Home crowd favourite Lewis Hamilton achieved his hat-track of British Grand Prix wins after a thrilling race at Silverstone.
The Mercedes driver recovered from a poor start, gave chase to the Williams duo and made the perfect strategy call on the intermediate tyre to win this race in front of his passionate fans.
Nico Rosberg finished second and was able to pass both Valtteri Bottas and then Felipe Massa, who struggled in the wet conditions after leading the first stint for Williams.
The points gap between the Silver Arrows drivers is now 17.
Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel benefited from an early switch to the intermediates to leapfrog both Williams as the rain intensified to finish third.
Massa made a superb start from third on the grid, slicing through the middle of the slow-starting Mercedes to take the lead into Abbey, with Bottas slotting into second ahead of Hamilton and Rosberg.
Hamilton reclaimed second with a pass on Bottas into Village, but the race was then neutralised when the safety car was called into action following collisions in the midfield.
The Lotus of Romain Grosjean appeared to tangle with the Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo, which speared into his team-mate Pastor Maldonado, putting both out of the race.
That incident caused a secondary accident behind with Fernando Alonso taking avoiding action and hitting his McLaren team-mate Jenson Button, which put the 2009 champion out of the race and left Alonso needing to pit for a new nose.
At the restart, Hamilton launched an attack on Massa into Club, but ran wide as the Williams defended the lead.
That desperate move allowed Bottas to slip through and take second, with Hamilton having to fend off Rosberg.
Bottas closed on Massa and while the team initially told both drivers to work together, it then allowed Bottas to attack but he could not find a way through.
Hamilton was the first to pit, crucially rejoining in front of the longer-running Force India of Sergio Perez, with Massa and Rosberg pitting together the next time around.
Massa exited his pitbox alongside Rosberg and kept his nose in front on the exit but by then, Hamilton had gone through.
Bottas then pitted and rejoined between Massa and Rosberg, meaning Hamilton inherited the lead. Setting a record of leading for the 18th race in succession to break Sir Jackie Stewart’s 45-year-old achievement.
The rain added a further headache later, but gave Rosberg a chance to fight pass both Bottas and Massa before closing on Hamilton.
The leader then timed his switch to intermediates perfectly and re-established a gap over Rosberg, who came in one lap later and had to settle for second.
Williams missed the opportunity as the race unravelled when the rain came, with Massa and Bottas struggling for pace and ending up fourth and fifth, jumped by Vettel as Ferrari made an earlier dive for intermediates and then pulled clear.
Red Bull Racing’s Daniil Kvyat was sixth and nearly caught Bottas at the end.
Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez ensured Force India’s B-spec car had a double-points haul on its debut by finishing seventh and ninth respectively, with Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen splitting the duo, The Iceman losing ground by taking intermediates too soon.
Alonso, who was one of several cars who pitted for intermediate tyres early, scored his first point of the season – after four successive retirements – with tenth for McLaren Honda.
It was a disastrous race for Toro Rosso, which had showed such strong pace early in the British Grand Prix weekend.
Max Verstappen’s weekend ended in the gravel when he spun off on cold tyres after the early safety car came in.
Carlos Sainz Jr was running ninth when he stopped out on track at the final corner, banging the steering wheel in disbelief, with the virtual safety car being called into action briefly as a result.
Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson, who ran in the points for much of the race, struggled in the wet conditions and dropped to P11 with Manor’s Roberto Merhi and Will Stevens – who required a late nose change after an off in the wet – the last of the finishers in P12 and P13 respectively.
Ricciardo retired his Red Bull before the half-distance with an electrical problem.
Felipe Nasr did not make the start after the Sauber stopped at Hanger Straight during the reconnaissance laps on the way to the grid. The team was unable to fix his problem in time.
So a dramatic and exciting British Grand Prix. The rain certainly spiced up the action and yet the familiar drivers ends up on the podium with Hamilton winning, Rosberg in runner-up spot and Vettel scoring more points.
