Hamilton bags 87th on three wheels and a flat

SILVERSTONE:LEWIS Hamilton held on to win the British Grand Prix on Sunday despite a puncture on the last lap to clinch an 87th career win and move within four of Michael Schumacher’s Formula One record. The championship leader’s record-extending seventh Silverstone win saw him finish six seconds ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who unexpectedly moved up a place after Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas sustained a puncture with three laps left.

With Hamilton so far ahead, Verstappen went in for a tyre change in a bid to gain an extra point for the fastest lap but that pit stop ultimately cost him victory because Hamilton’s front left shredded with half a lap to go. Verstappen swallowed up most of the 25-second gap but ran out of time. “I definitely haven’t experienced anything like that.

I thought my heart was going to stop,” Hamilton said. “Up until that last lap everything was smooth sailing. When I heard his (Bottas’ tyre) went I looked at mine and it seemed fine.”

Charles Leclerc finished third for Ferrari with Daniel Ricciardo fourth. “It was a very tricky race,” said Leclerc. “I am very happy with how I managed the tyres from beginning.”

When his tyre melted, Bottas had to come back for a tyre change and dropped out of the points altogether into 11th spot and 30 points behind Hamilton in the title race after four races.

Sebastian Vettel, a four-time F1 champion, placed 10th and has now failed to get into the top five for his worst start to a season since 2008. Mclaren’s Carlos Sainz Jr. also sustained a lastgasp puncture and fell to 13th.

There is another race at Silverstone next Sunday, where Pirelli may modify its tire selection.