Vettel wins Silverstone thriller as Hamilton recovers to second

After laboring with neck pain on Saturday, Sebastian Vettel found the perfect tonic 24 hours later — matching Alain Prost's total of 51 Grand Prix victories and denying his main rival a record-setting win in his home race.

The German defeated secondplaced Lewis Hamilton on Sunday to win the British GP in front of a partisan crowd and extended his lead in the Formula One championship standings to eight points after 10 of 21 races.

"Sebastian drove a great race, fighting like a lion despite the pain in the neck," Ferrari team principal Maurizio Arrivabene said.

Vettel had been hindered by neck pain in the last practice, and wasn't sure if he'd be able to compete in Saturday's qualifying session. He acknowledged he had been concerned ahead of the race itself.

"I will feel it a little bit tonight. It doesn't matter. It held up. The race was fantastic," Vettel said after claiming his fourth win of the season.

Hamilton, who started in pole position after setting an electrifying track record to beat Vettel in qualifying, was going for a fifth straight victory in his home race and his sixth overall to beat the record of five he shares with Jim Clark and Prost.

But a poor start and disastrous first lap all but ended his hopes, despite Hamilton's valiant fight back to finish second.

Hamilton started aggressively, causing his wheels to spin and allowing Vettel and his Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas to streak ahead. Then Vettel's Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen bumped into the British driver at Turn 3, sending the Mercedes off the track and leaving him last.

"Interesting tactics, I would say, from their side," Hamilton complained immediately afterward. Later he was quick to say it wasn't an issue: "I don't have any concerns."

The British driver managed to fight his way back after a Ferrari-Mercedes duel developed with Bottas leading until Vettel hit the front again with five laps to go.

Vettel finished 2.264 seconds ahead of Hamilton.

"It was a super start, a super race and, yeah, a hammer finish," Vettel said.

Raikkonen, who completed the podium for Ferrari, was handed a 10-second penalty for the early incident involving Hamilton.

"That's how it goes sometimes. Not a straightforward race," said the Finn, who said he deserved the punishment.

That was no comfort to Hamilton, who quickly worked his way through the back-runners as he posted the fastest lap times.

Driving conditions were ideal under clear blue skies and temperatures well above the seasonal norms for Britain, though the heat made tire management tricky for the teams.

Vettel pitted for new tires while the safety car was out following Marcus Ericsson's crash. The Sauber driver spun off across the gravel into the barriers at high speed. He was able to emerge unaided.

Vettel was left stuck between the two Mercedes drivers as Bottas took the lead.

Hamilton expressed doubt about competing against Ferrari's new tires but was told over team radio: "Lewis, you are the fastest car by miles. Don't give up, mate. It's all there."

However, questions will again be asked about Mercedes' tactics after deciding not to pit to replace the tires. Mercedes' errors cost both Hamilton and Bottas in the Austrian GP the week before when neither finished.

"It was very, very hard with our tires, fighting against people with brand-new tires for sure. And in a perfect world, I would have had new tires - but it wasn't that kind of day for me," Hamilton said.

The safety car was out again after Romain Grosjean and Carlos Sainz collided. Vettel finally pounced to take the lead on lap 47.