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Hamilton wins thrilling British GP
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Lewis Hamilton seized back control of the British Grand Prix after being overtaken on the first corner to win his fifth race of the season yesterday and strengthen his Formula One title defense.
A Mercedes one-two was just as forecast — with Nico Rosberg completing a ninth consecutive double podium for the team — but a thrilling rain-affected race was a riposte to some of the gloomy paddock talk about the predictability of the sport.
“It was exciting for me, the start made it exciting and the English weather helped,” Hamilton said. “It’s an indication for us not to throw our toys out of the pram and say everything is wrong.”
Hamilton is the first back-to-back Silverstone winner since David Coulthard 15 years ago, thrilling the 140,000-strong home crowd at the central England circuit.
“Great job guys,” Hamilton said over the team radio. “I am so happy with that. Thank you to all the fans for coming out.”
Scattered showers at the Silverstone circuit added to the drama late on and Hamilton’s switch to intermediary tires came with a well-timed pit stop which allowed him to beat Rosberg by almost 11 seconds.
Hamilton extended his lead to 17 points over Rosberg in the championship, while Sebastian Vettel is back in third — just as he was here after the Ferrari driver fought his way up to third.
“Without the rain I don’t think we would have been on the podium,” said Vettel, a four-time world champion.
Hamilton’s third Silverstone victory was his first after starting on pole but the start suggested it would be a disappointing day for the two-time world champion. Felipe Massa stormed out in front from third for Williams on the first turn.
“My clutch was good, it’s just that we had poor grip,” Hamilton said.
The safety car was soon out after a first-lap incident when Fernando Alonso spun into McLaren teammate Jenson Button, who was forced out of his home grand prix. Alonso was able to return to the race after front-wing damage was repaired and went on to finish 10th and collect his first points of the season. Lotus duo Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado also collided and had to retire.
Brazilian Massa, who had led until lap 20, ended up finishing fourth ahead of his Williams teammate Finn Valtteri Bottas, Russian Daniil Kvyat of Red Bull and German Nico Hulkenberg, who was seventh for Force India. Finn Kimi Raikkonen was eighth for Ferrari, after making an early stop for intermediate tires that ultimately failed to pay off, ahead of Mexican Sergio Perez in the second Force India.
The grid was busy with British royalty and celebrities, including three of former pop sensations The Spice Girls — one of whom Geri Halliwell is married to Red Bull boss Christian Horner — before the start.
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