Ferrari boss Maurizio Arrivabene claims Sebastian Vettel “fought like a lion” to shrug off neck pain and win a memorable British GP.
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Celebrating in Italian, Vettel exhaled: “We’ve won on their home ground”.
Sebastian Vettel broke British hearts with a memorable victory at Silverstone after dispatching pole-sitter and crowd favourite Lewis Hamilton.
With the victory, Vettel extended his lead in the drivers championship, now eight points ahead on 171 points.
Vettel was left stuck between the two Mercedes drivers as Bottas took the lead. The accusations were well wide of the mark.
“It was really hurting yesterday, this morning he got a lot of treatment and to be honest before the race I was really very concerned about him. To put it in James Allison’s (Mercedes technical chief) words, this is either deliberate or incompetence”.
Reading a text message sent to him by Vowles after the race, Wolff said: “There were a number of unfair comments against you (Wolff) after Austria”.
Hamilton explained his decision to go straight to the podium cool-down room after the race, rather than stay in parc ferme for the top-three interviews, was because “I didn’t have much to give at that time and needed to take a deep breath”.
Championship leader Sebastian Vettel hit Hamilton’s team-mate Valtteri Bottas at the first corner of the French Grand Prix, forcing both to return to the pits to fix damage and fight from the back.
Hamilton’s Mercedes was far too fast for the cars at the back of the field and the ease with which he passed them could be a cause for concern.
Raikkonen apologised for his first lap brush with Hamilton which earned the 38-year-old Finn a 10-second penalty.
Hamilton was seething was the race at Silverstone and suggested that Ferrari were implementing some “interesting tactics” during a race. Obviously it’s a racing incident and I can’t see behind me.
Lewis Hamilton driving in final practice at Silverstone ahead of the 2018 British Grand Prix.
Mercedes defended Allison on Twitter, emphasising he had not spoken to media and there had merely been a “jokey conversation” during the race that Wolff repeated and that had been misinterpreted. But Ferrari, the victor with championship leader Sebastian Vettel, dismissed the suggestion and others also jumped to its defence. He described it as an “unforgettable day for English sport”, and it might yet get better, as Hamilton searches for a record-breaking sixth win at Silverstone.
It’s not the first time Mercedes has struggled with starts.
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The appearance of the safety auto on the 33rd of 52 laps, after Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson crashed at Abbey, was greeted with a huge cheer from the 140,500 crowd who had already cheered Hamilton’s every overtake.
