How about that, then? Here’s the drivers’ championship:
Vettel (Ferrari) 171
Hamilton (Mercedes) 163
Raikkonen (Ferrari) 116
Ricciardo (Red Bull) 106
Bottas (Mercedes) 104
Toto Wolff talks. “I’m not happy,” says the Mercedes executive director. “It’s the second time we were taken out.” Mercedes seem to think some underhand Ferrari thinking was at play but, with Raikkonen admitting his error, that might be unfair. Anyway, with the home crowd filtering down on to the track to belt out an impromptu rendition of Football’s Coming Home, here’s Giles Richards’s race report from Silverstone. Enjoy:
Hamilton looks pretty glum out there, presumably still miffed about that clash at Turn 3. He’s not interested in the fun and games between him, Vettel and the latter’s bottle of bubbly. “This is the greatest race of the year, and this is the greatest crowd, so thank you,” Hamilton says. “We will take it on the chin but I will not give up, I will not give up.” It’s never dull.
“Interesting tactics I would say, from this side,” he adds, avoiding all potential eye contact with Ferrari. For Vettel and Ferrari, that is surely as sweet a victory as it gets, preventing Hamilton, who started on pole, a record-breaking sixth win on home soil round Silverstone.
Updated
Vettel, Hamilton and Raikkonen are up on the podium, and here comes the rousing German and Italian national anthems. “Italia, Italia ...”
Updated
“It was my mistake, so that’s fine,” Raikkonen says of that 10-second penalty. “I deserved it but kept fighting.” Hamilton steps on the scales, in a bit of a huff. A man of few words at the moment, as the Ferraris enter the cool-down room. Vettel shakes Hamilton’s hand but there’s an elephant in the room – that clash at Turn 3. Conversation is in short supply.
“We live to fight another day,” is the message from Mercedes to Hamilton, who had an exhilarating race. As for Vettel, he crashes into his baying Ferrari colleagues at parc ferme. He’s, obviously, absolutely ecstatic. “The safety car spiced it up,” Vettel says. “It was not so easy to find a way through but I think I surprised Valtteri. I’m really, really happy.” That’s his first win at the British Grand Prix since 2009 – and it means so much to him.
Updated
“Grazie!” Vettel says, laughing down the team radio. He’s feeling very chirpy. Hamilton, sandwiched in between the Ferraris in second, is nevertheless soaking up plenty of admiration and adulation from the home crowd, despite being spun around by Raikkonen from the start. Bottas finished fourth, Ricciardo 5th, Hulkenberg 6th, Ocon 7th.
Sebastian Vettel wins British GP!
A priceless 25 points for Vettel and Ferrari. Lewis Hamilton has to make do with second on home soil, though he’s had a marvellous race, really, recovering from that dreadful – and little unfortunate start – at Turn 3 on the first lap. He plummeted as low as 18th, but fought back to finish second here. Kimi Raikkonen takes third ahead of Bottas.
Updated
Lap 51/52: Has Hamilton got anything left in the tank to get the better of Vettel, the race leader? It looks as though he is going to have to settle for second this afternoon ...
Updated
Lap 50/52: Vettel leads by 2.6secs. Verstappen, meanwhile, joins the six-strong list of those forced out of this race.
Lap 50/52: Bottas is on his knees, dropping to fourth, with Raikkonen up on to the podium. And now Ricciardo is breathing down his neck, less than half a second behind the Mercedes. At the front, Hamilton’s just set a new fastest middle sector, but still trails Vettel by 2.2secs.
Lap 49/52: Vettel sets a new fastest lap, of 1.30.9. But, hang on a minute, Hamilton storms in ahead of Bottas, seemingly by invitation, and now we have a real race on. Can Hamilton find a way to trump Vettel in these final few laps?
Lap 48/52: Bottas dozes off, and Vettel zooms in to regain the lead! Meanwhile, Verstappen is down in 14th, limping around the track. He’s in real trouble; will he complete the race? “Head down, Seb,” is the message to Vettel from Ferrari.
Lap 47/52: One of the front four, one of Bottas, Vettel, Hamilton or Raikkonen will win this race. One man who will not is Max Verstappen after spinning off after clipping his team-mate Daniel Ricciardo. Verstappen has lost a place but is moving very gingerly and may have lost more than it seems ...
Lap 46/52: Bottas and Mercedes are hanging on ...
Lap 44/52: The crowd are whipped up now, as Raikkonen, gloves-off, pries at Hamilton. The Mercedes, just about, pushes him wide, but you sense the Mercedes-Ferrari duel is only just beginning here. It’s a tag-team effort.
Lap 43/52: Raikkonen bypasses Verstappen, outwitting the Red Bull after a brilliant move down the outside – that’s been a terrific tussle. It’s probably not over yet. Meanwhile, Vettel and Bottas go wheel-to-wheel but the Finn digs deep to fend off the Ferrari. It’s getting very lively at the front.
Lap 42/52: Vettel and Bottas are flirting, with the Mercedes eventually pushing the Ferrari aside. Behind them, Hamilton, in third, is lurking, and he must fancy his chances from here on in. Bottas, who leads by 0.501secs, seemingly needs to up the ante at the front.
Updated
Lap 41/52: In just eleven laps time, in and around 15 minutes, we will have a race winner, believe it or not. “He understeered into me, for sure,” Sainz says of that incident. Meanwhile, the safety car is about to dash off again. It’s going to be quite the scrap after the restart.
Updated
Lap 40/52: After the race, the stewards will have another nose at that incident. It was a hard fight between Grosjean and Sainz, and it looks difficult to put any blame solely at either of their doors.
Lap 39/52: Another two drivers bite the dust, with a huge cloud of dust looming over Sainz and Grosjean. Most importantly, both drivers are up walking, safe and sound, although neither are all over each other on the trudge back to the pits. Good news. But they join Leclerc, Ericsson and Hartley on the sidelines. Meanwhile, the safety car is back at the front of the grid. This plays into Hamilton’s hands, doesn’t it? We will have another restart.
Updated
Lap 38/52: Raikkonen and Verstappen go wheel-to-wheel but the Ferrari nips in front of the Red Bull before exchanging places once more. Round three at Copse sees Raikkonen have another go but he loses out. As for Carlos Sainz, his race is finished, involved in a collision with Romain Grosjean and, once again, we’re in safety car territory. Ah ...
Updated
Lap 37/52: Attendance at Silverstone this weekend? 340,000. Staggering. On the track, with 85km to go, the safety car is gone ...
Updated
Lap 36/52: A little lull as the safety car is still out on track, with Bottas behind. “Aside from once more showing Hamilton’s skill as a driver, his charge up the field does show how ridiculously lopsided Formula One is in terms of car power/performance,” emails Tim Travers. Hamilton, meanwhile, sounds a little fearful of those Ferrari’s on fresh tyres.
Updated
Lap 35/52: In a funny way, that incident has breathed plenty of life into the upper echelons of this race. Vettel, in second, is now sandwiched in between the two Mercedes. “There’s no way I’m going to be able to compete with new tyres,” Hamilton says. “You’re the fastest guy out there, don’t give up yet,” comes the reply from Mercedes. Lovely.
Updated
Lap 34/52: Vettel pits ... Bottas is staying out. An obvious, but all the same smart move by Ferrari. New soft tyres are going on for the Ferrari, with Raikkonen and Verstappen also pitting. Mercedes, who think they have the better tyres at Silverstone, assume track position. What now?
Lap 33/52: A terrible crash for Marcus Ericsson, the Sauber, who has gone flying over the gravel at around 190mph before thudding into the tyres. We have a yellow flag, and a safety flag deployed. It looked awful but Ericsson is out of the car and looks to be OK. Let’s hope so.
Lap 32/52: And Lance Stroll has been lapped by Lewis Hamilton, who trails race leader Vettel by 22.75secs.
Lap 31/52: Was that a result of Ricciardo overdoing it, or just a wise move by the Red Bull chiefs? “It’s splitting our options at this point in time,” Horner says. “Let’s see how it works out. Sebastian must be nursing that front-left.”
Lap 30/52: Hamilton’s flying, after setting another fastest lap, shaving a few milliseconds off to record 1.31.546. The fastest ever lap at this track is 1.30.6 ... by Hamilton, of course. The gap to Raikkonen is below seven seconds, and his enemy, for want of a better word, is in his sights. Meanwhile, Ricciardo is back in the pits – again. Soft tyres are going on.
Lap 29/52: Lovely stuff by Hamilton, who has just dug deep to rack up a new fastest lap of 1.31.682. Fighting chance?
Updated
Lap 28/52: “What’s my position?” asks Hamilton. “Currently P6, all to play for,” comes the reply from his Mercedes engineer. Plenty of time to dent those in front of him yet, though, with just over half of the race run.
Updated
Lap 27/52: Grosjean, the Haas, pits to exit in mid-table mediocrity. Out in front, Bottas is closing on Vettel ...
Lap 26/52: Hamilton’s in and out in 3.5secs – it’s a little sloppy but he’s back on the track in sixth, behind Raikkonen. Vettel leads from Bottas, Verstappen’s in third and Ricciardo in fourth.
Lap 25/52: Approaching the halfway stage, Hamilton is told to box after eking out another lap. As Hamilton pits, the gap between Vettel and Bottas is 3.405secs.
Lap 24/52: “Maybe one more lap,” Hamilton says, conscious he’s just starting to lose a little time. Meanwhile, Raikkonen is breathing down the neck of Daniel Ricciardo. As for Leclerc’s woes in the pits, that will be investigated after the race, stewards say. At the front, it’s Vettel and Ferrari.
