Hamilton makes sensational recovery to win British F1 GP at Silverstone
LEWIS Hamilton of Mercedes was sensational to recover from a 10-second penalty after a collision with championship leader Max Verstappen of Red Bull to win his home British Grand Prix at Silverstone two laps to the end of the race on Sunday.
Verstappen was out of the race in the first lap after colliding with Hamilton, who’s now one victory away from a 100th career win.
“I always try to be very measured. Max, he’s very aggressive.
Regardless of whether I agree with the penalty, I just kept working,” Hamilton said.
Charles Leclerc of Ferrari nipped past the two drivers after the incident and led for most of the race, but couldn’t hold off Hamilton’s threat and wenHopet wide on lap 50, allowing the Briton to overtake.
This was the first win for the seven-time world champion and his Mercedes team in five races, all of these won by Red Bull. Hamilton now closed the gap to Verstappen and it’s eight points behind in the drivers’ championship.
In the contructors’ standings, Mercedes are now four points behind leaders Red Bull.
“We’ve got the best crowd here. It’s a dream to win in front of them all,” Hamilton said.
Leclerc was second and secured his first podium since the British GP last year, while Hamilton’s team-mate Valtteri Bottas was third.
“It’s difficult to enjoy 100 per cent. I gave all of me but it was not enough in the last two laps. The team is working incredibly well.
I’m incredibly proud of them,” a visibly disappointed Leclerc said.
Bottas, who was overtaken by Leclerc in the first lap, said his start was “my weakest part. But we leave this weekend with a lot of positives for the team going forward.”
Verstappen started on pole but was immediately put under pressure by Hamilton. The Dutchman hung onto the lead, but the drivers battled through every corner and collided at Copse.
The impact pitched Verstappen into a spin and out of the race as a result. He had to be helped out of the car and was taken to the medical centre at Silverstone. Red Bull later said he was taken to the local hospital for “further precautionary tests.” Later in the evening, he tweeted that he was all right.
“Glad I’m ok. Very disappointed with being taken out like this. The penalty given does not help us and doesn’t do justice to the dangerous move Lewis made on track. Watching the celebrations while still in hospital is disrespectful and unsportsmanlike behavior but we move on,” Verstappen wrote on Twitter.
Leclerc then took the lead, but the session was red agged due to damage in the barriers and debris on the track.
After a standing start, the Monegasque held on to the position despite Hamilton’s attack and engine issues.
The Briton served his 10-second penalty during the pitstop and rejoined the track in fifth but fought his way back to the top three and eventually reached Leclerc with two laps left.
Both dove down at Copse and Hamilton attempted the overtaking.
Leclerc could have had the opportunity to fight back but the Ferrari driver went wide, ending his chances of a win.
Next stop is the Hungarian Grand Prix on August 1.