British Grand Prix, race result after 52 laps:
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1h31m27.729s
2 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 10.956s
3 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 25.443s
4 Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes 36.839s
5 Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes 1m03.194s
6 Daniil Kvyat Red Bull-Renault 1m03.955s
7 Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1m18.744s
8 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1 Lap
9 Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes 1 Lap
10 Fernando Alonso McLaren-Honda 1 Lap
11 Marcus Ericsson Sauber-Ferrari 1 Lap
12 Roberto Merhi Marussia-Ferrari 3 Laps
13 Will Stevens Marussia-Ferrari 3 Laps
– Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso-Renault Retirement
– Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull-Renault Retirement
– Max Verstappen Toro Rosso-Renault Spun off
– Pastor Maldonado Lotus-Mercedes Collision
– Jenson Button McLaren-Honda Collision
– Romain Grosjean Lotus-Mercedes Collision
– Felipe Nasr Sauber-Ferrari Not started
Drivers’ standings:
1 Lewis Hamilton 194
2 Nico Rosberg 177
3 Sebastian Vettel 135
4 Valtteri Bottas 77
5 Kimi Raikkonen 76
6 Felipe Massa 74
7 Daniel Ricciardo 36
8 Daniil Kvyat 27
9 Nico Hulkenberg 24
10 Romain Grosjean 17
11 Felipe Nasr 16
12 Sergio Perez 15
13 Pastor Maldonado 12
14 Max Verstappen 10
15 Carlos Sainz 9
16 Marcus Ericsson 5
17 Jenson Button 4
18 Fernando Alonso 1
19 Roberto Merhi 0
20 Will Stevens 0
Constructors’ standings:
1 Mercedes 371
2 Ferrari 211
3 Williams-Mercedes 151
4 Red Bull-Renault 63
5 Force India-Mercedes 39
6 Lotus-Mercedes 29
7 Sauber-Ferrari 21
8 Toro Rosso-Renault 19
9 McLaren-Honda 5
10 Marussia-Ferrari 0
Next race: Hungarian Grand Prix, Hungaroring. July 24-26.
Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton soaked up the energy of a roaring home crowd to win the British Grand Prix for the second year in a row on Sunday and forge 17 points clear of Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg.
Germany’s Sebastian Vettel finished third for Ferrari, behind Rosberg, with Williams driver Felipe Massa bumped off the podium after leading for the first 20 laps following a blistering start.
On a tricky afternoon of safety cars, sunshine and showers Hamilton got his choice of tyres exactly right to chalk up his 38th career win and fifth of the season — and get his hands on a ‘proper’ gold trophy.
The victory in front of an estimated 140,000 fans made Hamilton only the third Briton, after Jim Clark and Nigel Mansell, to win three times at home.
“I really wanted to do it for you guys,” he told the crowd from the podium. “I am so thankful for all the support. I could see all the fans on every lap in the corner of my eye and it spurred me on.
“I just didn’t want to drop it for them,” added the Briton, who had made a sluggish start from pole position as Massa roared through from the second row to lead into the first corner.
“I am so elated you cannot imagine. I started to tear up on that last lap hoping I could do it for all the guys. Thanks for all the support.”
Rosberg, who was fourth at the end of the first lap, said his team mate had made the right call at the right time in pitting for intermediates just as the rain began to come down heavily.
Rosberg stayed out for another slippery lap before also pitting.
“I was pushing hard to try and catch Lewis under difficult conditions but he made the better call and that is where I lost it. Fair play to him,” said the German.
The safety car was deployed for two laps at the end of the first lap after Lotus drivers Pastor Maldonado and Romain Grosjean collided as well as the McLarens of Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button.
Button retired on the spot but Spaniard Alonso stayed in the race and finished lapped but 10th for his first point of a troubled season.
Only 13 cars finished, with Sauber’s Brazilian Felipe Nasr retiring before the start when his car was stuck in sixth gear on the track as he headed for the grid.
Williams took fifth place with Valtteri Bottas, who had a thrilling early duel with Massa for the lead, ahead of Red Bull’s Russian Daniil Kvyat.
Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen was eighth and sandwiched between the Force Indias of Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez in seventh and ninth.
Source: Reuters
Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg thought his team-mate Lewis Hamilton got strategy wrong. Autosport.com has the news story.
Nico Rosberg thought Mercedes Formula 1 team-mate Lewis Hamilton had made the wrong decision pitting for intermediate tyres before any of the other frontrunners in the British Grand Prix.
The German dropped to fourth at the start and spent the first half of the race stuck behind the two Williams drivers, while Hamilton took the lead after the first round of pitstops and eased clear.
While all the leaders stayed out on slicks during the first shower at Silverstone, when it started raining again Hamilton reacted first and took on intermediate Pirellis one lap before his rivals.
Rosberg had passed Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas and closed to within a couple of seconds of his team-mate before Hamilton stopped, but the German scrabbled for grip with slicks for an extra lap on the wet track and dropped almost 10 seconds back again.
“That [phase after the first stops] was not so great, I just had two Williams in front and I could not get close, I was completely blocked,” he said.
“I was thankful when the rain came. I was able to attack and pass both Williams and close on Lewis a lot.
“I was hoping it would stay like that and I thought I could attack Lewis at some point.
“Then Lewis boxed and I was pretty sure it was the wrong call. It was still touch and go at that time, so I was actually quite happy that he boxed.
“But it was the right call in the end – it started raining more on that lap, so that was it.
“I had to take that chance, because just following Lewis into the box is a definite lose for me, so I might as well stay out for one more lap at least and it didn’t work out.”
Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff admitted after the race it was Hamilton’s call to change for intermediates and the championship leader said he felt a new-found conviction in making the strategy decision solo.
“The rain came and I lost temperature in my front tyres,” Hamilton explained.
“It’s always trickier for the guy in the lead, you are the first one to get to it and it’s questionable how much risk you take.
“I think it’s the first time I made the perfectly right choice to say I was coming in, because I could see the rain coming more.
“I’ve never had that before and I feel really happy about that.
“[It was] one of the trickiest races I’ve had here – 2008 was worse, but [it was] still very, very tricky.”
Sebastian Vettel insisted his British Grand Prix podium was “not a gift” and earned on merit, though he conceded the Ferrari Formula 1 team was off the pace at Silverstone.
The Ferraris were beaten to row two by the Williams on Saturday and then lost further ground in the opening stages of the race.
Vettel dropped to ninth early on but managed to recover to the podium thanks to a perfectly-timed change to intermediates tyres that vaulted him ahead of Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas as the Williams lost ground in the wet.
But when it was suggested to Vettel that his podium was ‘a Christmas present’, he replied: “It’s not a gift, Santa didn’t wave me into the pits.
“It was our decision, and obviously not a lot of people got it right – we did, that was our choice and that’s what we achieved.”
He said the pit timing had been down to his own judgement from the cockpit.
“It’s a tough call to make – if it rains some cars are already pitting and you think about it, but if the circuit is dry in most places there’s no point,” Vettel said.
“Then I came out of Chapel and noticed a lot more rain, I was looking at the clouds all the laps before, and I thought that’s the lap to go.
“The rain was more intense, proper rain, not drizzle.”
Vettel conceded Ferrari had been upstaged by its rivals for most of the event.
“It was not a very good weekend for us, we expected to be stronger,” he said.
“I think the Williams pace surprised us on Saturday in qualifying and also on Sunday.
“I don’t think we did a step back, we just couldn’t find the right direction this weekend.
“It’s tight between us and Williams, and Red Bull were quick this weekend so I think they have done a step forward.”
Source: Autosport.com
Nico Rosberg says Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton made the right call to pit for intermediate tyres one lap earlier than him during the British Grand Prix, though the German admits he first thought his title rival had made a mistake.
Having lined up second alongside pole sitter Hamilton, Rosberg was beaten off the line by the two fast-starting Williams and dropped back to fourth.
But the Austrian Grand Prix winner managed to recover when rain hit Silverstone, with Rosberg quickly dispatching Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa before he started hunting down race leader Hamilton for the win.
“I just had these two Williams in front that completely blocked me and I could not get close so that was a bit annoying,” said last year’s championship runner-up.
“Then I was very thankful that the rain came. I felt great when it started raining I was able to attack and pass both Williams and close in on Lewis a lot. I was hoping it would stay like that and I thought I could attack Lewis at some point.
“And then Lewis boxed – and I was pretty sure that was the wrong call because it was still touch-and-go at that time, so I was quite happy that he boxed. But in the end, it was the right call because it started raining more on that lap and that was it.”
Hamilton’s third British Grand Prix win means that Rosberg now lies 17 points adrift in the Drivers’ championship as the F1 season reaches its halfway point. But the German does not have any regrets about his own strategic decision.
“I had to take that chance because just following Lewis into the box, it was definitely lose for me so I might as well take the chance to stay out and do one more lap at least. I gave it everything but it did not work out.”
Source: F1i
Ferrari boss says glass ‘half empty’ despite the fact that Sebastian Vettel recorded a third place finish at the British Grand Prix. Autosport.com has the story.
Ferrari Formula 1 team principal Maurizio Arrivabene says his glass is ‘half empty’ after the British Grand Prix, despite Sebastian Vettel taking a podium finish.
Vettel capitalised on changeable conditions to leap from fifth to third, jumping both Williams drivers by stopping at the right time to switch from slicks to intermediates.
But Ferrari chief Arrivabene said his team’s first podium since the Monaco GP at the end of May was not a cause for celebration.
“The glass is half empty, not half full,” Arrivabene said on Sunday night.
“We were doing a very good job in terms strategy – the rain helped us.
“But if the race was dry instead of wet the result was completely different.
“So if we want to be serious we need to start from there and to work on the problems that we have.”
When asked what those problems were, he added: “We have to discuss it in-house.
“We were quite slow on the straights without gaining anything in the high-speed curves.”
Kimi Raikkonen, whose gamble on making an early switch to intermediates did not pay off, dropping him to eighth, agreed that Ferrari struggled for top speed.
“We were faster than [Nico] Hulkenberg in the first stint but I couldn’t get past,” said the Finn.
“We weren’t fast enough on the straights, where you really have the chance to overtake.
“The car was fine. It felt better than yesterday, all was OK, just the laptime was missing.
“I don’t know for what reason, but the handling was as good as it could have been.
“Then the rain came and we chose to do something but it was too early.
“I thought it would keep raining, but it was four laps too early.
“It was the wrong choice, but it’s what we tried.”
Formula 1 stewards have opted not to take further action regarding the multi-car incident at the start of the British Grand Prix described by Fernando Alonso as “a big mess”.
Daniel Ricciardo’s Red Bull made contact with Romain Grosjean’s Lotus when the Australian dived down the inside of the Frenchman at Village on the opening lap.
That pushed Grosjean into team-mate Pastor Maldonado, sending the Venezuelan briefly airborne and forcing both drivers into retirement.
Alonso spun his McLaren-Honda on the exit of the corner in avoidance of the two Lotus drivers, and collected the left-rear of team-mate Jenson Button, ending the Briton’s race immediately.
A statement from the stewards read: “After hearing from all the drivers involved in the Turn 3 incident at the start of the race, it was decided that no driver was wholly or predominately to blame.”
Alonso went on to score his first point for McLaren-Honda in 10th but was unhappy after the race, labelling the incident “unbelievable”.
“They [the Lotus team-mates] touched each other, and then to avoid them I had half a spin, until I touched Jenson and he retired,” he explained.
“So one McLaren out, both Lotuses out. There definitely was no common sense at that corner.”
Red Bull team boss Christian Horner said the collision did not require any action.
“It was a racing incident,” he said. “When racing in the midfield like that it gets pretty cosy through the first few turns.”
Ricciardo ultimately retired with an engine problem but Grosjean said the Red Bull man had been “a bit optimistic” at the start.
He added: “[He] locked up and went straight. There was a Sauber outside me and Daniel so I couldn’t turn in.
“[He] touched me, I then touched the Sauber which meant my front wing and front tyres were gone and that’s why my car flicked to the left and Pastor was there.
“That was it. Turn 3 is always a bit of a tricky one and when you’re between 10th and 15th there’s always more risk.”
Source: Autosport.com
Spin cost Daniil Kvyat a chance on the British Grand Prix podium according to Red Bull Racing’s Christian Horner. Autosport.com has the details.
Christian Horner believes his Red Bull Formula 1 team could have challenged for a podium in the British Grand Prix had Daniil Kvyat not spun when it started to rain.
Red Bull brought an updated package to this weekend’s race and looked more comfortable on the sweeping turns of Silverstone with Kvyat qualifying seventh and Daniel Ricciardo 10th.
Kvyat went on to finish sixth in the race, 37 seconds behind third-placed Vettel, with Ricciardo retiring with an electrical failure of the ERS and turbo.
Horner said Kvyat was driving well before a spin on his in-lap, and he felt the Russian deserved better than sixth.
“For the first time since Monaco, it felt we were in the race,” Horner told reporters at Silverstone.
“We were racing the Ferraris and Kvyat made a good move on Seb [Vettel] into Luffield and then focused on a one-stop strategy.
“Daniil had a spin on his in-lap where he lost 10 to 12 seconds and then there was the deteriorating circuit.
“Without that, we would have been pushing Sebastian for a podium.”
Vettel, who was in the pits when Kvyat spun, said he was confused to see the Red Bull hadn’t made up much time on him while he was in the pitlane.
“I was surprised because I had Kvyat behind me when I boxed, and when I came out I could still see him just ahead,” said Vettel.
“So I didn’t know what happened to him in between, but I guess the track was tough.”
It was Red Bull’s best result since Kvyat scored a career-best fourth place in Monaco with Horner pleased to see the team making progress.
“Overall, it’s been a positive weekend and the car has made a forward step,” he said.
“We take heart from this weekend as it’s been encouraging.
“Throughout practice and the grand prix we have looked certainly been lot more competitive and Hungary represents a better opportunity for us.
“The layout of the circuit was always going to play for our strengths.
“But something that reassures us is when you get a bit of variable conditions, we saw Kvyat was the quickest on the track in last few laps there, when the rain came on the slicks.
“It’s great to see flashes of real potential there. Ultimately it could have been better today but it could have been a lot worse.”