Lewis Hamilton claimed a record sixth British Grand Prix win thanks to a little help from the Safety Car in a thrilling race at Silverstone.
The Briton was unable to pass teammate Valtteri Bottas at the start, but a longer strategy worked in his favour to give his home fans exactly what they came to see.
Race Recap
At the start, Bottas would hold the lead into Abbey as the top three got away evenly, with Charles Leclerc unable to capitalise on his soft compound tyres.
Sebastian Vettel would get the jump on a slow-starting Pierre Gasly into P5, with Lando Norris also making a crucial move on Daniel Ricciardo through Maggotts into P7.
The early laps were dominated by Hamilton hustling his teammate for the lead and would make the move at Luffield only for Bottas to hit straight back at Copse.
It was then the ferocious battle between Ferrari and Red Bull began as Leclerc’s soft tyres began to wear, allowing Verstappen to challenge for third.
His first attack would almost cost him though, as Vettel got alongside on the Wellington Straight but the Dutchman managed to stay ahead.
Instead, it was Gasly who made a move, passing the German into Village for P5 before immediately stopping for hard tyres.
Leclerc and Verstappen would pit together in a pit-stop race, and it was Max that got ahead only for the Ferrari to have more confidence on the new tyres and move back ahead after the Loop.
The pair would go back and forth with the Monegasque keeping Verstappen at bay with every attack, including a hairy moment approaching Stowe.
Max just had enough room to go down the inside after Charles had moved across on the Hangar Straight, but the Ferrari would brake later and swept around the outside to keep the place.
In the midfield fight, Ricciardo used the undercut on Norris to reclaim a nett seventh place, as Bottas pitted from the lead.
Hamilton would stay out longer to try and get ahead, and that lead was ensured when Antonio Giovinazzi slid into the gravel at the Vale chicane, causing a Safety Car.
The Briton was easily able to pit and emerge in front, with Vettel also climbing upto third thanks to the interruption as Verstappen and Leclerc stopped again for the hard tyre too.
At the restart, Hamilton maintained the lead while Leclerc and Verstappen resumed their duel, the pair would come to blows through the Vale chicane with Max just staying ahead.
He would then pass Gasly for fourth and attacked Vettel for third with a great move at Stowe.
It would all change moments later though as the Ferrari locked up under braking into Vale, punting the Red Bull over the kerb into the gravel.
Both were able to recover with Vettel stopping for a new front wing, but the stewards would give him a 10-second penalty for the collision.
The promoted Leclerc back upto third, with Gasly matching his best F1 result in fourth and Verstappen rounding out the top five.
Madness in the midfield saw the Safety Car ruin Norris’ race, as his second stop dropped him outside the top 10.
Serio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg made contact at Brooklands, with the Mexican losing his wing and positions changed seemingly by the metre.
It would settle with the battle for P7 forming between Carlos Sainz, who benefitted from staying out, and Ricciardo for sixth place.
The McLaren and Renault were too just equally matched, however, allowing the Spaniard to stay ahead until the end.
Kimi Raikkonen and Daniil Kvyat also gained places, finishing eighth and ninth, while Hulkenberg denied Alex Albon a point in his home race with a late move for P10.
Norris’ late charge saw him fall just short in 11th with Albon dropping to 12th in the Toro Rosso.
George Russell scored his best result of the year in 14th, ahead of Vettel after his penalty for hitting Verstappen.
Joining Giovinazzi in failing to finish were the two Haas cars, as Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen touched wheels on lap one, with both suffering race-ending damage.
All eyes were on Hamilton at the front though, as he opted not to follow Bottas by pitting for softs late on and would still set the fastest lap on the final lap.
His seventh win of the season sees him open a 39-point lead in the Drivers’ standings, heading to another historic venue at Hockenheim for the German GP in two weeks time.
Full results below:
