Hamilton powerless as Rosberg blazes ahead

20 June 2016 - 09:29 By Reuters, AFP

Nico Rosberg cruised to victory yesterday in the first Formula One race held in Azerbaijan and increased his championship lead over Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton to 24 points. While the German enjoyed an uneventful drive, triple world champion Hamilton worked up a head of steam as he wrestled with his car's settings without the team being able to help.The Briton, who had sounded increasingly petulant, fixed the problem but finished fifth in the European Grand Prix.Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel took second place, 16.6 seconds behind, with Force India's Mexican Sergio Perez in third place after overtaking Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari on the last lap.Hamilton was already facing an uphill struggle after he crashed out of qualifying and started from only the 10th position.And the world champion's charge back through the field was thwarted by an incorrect engine setting that prevented his Mercedes from operating at full horsepower.Porsche snatched their 18th Le Mans victory yesterday in the most dramatic of circumstances after Toyota suffered engine failure with just three minutes to go in the 24-hour race...

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