HAMILTON WINS DRAMATIC BRITISH GRAND PRIX
LEWIS Hamilton delivered a remarkable comeback to win the British Grand Prix after he was accused of putting Max Verstappen’s life on the line when Formula One’s championship rivals crashed at 190mph.
Hamilton passed Charles Leclerc with only two-and-a-half laps remaining of a thrilling race after the Ferrari driver ran out of road on the exit of Copse in front of a 140,000 spectators on a sizzling afternoon at Silverstone, where this season’s title battle boiled over.
Hamilton was hit with a 10-second penalty for a terrifying lap-one shunt which saw Verstappen’s afternoon end in the barriers and subsequently hospital. But his stunning win - his eighth on home turf - moved him to within seven points of Verstappen on a remarkable afternoon.
Hamilton jumped out his Mercedes and leapt over a barrier before waving the Union Flag in front of the packed grandstands.
“It is massively overwhelming,” the seven-time world champion said. “It was such a physically difficult race with the best crowd. A home crowd is the best. It is a dream to do this in front of you all.”
Reflecting on his collision with Verstappen, he said: “I have been giving my all this week. I always try to be measured in battles with Max and he is aggressive. I was fully alongside him and he did not give me the space but regardless of whether I agree with the penalty I was not going to let anything get in the way of the national anthem and the British flag.”
After the crash, Hamilton was slapped with a 10-second penalty which he served at his pit stop on lap 27 of 52 which dropped him to fourth behind Bristol-born Lando Norris, Valtteri Bottas and a dozen seconds adrift of Leclerc.
Hamilton passed Norris on lap 31 before Bottas was ordered out his way by Mercedes. The world champion then set about hunting Leclerc with the gap reduced to just 1.5 seconds with four laps to run. On lap 50 of 52, Hamilton put his Mercedes on the inside of Leclerc’s Ferrari through Copse before backing out of the move, but the Monegasque ran wide and Hamilton assumed the lead to the delight of the crowd. He crossed the line 3.8 seconds clear of Leclerc with Bottas completing the podium and Norris finishing fourth.