
Lewis Hamilton scored his hat trick of Silverstone victories in a rain-hit British Grand Prix.
The reigning world champion finished the 52 lap race by 6.9 seconds over Rosberg. The series leader is being investigated for a breach of radio rules.
Max Verstappen made his second successive podium appearance for Red Bull with third. The teenager was fighting the Mercedes most of the race.
Verstappen nearly grabbed second when Rosberg ran into late gearbox problems.
The championship leader was told to shift quickly through seventh gear and given a line of advice on settings.
The British Grand Prix started with six laps behind the safety car after a heavy shower, though it had stopped raining by the time the race began.
Several drivers, led by Kimi Raikkonen in fifth, dived straight into the pits for intermediates when the safety car pulled in but Hamilton, Rosberg and Verstappen opted to stay out.
It proved to be smart decision as the virtual safety car was introduced when Pascal Wehrlein beached his Manor in the gravel, allowing the top three to pit and rejoin with a sizeable distance on the rest.
Verstappen coped with the drying track better than Rosberg, carrying far more speed through Becketts and then passing around the outside within the high-speed complex for second before pulling away.
Sebastian Vettel started the trend for dry tyres soon afterwards, with the top three maintaining the same order as they moved to slicks.
Hamilton and Verstappen were caught out by a puddle at Abbey (Turn 1), pitching them over the runoff and allowing the top three to close to within five seconds just past half-distance.
Rosberg was quicker than Verstappen as the track continued to dry and after complaining that the Red Bull driver moved too many times in defence, he eventually made the pass to grab second around the outside of Stowe.
Rosberg then closed on Hamilton, getting the gap down from eight to six seconds before the gearbox scare halted his chase.
Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo finished fourth for the fifth time in ten races this season, with mid-race Raikkonen fifth after a late pass on Sergio Perez – who had gained ground by staying out on wets as long as the leaders – into Stowe.
Nico Hulkenberg was seventh, ahead of Carlos Sainz and Vettel, who held onto ninth despite a five-second time penalty for forcing Felipe Massa off track at Village.
Raikkonen, Perez and Sainz all escaped track excursions and spins at Abbey on the same slippery patch that caught out Hamilton and Verstappen.
Daniil Kvyat completed the top ten to ensure Toro Rosso’s fourth double-points finish of the season.
Massa missed out on points in P11 ahead of Jenson Button, who started P17, and Fernando Alonso, who had a spectacular spin at Abbey and nudged the barrier before continuing.
Jolyon Palmer had a messy home race, with a ten seconds stop-go penalty after his Renault team released him in the pits without a right-rear tyre, and retired late on.
Rio Haryanto spun out at Abbey, tapping the barrier, while Kevin Magnussen, Romain Grosjean and Marcus Ericsson also failed to see the chequered flag.
So a dream result for Lewis Hamilton. The British driver winning in front of the home crowd. Only a single point the difference between him and Nico Rosberg. The fight for the title is on.

British Grand Prix, race results after 52 laps:
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1h34m55.831s
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull-Renault 8.250s
3 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 16.911s*
4 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull-Renault 26.211s
5 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1m09.743s
6 Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes 1m16.941s
7 Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1m17.212s
8 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m25.858s
9 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1m31.654s
10 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m32.600s
11 Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes 1 Lap
12 Jenson Button McLaren-Honda 1 Lap
13 Fernando Alonso McLaren-Honda 1 Lap
14 Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes 1 Lap
15 Felipe Nasr Sauber-Ferrari 1 Lap
16 Esteban Gutierrez Haas-Ferrari 1 Lap
17 Kevin Magnussen Renault 3 Laps
– Jolyon Palmer Renault Retirement
– Rio Haryanto Manor-Mercedes Spun off
– Romain Grosjean Haas-Ferrari Retirement
– Marcus Ericsson Sauber-Ferrari Retirement
– Pascal Wehrlein Manor-Mercedes Spun off
*10-seconds added penalty for use of radio communications
Drivers’ standings:
1 Nico Rosberg 168
2 Lewis Hamilton 167
3 Kimi Raikkonen 106
4 Daniel Ricciardo 100
5 Sebastian Vettel 98
6 Max Verstappen 90
7 Valtteri Bottas 54
8 Sergio Perez 47
9 Felipe Massa 38
10 Romain Grosjean 28
11 Nico Hulkenberg 26
12 Carlos Sainz 26
13 Daniil Kvyat 23
14 Fernando Alonso 18
15 Jenson Button 13
16 Kevin Magnussen 6
17 Pascal Wehrlein 1
18 Stoffel Vandoorne 1
19 Esteban Gutierrez 0
20 Jolyon Palmer 0
21 Marcus Ericsson 0
22 Felipe Nasr 0
23 Rio Haryanto 0
Constructors’ standings:
1 Mercedes 335
2 Ferrari 204
3 Red Bull-Renault 198
4 Williams-Mercedes 92
5 Force India-Mercedes 73
6 Toro Rosso-Ferrari 41
7 McLaren-Honda 32
8 Haas-Ferrari 28
9 Renault 6
10 Manor-Mercedes 1
11 Sauber-Ferrari 0
Next race: Hungarian Grand Prix, Hungaroring. July 22-24.


















