5 SILVERSTONE EPICS

NIGEL MANSELL was forced to pit for a new set of tyres after reporting vibrations on his Williams. With 30 laps remaining he was the best part of half a minute behind his team-mate and fierce rival Nelson Piquet.

The chase appeared impossible but, spurred on by his home crowd,

Mansell smashed the lap record on nine occasions before catching and passing Piquet after an exquisite move at Stowe with only two laps left. The home crowd were euphoric and Mansell responded by leaping out of his Williams and kissing the tarmac.

MICHAEL

SCHUMACHER illegally overtook pole-sitter Damon

Hill on the parade lap and was punished with a stop-and-go penalty, which he ignored. A black flag was issued which should have resulted in

Schumacher’s instant disqualification. But the German kept driving before serving his stop-and-go punishment on lap 27. Hill went on to claim a crucial victory and was presented with the winner’s trophy by Princess Diana. Schumacher finished second, but he was disqualified for ignoring a black flag and later handed a two-race ban.

SCHUMACHER was involved in more controversy four years later after winning while in the pit-lane. Mika

Hakkinen led from the start, but as the rain fell and conditions deteriorated, the Finn lost control of his McLaren and spun. Hakkinen remained in the race but had damaged his front wing. His 40-second lead was wiped out and Schumacher looked odds-on to win. However, Schumacher had illegally passed Alexander Wurz, which resulted in a stop-and-go penalty. But the stewards only announced his punishment with two laps left. At the end of the final lap, Schumacher entered the pits to serve his penalty, but had already crossed the start-finish line and won the race. The bizarre result stood despite McLaren’s protests.

LEWIS HAMILTON arrived at his home race fourth in the drivers’ standings but left on top after storming to victory in one of his outstanding performances. In torrential rain, Hamilton blitzed the field, finishing the race almost 70 seconds ahead of second-placed Nick Heidfeld and lapped the entire pack up to third.

CHAMPIONSHIP rivals

Hamilton and Max

Verstappen collided at

180mph at Copse with the latter slamming into the tyre wall. Verstappen was taken to hospital with concussion, while Hamilton was hit with a 10-second penalty. Hamilton served his punishment before driving back through the field and passing Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in the final laps to take a brilliant win.