Lap 22/52: On different strategies, Hamilton is told to allow Bottas, his Mercedes team-mate on fresh and slick tyres, to breeze past him. The gap between Vettel and Bottas, in second, is less than 4secs.
Updated
Lap 21/52: And now in comes Bottas. Vettel flies through the chicane and blasts beyond the Mercedes. Hamilton is second, though is yet to pit. How long will they leave it?
Lap 20/52: Vettel pits, with a blister on his front-left tyre. That means Valtteri Bottas is the new race leader and a fairly sluggish stop means the Ferrari returns to the track only a couple of seconds in front of Hamilton, who is yet to pit. Meanwhile, a bit of oversteer runs Raikkonen into trouble. Not a brilliant couple of minutes for Ferrari, all in all.
Lap 19/52: Charles Leclerc, the Sauber, is in trouble after flying out of the pits after a 3.2secs stop. And he’s been forced into his first DNF in F1. A rear-tyre problem puts pay to any joy for him this afternoon. He joins Brendon Hartley on the sidelines.
Lap 18/52: And, with Verstappen and then Daniel Ricciardo pitting, Hamilton is momentarily up into third. It suddenly doesn’t seem so bad after that disastrous start for the Mercedes at Turn 3. Raikkonen, who has just set another fastest lap – 1.32.135 – is making some headway on Verstappen now, who has come out into fifth, with the Ferrari five seconds behind him.
Lap 17/52: Hamilton trails race leader Vettel by 24.637secs. Meanwhile, third-place Verstappen pits for Red Bull.
Lap 16/52: Raikkonen eases past Sainz and into ninth, while Hulkenberg, in sixth, is struggling to bat away Leclerc. The Ferrari has just set a new fastest lap of 1.32.670. At the back, Perez and then Stroll, in 18th. Brendon Hartley retired a little earlier – another bad day at the office for Toro Rosso.
Updated
Lap 15/52: Hamilton’s fifth and putting in some pretty decent laps. He has the Red Bulls firmly in his sights ...
Lap 13/52: In comes Raikkonen for that stationary 10-second penalty. He’s into the pits and says he’s being hampered by front-wing damage. He’s soon in and out, after 2.9secs of nifty work. But he’s out into plenty of traffic, in 10th.
Lap 12/52: Raikkonen suggests Ferrari need to find a Plan B, and fast. But his team kindly remind him that the 10-second penalty dished out for that clash with Hamilton is hardly ideal. Ricciardo is on his tail. Vettel leads from the front ...
Lap 11/52: An easy overtake for Hamilton, as he zooms past poor Hulkenberg, and into sixth. It was heavyweight v flyweight kind of stuff, and Hamilton’s pace means he has every chance yet ...
Lap 9/52: Max Verstappen is in third, 15secs ahead of Hamilton, and Daniel Ricciardo’s in fifth. “We managed to stay out of trouble,” says Red Bull’s head honcho, Christian Horner. “There’s still an awful long way go go. Nothing’s over yet.”
Updated
Lap 8/52: “How is my front wing?” Raikkonen asks Ferrari down the team radio. “Can you see anything?” He’s fourth but is yet to receive that punishment for that incident at Turn 3. And Hamilton’s up to eighth ... wowee!
Lap 7/52: The stewards have taken a dim view of that incident between Raikkonen and Hamilton, with the Ferrari handed a 10-second penalty for flying into Hamilton’s hips. The blame has been laid firmly at the Finns’ door. Meanwhile, Hamilton soars into 10th. “The rear’s moving around a lot,” he says. “I’m not sure how long it will go.” It doesn’t sound great but he’s making a fist of it.
Updated
Lap 6/72: Hamilton trails Vettel, the race leader, by around 23secs. The Ferrari leads Bottas, in second, while Verstappen, the Red Bull is in third. Raikkonen’s fourth.
Updated
Lap 5/52: Hamilton zooms past Gasly and Grosjean to march into 12th. It’s not all bad. Mercedes insist there is no damage but it seems psychological for Hamilton, who has it all to do to get into the points.
Lap 4/52: “I’ve lost my floor, I’m sure,” Hamilton says. He sounds down and out, but what he can muster? The stewards, meanwhile, are having a good look at that incident from Turn 3. A replay shows Raikkonen, locking up into the corner, appearing to clip Hamilton. Toto Wolff is not a happy bunny in the pits.
Lap 3/52: There doesn’t appear to be any visual damage, with Raikkonen and Hamilton appearing to get off scot free, although the latter is way down the grid now. He’s clawed back a couple of places, though, and he’s up into 14th.
