The victory, following last week’s win at the Austrian Grand Prix, puts Hamilton just four points behind second-placed Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg in the drivers’ standings.
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After the Silverstone British Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton has managed to cut down his teammate’s lead to just 1 point.
Not for the first time this season, Hamilton’s championship rival Rosberg struggled in the changeable conditions.
Nico Rosberg was twice a loser at the British Grand Prix, out driven by team-mate and race victor Lewis Hamilton and stripped of second place following a radio rules infringement.
Rosberg was booed on the podium at Silverstone.
Force India pair Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg were sixth and seventh respectively, while Toro Rosso duo Carlos Sainz and Daniil Kvyat took eighth and 10th respectively to round off the points-scoring positions.
With five laps left, Rosberg encountered gearbox problems that had him stuck in seventh gear, and stewards are now checking to see if the amount of information exchanged exceeded the maximum allowable under the new team radio rules.
“I don’t know if you can be as happy as me, I’m really happy”, said Hamilton after his victory.
A downpour before the race created havoc and an immediate call for full wet tires and a start behind the safety auto. While the drivers began to pit for intermediate tyres soon after the Safety Car headed back into the pits, there were three drivers who were clearly in with an advantage – Hamilton, Rosberg and Red Bull Racing wunderkind Max Verstappen. “I was about to stop on track, so they told me “change default” to try and fix it”.
Highlights of the 52-lap race included a great battle between Rosberg and Verstappen for second place, with the Dutch teenage sensation squeezing past Rosberg on lap 16 but the German, after complaining about Verstappen’s defensive moves, got his place back on lap 38.
He received instructions from Mercedes to help combat the issue, but race stewards ruled the team contravened F1 regulations in doing so. Even Hamilton lost control there once, though he restored control by going wide and continuing his charge. “When we started the race, I was the first one who had to attack it”, said the champion.
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“Firstly I am glad that the good English weather came out”, added Hamilton.
