World champion Lewis Hamilton will head to the Hungarian Grand Prix in a fortnight knowing that he can overhaul Mercedes teammate and fierce rival Nico Rosberg in their title battle.
 All the momentum is with the Briton after he romped to victory at Silverstone on Sunday for his fourth win in the last five races to move menacingly within a point of the German, who was demoted from runner-up to third for a breach of the rules governing radio communication.
 “It’s mesmerising to see so many people so cheerful,” said Hamilton, reflecting on the acclaim of 130,000 fans at his home race, where Rosberg was booed on the podium — just as Hamilton was in Austria earlier this month.
 “Just seeing how positive everyone was, the constant love that’s shown. I really feel like we did it together. It is a long journey we have been on, and there is real love there.”
 Having equalled fellow Briton Nigel Mansell’s record of four Silverstone wins by completing a hat-trick, it was apt to hear the defending three-time champion talking about the same kind of “people power” that powered the 1992 world champion to his triumphs.
 And seven days after chastising Hamilton for his part in a “brainless” move that saw him crash with Rosberg on the final lap of the Austrian victory, his Mercedes team chief Toto Wolff was eulogising him for his unmatched elan and speed in the wet conditions. “Lewis stormed away at the beginning,” said Wolff. “He had the right pace and he just walked over the water. On a day like this, Lewis Hamilton is unstoppable.”
 On the first racing lap after the safety car — out because of the heavy rain — had withdrawn, Hamilton surged into a lead of 3.6 seconds. He attributed his speed to the support of the Silverstone crowd — it helps, too, when you are racing in the fastest car in the sport.
 “I am really happy because it is so easy to come into this weekend with the wrong energy,” he said. “But to come in feeling fresh, powerful, strong and confident and then to deliver is what I plan to do every weekend. This has been the best week of the year, without doubt.”
 Rosberg, who once enjoyed a championship lead of 43 points in this topsy-turvy season, may not agree.
Having been outpaced by Hamilton, he fought and won a battle with Dutch teenager Max Verstappen of Red Bull for second, only to have it taken from him for receiving instructions on how to solve a gearbox problem.
 That short and seemingly innocuous radio dialogue led to a stewards’ inquiry and a 10-second time penalty that pushed him down to third, behind the promoted Verstappen.
Mercedes quickly gave notice that it intended to appeal and has until Thursday evening to do so. Mercedes believe that the chat was to resolve a technical safety issue and did not infringe the strict rules on “driver coaching”.
 For Hamilton and Rosberg — once good friends but now more like sworn enemies — it is a reversal of fortunes following the opening five races of the season, when the German was dominant.
 “I really feel that since that low, after Barcelona (where Hamilton and Rosberg crashed and retired on the opening lap), I was able to cultivate a very positive and strong mental attitude and that’s what I have today,” said Hamilton. “That’s how I’ve won as many races as I have and it’s something I plan to continue.”

Stop booing, Hamilton tells fans
Hamilton urged fans to be more sporting after boos were heard for the second race in a row at Silverstone on Sunday. In Austria a week before it was Hamilton, now winner of four of the last five races, who was subjected to jeers and whistles after a last-lap collision with teammate and title rival Rosberg. On Sunday, boos aimed at championship leader Rosberg mingled with the cheers after the German came second to Hamilton in front of a 139,000 strong British crowd.
 “Look at these guys, you don’t see this anywhere around the world. And you don’t hear a lot of booing, which means we’ve got good British spirit here,” Hamilton had told the sea of fans from the podium.
 When the microphone was passed to Rosberg, and it was evident that Hamilton had spoken too soon, Australia’s former F1 driver turned interviewer Mark Webber interjected: “Come on guys, he fought valiantly. He did what he could.”
 Hamilton said later he had wanted to calm the fans down and would not have behaved that way himself. “I feel like we are better than that. I didn’t really hear a lot of boos. But what you just have to understand is they are mad, passionate fans and something wasn’t right in the last one,” said the Briton.
 “Maybe when I get to Germany, maybe we will have the same thing. I hope not, because I think in sport in general it’s just not the done thing,” he said. “If I went to a football game and the other team won, I would never boo the other team because they did a better job and that’s real sportsmanship.”
 Rosberg, who attended the post-race fan party, shrugged off what had happened. “Lewis had it in Austria, that the whole crowd was booing him. The majority of the British were really, really supportive of me this weekend,” he said. “I don’t want to catch on to those 15, 20 people or more that dislike me. Much more I should mention how much I appreciate the majority of the people who were supporting me. That’s pretty awesome to see coming to here.
 “It just shows the racing spirit they have here. Not only do they love their British drivers but they appreciate passionate drivers who are out there doing their best...that’s quite unique.”

Formula One’s radio rule is rubbish, says Horner

Reuters/Silverstone
Formula One rules that prevent teams giving information to drivers over the radio need a rethink, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said on Sunday after Mercedes fell foul of stewards. “I think the rule is rubbish,” he said, speaking to reporters before Silverstone stewards imposed a 10-second post-race penalty on championship leader Nico Rosberg at the British Grand Prix.
 The penalty demoted the German from second to third and cut his championship lead over teammate Lewis Hamilton, the race winner, to one point. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen moved up from third to second, his third podium of the season.
 Despite the benefits to Red Bull of Rosberg’s demotion, Horner said the rules that the driver “must drive the car alone and unaided” did not make a great deal of sense but had to be respected anyway.
 “The rules are the rules, and on two counts it sounds like instructions were given that breached that protocol,” said the Briton. “One was the switch change that was made and the second was the instruction how to drive the car with the seventh gear issue that they had.”
 Mercedes had told Rosberg what to do after his car had a gearbox problem five laps from the end.
Sunday was something of a test case for the rules, with Mercedes arguing that they had acted because Rosberg’s car had a potentially terminal problem. They have said they plan to appeal the stewards’ decision.
 Horner had warned that a light penalty risked setting a precedent that could open the floodgates. “If it’s just a five-second penalty or a reprimand, it’s fair game for the rest of the year and there will be loads of messages that will take into account whether it’s worth five seconds (added on) or not,” he said.
 “There’s loads of information that we would like to give the drivers but we can’t. The question going forward is, are these rules right for Formula One?” asked Horner.
 In Austria a week before Silverstone, questions were raised about the rules when Mexican Sergio Perez crashed after a brake failure that his Force India team had known was imminent but felt unable to warn him about.
FIA race director Charlie Whiting said then that relaxing the radio rule on safety grounds risked opening a loophole that teams might abuse.