It is going to be a long four weeks until the next round of the Formula One season, the Belgian Grand Prix, takes place on August 28 for Nico Rosberg.
The Mercedes-GP driver heads off into the summer break needing to urgently find a way to stop the momentum of teammate Lewis Hamilton that is threatening to sweep the drivers’ championship away from him.
It seems an eternity ago, not May 29, that Rosberg had started the Monaco Grand Prix with a 43-point advantage over Hamilton, thanks to winning the opening four races.
He even had some of the moral high ground from his collision with Hamilton on the opening lap in Spain as he had superbly ground around the outside of the Briton at Turn 1 to take the lead at the start, before they made contact two corners later.
But a mixture of his own mistakes and Hamilton finding the consistency that took him to the 2014 and 2015 titles has led to a big turnaround that continued on Sunday in Germany.
Hamilton led every lap of the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim as he claimed his sixth win in the past seven races to move 19 points clear in the standings.
It was another mature drive from the triple world champion, who controlled proceedings once he had taken the lead at the start. Pole-sitter Rosberg got bogged down and dropped to fourth behind his teammate and the two Red Bull Racing cars of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo.
While Hamilton built up an early gap and then was content to cruise at the front, setting fastest laps at leisure if he ever felt under pressure, Rosberg’s afternoon became a long slog.
Unable to pass the Red Bulls on track initially at a circuit where the Austrians were relatively close on pure performance to the dominant Mercedes machines, Rosberg looked to make his move back up the order with an early second pit stop as the majority of the frontrunners went for three stops.
When Verstappen, who had been running second, came out after his second stop on Lap 28, Rosberg was right on him, and the German tried to surprise the Dutch teenager by diving down the inside at the hairpin.
He got the first part of the move right as he got inside Verstappen, but he did not turn in immediately and ran deep into the apex of the corner, forcing the Red Bull man to run wide off the track to avoid a collision.
The stewards took a dim view of this, and particularly as Rosberg had been penalised for a similar move on Hamilton in Austria earlier this month, it was no surprise when he was given a five-second time penalty.
Rosberg took his punishment at his final pit stop, when the rules dictated his mechanics must wait five seconds before touching the car.
To compound his miserable day, Mercedes made a mess of that, leaving it 8.3 seconds before they serviced the car, and the extra time lost ensured he was too far back to fight with Ricciardo and Verstappen in the closing laps.
A 43-point lead has now become a 19-point deficit, with Hamilton scoring 160 to Rosberg’s 98 in the past seven races.
Rosberg said of his latest setback: “Being 19 points is not tough, tough is losing the race in the way I did and that will take some time to digest.”
Rosberg’s problem is that Hamilton is a formidable opponent, who rarely puts a wheel wrong, and throwing away extra points through his own mistakes is only making life more easier for his teammate.
A poor start and then misjudging how aggressive to be with Verstappen cost him at least six points here, if not more as it would have been hard for Hamilton to beat him if he had led at the start.
Rosberg has some major regrouping to do now, while Hamilton can savour an excellent past seven races.
“This is a very proud position to be in and thank you to the team, who did a fantastic job,” he said. “I didn’t make any mistakes so in my heart I’m happy with what I did.”
Report card
Star performer – Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes-GP) The world champion again put in a perfect display of speed and tyre management as he controlled the race from the front as he made it four wins in a row and has taken a firm grip on the drivers' championship.
Underperformer – Ferrari This was a disappointing day for the Italian marque as their drivers Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen had a lonely afternoon in fifth and sixth, unable to match the pace of the Mercedes and Red Bull Racing cars.
Key moment Nico Rosberg's race fell apart after he was given a five-second penalty for being found to have not given Max Verstappen enough racing room when he passed him. Second place and the chance to pressurise Hamilton instead became a low-key fourth place.
Our verdict A largely processional affair, only enlivened by Rosberg's botched attempt to make up for his poor start. The midfield action was entertaining, but Hamilton was in a class of his own at the front.
gcaygill@thenational.ae
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