of Chapel. The move to slicks took place on lap 20, with both Mercedes drivers and Verstappen stopping for a second time.
Rosberg’s pace on the dry tyres was much stronger and he eventually caught and passed Verstappen on lap 38. The German had been suffering gearbox issues and the team had advised him to ‘avoid seventh gear’ which was deemed to be against the FIA’s radio restriction rules which resulted in a 10-second penalty for Rosberg, dropping him to third, behind Verstappen.
Hamilton became the first driver to win the British Grand Prix three times in a row, dominating from lap one. Verstappen and Rosberg joined him on the podium as the gap in the Drivers’ Championship was reduced to one point going into Hungary.
Rosberg may have taken pole position in Hungary but a poor stop dropped him to second behind Hamilton. The order at the front remained the same with the gap being as small as half a second due to the amount of traffic the leaders encountered throughout the race, Haas’ Esteban Gutierrez being the main culprit.
Hamilton went on to win in at the Hungaroring for a fifth time to take the lead of the championship for the first time in 2016. Rosberg was second ahead of Ricciardo, who continued Red Bull’s strong mid-season form.
Formula One returned to the Hockenheimring after a year break in 2015. Rosberg made it two poles in a row, securing top spot in a dry qualifying ahead of Hamilton, Ricciardo and Verstappen.
Once again, Rosberg was unable to make a good start, dropping behind Hamilton and the two Red Bulls. The German was involved in a race-long scrap with the two Red Bulls, overtaking Verstappen aggressively into the hairpin, running him out of road. The stewards deemed Rosberg to have broken the rules and was subsequently awarded a five-second penalty stop-go penalty which ultimately cost him a chance of finishing on the podium on home soil.
Hamilton stormed to a sixth win in seven races with his first win at Hockenheim since 2008. The two Red Bulls joined him on the podium with Ricciardo celebrating in a slightly unusual way, drinking champagne from his sweaty racing boot.
The momentum was with Hamilton going into the summer break but who would Rosberg respond?
