Hamilton wins British GPposted in F105 | 07 | 2015
LEWIS HAMILTON JOINED Scots double Formula One world champ Jim Clark by winning the British Grand Prix for a third time. But the defending world champ was made to work hard for his victory in the rain-hit race.
Staring from pole position, alongside team-mate Nico Rosberg, both Mercedes were overtaken by the Williams of Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas as they sprinted for the first corner.
Massa led, but it was clear Bottas was faster, and strangely and controversially Williams didn't allow the Finn to pass the Brazilian. That decision ultimately cost the team a podium finish.
At the first round of pitstops, Hamilton emerged in the lead, and shortly afterwards Rosberg filled the Mercedes 1-2 slots. But just as Massa appeared on-course for a well-deserved third place, rain swept in across the Silverstone circuit.
As track conditions deteriorated, Hamilton was the first to sweep into the pits to fit intermediates, followed soon after by the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel. Rosberg, Massa and Bottas had to circulate for another lap before switching tyres.
That delay allowed Vettel to sweep passed the two Williams to steal the final step on the podium.
Afterwards Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff admitted it was Hamilton's call to change for intermediates and the championship leader said he felt a new-found conviction in making the strategy decision solo.
"The rain came and I lost temperature in my front tyres," Hamilton explained.
"It's always trickier for the guy in the lead, you are the first one to get to it and it's questionable how much risk you take.
Related: Hamilton sees F1 lead cut in Austria
"I think it's the first time I made the perfectly right choice to say I was coming in, because I could see the rain coming more.
"I've never had that before and I feel really happy about that.
"It was one of the trickiest races I've had here, 2008 was worse, but it was still very, very tricky."
And Hamilton's team-mate Rosberg admitted he initially thought the Englishman had made the wrong decision to pit for inters.
"I was thankful when the rain came," the German, who now trails championship leader Hamilton by 17 points, explained. "I was able to attack and pass both Williams and close on Lewis a lot. I was hoping it would stay like that and I thought I could attack Lewis at some point.
"Then Lewis boxed and I was pretty sure it was the wrong call. It was still touch and go at that time, so I was actually quite happy that he boxed.
"But it was the right call in the end: it started raining more on that lap, so that was it.
"I had to take that chance, because just following Lewis into the box is a definite lose for me, so I might as well stay out for one more lap at least and it didn't work out."
Related: Double podium for Scot Stuart Easton
On the opening lap of the race, Romain Grosjean's Lotus appeared to tangle with the Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo, which then speared the Frenchman into his team-mate Pastor Maldonado, putting both out of the race.
But there wa a more significant knock-on effect of that crash when Fernando Alonso, forced to take avoiding action, hit his McLaren team-mate Jenson Button, which put the Briton out of the race and left Alonso needing to pit for a new nose.
It was a disastrous race for Toro Rosso, which had showed such strong pace early in the weekend.
Max Verstappen's weekend ended in the gravel when he spun off on cold tyres after the early safety car came in.
Carlos Sainz Jr was running ninth when he stopped out on track at the final corner, banging the steering wheel in disbelief, with the virtual safety car being called into action briefly as a result.
Sauber's Marcus Ericsson, who ran in the points for much of the race, struggled in the wet conditions and dropped to 11th with Manor's Roberto Merhi and Will Stevens — who required a late nose change after an off in the wet — the last of the finishers in 12th and 13th respectively.
Ricciardo retired his Red Bull before the halfway point with what he suspected was an electrical problem.
Formula One British Grand Prix, Silverstone — Result:
1. Lewis Hamilton GBR Mercedes-Mercedes 52 laps 1hr 31m 27.729s
2. Nico Rosberg GER Mercedes-Mercedes +10.9s
3. Sebastian Vettel GER Ferrari-Ferrari +25.4s
4. Felipe Massa BRZ Williams-Mercedes +36.8s
5. Valtteri Bottas FIN Williams-Mercedes +1m01.1s
6. Daniil Kvyat RUS Red Bull-Renault +1m 03.9s
7. Nico Hulkenberg GER Force India-Mercedes +1m 18.7s
8. Kimi Raikkonen FIN Ferrari-Ferrari +1 lap
9. Sergio Perez MEX Force India-Mercedes +1 lap
10. Fernando Alonso ESP McLaren-Honda +1 lap
11. Marcus Ericsson SWE Sauber-Ferrari +1 lap
12. Roberto Merhi ESP Manor-Ferrari +3 laps
13. Will Stevens GBR Manor-Ferrari +3 laps
Rtd Carlos Sainz Jr ESP Toro Rosso-Renault 31 laps completed electrics
Rtd Daniel Ricciardo AUS Red Bull-Renault 21 laps completed engine
Rtd Max Verstappen NED Toro Rosso-Renault 3 laps completed accident
Rtd Pastor Maldonado VEN Lotus-Mercedes 1 lap completed accident
Rtd Romain Grosjean FRA Lotus-Mercedes 0 laps completed accident
Rtd Jenson Button GBR McLaren-Honda 0 laps completed accident
Dns Felipe Nasr BRZ Sauber-Ferrari gearbox
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Jim McGill