Lewis Hamilton capitalized from Nico Rosberg’s misfortunes to win the British GP. Rosberg, who qualified in P1, had suffered a terminal gearbox failure which led to his first retirement of the year. Valteri Bottas of Williams continued to impress by finishing second, followed by Team Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo in third.
The race started in chaotic fashion when Kimi Raikkonen went off-track. The Finn crashed his Ferrari into the barrier, bouncing the car back on the track in the process. Felipe Massa, who was looking to complete his 200th GP in F1, got hit by that Ferrari, putting an end to his race. It caused the race to be red-flagged for an hour to allow repairs on the damaged barrier. Raikkonen and Massa meanwhile escaped unhurt.
When the race restarted, Hamilton, who began the race in sixth leaped upwards, but still far-off behind Rosberg. What seemed to be a certain victory for Rosberg then turned to disaster for the German when on lap 29, his Mercedes had slowed down before stopping. Hamilton meanwhile continued his surging momentum towards the end of the race.
The highlight of this race was the battle of champions between Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso and Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel for fifth place. The duo had endured a 13-lap fierce skirmish and came in close contact with each other. However, Vettel emerged victorious on that battle and claimed fifth.
After Maldonaldo had collided with Gutierrez in Bahrain, this time its the other way around at Silverstone. Gutierrez was forced to retire while Maldonaldo managed to continue his race. Gutierrez was later handed a three-place grid penalty for the next race.
Jenson Button nearly scored his maiden podium at his home GP by finishing fourth. It could have been a fitting end for the Brit, who had a difficult year following his father’s passing in January. Thousands of fans, including Button and some members of McLaren, wore the pink T-shirts as a tribute to this.
In the end, Hamilton scored his second home victory of his career at Silverstone – a popular win for the local fans as well. He is now four points adrift from Rosberg, with the next race set for Hockenheim, Germany, which is actually Rosberg’s home race.
[RESULTS]
1. Lewis Hamilton Britain Mercedes-Mercedes 2hr 26m 52.094s 52 laps
2. Valtteri Bottas Finland Williams-Mercedes +00m 30.1s
3. Daniel Ricciardo Australia Red Bull-Renault +00m 46.4s
4. Jenson Button Britain McLaren-Mercedes +00m 47.3s
5. Sebastian Vettel Germany Red Bull-Renault +00m 53.8s
6. Fernando Alonso Spain Ferrari-Ferrari +00m 59.9s
7. Kevin Magnussen Denmark McLaren-Mercedes +01m 02.5s
8. Nico Hulkenberg Germany Force India-Mercedes +01m 28.6s
9. Daniil Kvyat Russia Toro Rosso-Renault +01m 29.3s
10. Jean-Eric Vergne France Toro Rosso-Renault +1 lap
11. Sergio Perez Mexico Force India-Mercedes +1 lap
12. Romain Grosjean France Lotus-Renault +1 lap
13. Adrian Sutil Germany Sauber-Ferrari +1 lap
14. Jules Bianchi France Marussia-Ferrari +1 laps
15. Kamui Kobayashi Japan Caterham-Renault +2 laps
16. Max Chilton Briton Marussia-Ferrari +2 laps
17. Pastor Maldonado Venezuela Lotus-Renault +3 laps
Rtd. Nico Rosberg Germany Mercedes-Mercedes 28 laps completed
Rtd. Marcus Ericsson Sweden Caterham-Renault 11 laps completed
Rtd. Esteban Gutierrez Mexico Sauber-Ferrari 9 laps completed
Rtd. Felipe Massa Brazil Williams-Mercedes 1 lap completed
Rtd. Kimi Raikkonen Finland Ferrari-Ferrari 0 laps completed
Fastest lap:
Lewis Hamilton Britain Mercedes-Mercedes 1m 37.176s Lap 26
[Image Source: AMG Mercedes Petronas, Williams F1 & Scuderia Ferrari]