Lap 2/52: Vettel is way out in front, almost three seconds, after a rasping start. Bottas is next for company, but Ferrari have played the party-pooper here. Only Stroll and Sergio Perez trail Hamilton, in 17th. A dreadful start for Hamilton and Mercedes, after a clash between Hamilton, Raikkonen, Perez and a couple of others. A crazy start. Meanwhile, Brendon Hartley’s retired – his British GP is done and dusted.
Lights out!
Hamilton plummets from pole to almost last inside three corners. Vettel made a flying start to jump into top spot, while Bottas assumed second. But disaster for Mercedes. “I think my car’s broken,” Hamilton, in 18th, says. We’ve started with a bang!
Updated
The routine formation lap is almost done and dusted. Here we go ...
With the race imminent, the last word(s) can go to Lewis Hamilton, the Briton vying for a record-breaking sixth win here. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many people here, it is incredible. It never gets old coming here,” he says. “It was the hardest lap to have to pull out [on Saturday]. It was so close with the Ferraris. I would have been much more comfortable with the gap I had last year.”
Weather update: the temperatures are spiralling. It’s 26.7C in the air, and basically double that out on the track, around 51.2C. It’s sizzling at Silverstone. That hasn’t stopped Kyle Edmund, in action at Wimbledon yesterday, running along, though.
We’ve had the national anthem: Football’s Coming Home , God Save the Queen. Meanwhile, Max Verstappen talks. “It’s nice and warm,” he says, “we lose a lot of straight-line speed but hopefully we are better on tyres. I’ll give it all I have.”
Up above, the Red Arrows have been making their mark with a very British – and aerobatic – introduction to Silverstone. On the grid, everybody’s going through the motions and gearing up for the off. Kenny Dalglish, Jennifer Saunders and John Bishop are cavorting among the drivers. “I’m sure we’re going to find a solution with Silverstone because we cannot leave this behind,” Ross Brawn, the F1 managing director and technical director says. “It is a very important race and we’ll find some solutions.”
Updated
Another slice of history at Silverstone today, with only one home hero racing round the circuit for the first time since 1979, when John Watson was the sole Brit, driving for McLaren. This afternoon, it is of course Mr Hamilton. After an intense 24 hours or so, he looks pretty relaxed out there, as lights out approaches.
A reminder of the drivers’ championship standings:
Vettel (Ferrari) 146
Hamilton (Mercedes) 145
Räikkönen (Ferrari) 101
Ricciardo (Red Bull) 96
Verstappen (Red Bull) 93
Bottas (Mercedes) 92
A lovely moment yesterday; Frank Williams in conversation with Bottas:
.@ValtteriBottas pops by to catch up with his old boss, Sir Frank!
— WILLIAMS RACING (@WilliamsRacing) July 7, 2018
#BritishGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/IbATcIzl3d
Updated
Twenty years on from Michael Schumacher’s controversial win at Silverstone, serving a penalty as he crossed the line, Lewis Hamilton has every chance of making further history by racking up his sixth victory on home turf, surpassing Jim Clark and Alain Prost who both have five wins apiece. Hamilton starts on pole, while Lance Stroll and Sergey Sirotkin, the two Williams drivers, will join Toro Rosso’s Brendon Hartley by beginning in the pit lane. Stroll and Sirotkin spun out during Q1 on Saturday, while Hartley starts in the pits having missed qualifying altogether following a nasty crash.
The grid!
1 Hamilton 2 Vettel
3 Räikkönen 4 Bottas
5 Verstappen 6 Ricciardo
7 Magnussen 8 Grosjean
9 Leclerc 10 Ocon
11 Hulkenberg 12 Pérez
13 Alonso 14 Gasly
15 Ericsson 16 Sainz
17 Vandoorne 18 Sirotkin
19 Stroll 20 Hartley
Preamble
Lewis Hamilton has his own plans of bringing it home. After edging out Sebastian Vettel, the Ferrari one point ahead of him in the drivers’ standings, by the faintest whisker – all 44 thousandths of a second of it – the Mercedes snatched pole on Saturday – his sixth on home soil – with a phenomenal final lap, hurtling his way round a sizzling Silverstone at 190mph, flying into the circuit’s finest, Copse and Becketts, the fastest corners at a track Hamilton himself has labelled as the fastest on the planet. He was essentially breaking the boundaries before tasting the sweet success of doing so; it was an adrenaline junkie’s dream. “I had to go over the limit to get that time out of the car, which is dangerous,” Hamilton said, still shaking a little, adding it was his “most pressurised” lap ever.
He was whizzing round the circuit while Harry Maguire had nodded England’s football team in front in Russia, and Hamilton has promised to jet out to Moscow if Gareth Southgate’s side reach the World Cup final next Sunday. He even posed in a shirt at his Mercedes debrief. “I guess I wanted to give a boost to England,” he said. “I’ll start the wave and let them continue.” 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.
Lights out: 2.10pm
Updated
