LEW HIGH FIVE
Hamilton surfs up treat
LEWIS HAMILTON issued a world title warning after silencing his snipers with a record-equalling British Grand Prix win.
The Mercedes driver led from start to finish at Silverstone to cut Sebastian Vettel’s lead in the championship to one point at the halfway stage of the season.
And it was the perfect response to the criticism Hamilton had faced for skipping a midweek promotional event in London for a two-day break on a Greek island.
Hamilton celebrated equalling Jim Clark and Alain Prost’s record of five British GP wins by crowd surfing and high-fiving home fans.
He said: “It was the perfect weekend for us as a team. I think we really had the
LEWIS HAMILTON could not have imagined a better response or a more perfect day.
Criticised for swerving a Formula One promotional event in London in midweek to take a mini-break on a Greek island, Hamilton delivered the goods at Silverstone yesterday.
He defended his trip by saying it was to ensure he was in the best possible physical and mental shape – and who can argue after his faultless performance to win a record-equalling fifth British Grand Prix.
Not only did Hamilton move to within one point of arch rival Sebastian Vettel at the halfway stage of the drivers’ championship with his 57th career win, but he also carved himself a niche in Formula One history.
His victory put his name alongside legends Jim Clark and Alain Prost with five British Grand Prix wins – as well as equalling Clark’s record of four on the trot on home soil.
In doing so, he completed Formula One’s “Grand Slam” – he won pole position in qualifying, led every lap, recorded the fastest lap and finished top of the podium.
The bonus for Hamilton is that Vettel was only seventh after a dramatic end to the race that saw both the German and his Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen pick up punctures that forced emergency pit stops.
Raikkonen had been on course for second and Vettel fourth but their late problems promoted Valtteri Bottas from third to gift Mercedes an unexpected one-two. Raikkonen salvaged the final podium spot but Vettel lost three places – and his championship lead over Hamilton has been all but wiped out.
But both men are looking over their shoulders at Bottas whose second place means he closes to within 23 points of the lead with 10 races to go.
But the day was all about Stevenage-born Hamilton who celebrated at the end by crowd-surfing and high-fiving as many fans as he could.
He roared off the grid into a first corner lead and drove off into the distance for one of the most emphatic wins of his career. And he couldn’t resist a pop at those who had questioned his midweek jaunt to Mykonos.
He said: “There is no reason to question my preparations. I have more pole positions than anyone. My preparations are second to none.”
The usually consistent Vettel was overdue a bad day and he had one – much to the delight of the Silverstone crowd.
He tried to put on a brave face later, saying: “The weekend could have been a little bit better, for sure, but disaster? I don’t think so.”
After his fourth win of the season, Hamilton will be confident of taking the outright lead in the championship for the first time this season at the Hungarian Grand Prix in a fortnight’s time.
It was a sad day for fellow British driver Jolyon Palmer – who is rumoured to be on the brink of losing his place at Renault.
He didn’t even make the start after his car suffered hydraulic failure on the warm-up lap.