RACE REPORT
Behind, Ricciardo had closed up to
Vettel and he launched an attack on the
Ferrari driver. The pair banged sidepods
and almost came to a halt but Vettel held the
position. Ricciardo then backed off as the
stewards announced they would investigate
the Vettel/Verstappen incident after the race.
Ahead Hamilton crossed the line to
claim his 51st career win ahead of Rosberg
but all eyes were on the fight for P3.
Verstappen took the flag in third but Vettel
drew alongside furiously wagging his finger
at the teenager.
The stewards agreed and as Verstappen
climbed out of his car in parc fermé the news
was delivered that Verstappen had been
handed a five-second penalty for gaining an
advantage when he went off track.
It dropped the Dutchman to fifth place
and gained Vettel his 86th podium finish,
while Ricciardo was promoted to fourth
ahead of his team-mate.
Behind the squabbling trio, Ferrari’s
Kimi Raikkonen and Nico Hulkenberg in the
Force India, had their own intense battle for
sixth. The pair also going wheel-to-wheel
late in the race, with Hulkenberg spinning as
the pair were side-by-side and Raikkonen
taking sixth.
Hulkenberg recovered to finish seventh,
ahead of the Williams duo of Valtteri Bottas
and Felipe Massa who crossed the line in
eighth and ninth respectively.
Local hero Sergio Perez, who spent
most of the race staring at the back of
Massa’s car, scored the final point for Force
India.