Jackpot for Mercedes – P1 and P2 in Silverstone after fabulous race

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Whoever said Formula 1 was boring, he should have waited for this race to decide. Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS put both drivers on top of the podium in Silverstone, with Lewis Hamilton starting from pole position and with Valtteri Bottas climbing into the second position from the 9th spot on the grid. Lewis Hamilton fired up at his home Grand Prix and won for the fifth time, matching the records of Jim Clark and Alain Prost, slashing Sebastian Vettel’s advantage in the drivers’ ranking. A single point now stands between the two.

“I see you out there”, Lewis Hamilton told the British fans over the radio, after the finish line and promised that he would – as every year – surf the crowd. The Brit had led all the way from start to finish, but there was plenty of drama behind him.

Safety Car Silverstone

The Toro Rosso racing cars driven by Carlos Sainz and Daniil Kyat collided on the very first lap, so the Safety Car was deployed. Raikkonen was hunting him from behind, but the Fin’s best was not enough. Meanwhile, Sebastian Vettel had his share of war with Max Verstappen, who managed to build a wall in front of the German. A battle won at the pits, with the Red Bull mechanics having trouble with a wheel’s nut at the Dutchman’s car.

Lewis Silverstone and Kimi

Valtteri Bottas was not wasting any time, constantly pushing forward, eventually climbing right behind Hamilton when the Ferrari-s pitted. The Fin than battled them both, having the advantage of fresh warm soft tires. Once Vettel an Raikkonen outpaced, the Mercedes Fin chased after teammate Hamilton, seeing the executives’ dream come true once again. Not far behind, as the Ferrari’s gave in to tire wear one by one and had to pit once again. Raikkonen miraculously recovered his place on the podium ahead of Verstappen. Another miracle was happening to Ricciardo. The Aussie, starting at the back of the grid for a gear box change penalty, finished fifth. Vettel had to settle for the seventh spot.

Formula 1 resumes in Budapest, for the Hungarian Grand Prix, in two weeks’ time.

Photo source: Channel 4 F1 (Twitter)

Pos No Driver Car Laps Time/Retired Pts
1 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 51 1:21:27.430 25
2 77 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 51 +14.063s 18
3 7 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 51 +36.570s 15
4 33 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer 51 +52.125s 12
5 3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer 51 +65.955s 10
6 27 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 51 +68.109s 8
7 5 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 51 +93.989s 6
8 31 Esteban Ocon Force India Mercedes 50 +1 lap 4
9 11 Sergio Perez Force India Mercedes 50 +1 lap 2
10 19 Felipe Massa Williams Mercedes 50 +1 lap 1
11 2 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren Honda 50 +1 lap 0
12 20 Kevin Magnussen Haas Ferrari 50 +1 lap 0
13 8 Romain Grosjean Haas Ferrari 50 +1 lap 0
14 9 Marcus Ericsson Sauber Ferrari 50 +1 lap 0
15 26 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 50 +1 lap 0
16 18 Lance Stroll Williams Mercedes 50 +1 lap 0
17 94 Pascal Wehrlein Sauber Ferrari 50 +1 lap 0
NC 14 Fernando Alonso McLaren Honda 32 DNF 0
NC 55 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso 0 DNF 0
NC 30 Jolyon Palmer Renault 0 DNS 0