Lewis Hamilton recovered from a clash with Max Verstappen to win the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.
The Briton wiped out his championship rival in an ambitious move at Copse at the opening lap, receiving a 10-second penalty as a result.
But from there the Mercedes driver put in another vintage charge to catch Charles Leclerc, who had led most of the race, in the closing laps, passing the Ferrari on the exit of the corner where the drama began, Copse.
The Monegasque had to settle for second with Valtteri Bottas coming home third in a great day for the Brackley-based team.
How it happened
Verstappen held the lead at the start, with the two championship contenders ran wheel-to-wheel for the first half-lap.
With a run on the old pit straight, Hamilton went for the inside on the Dutchman but would instead tag the rear-wheel of the Red Bull into Copse.
The moment of impact between Hamilton and Verstappen ?#BritishGP ?? #F1 pic.twitter.com/kxbV5xPYPt
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 18, 2021
The race was stopped for around 40 minutes to repair the damage to the barrier, with Verstappen sent to the hospital for checks after a 51G impact.
At the standing restart, Leclerc led away at the front as Lando Norris jumped Bottas into Abbey as Vettel spun out of the points at Luffield.
Hamilton began to put pressure on Leclerc at the front as the stewards handed him a 10-second penalty for the collision with Verstappen.
Further back, Sergio Perez, who started from the pit-lane after his disastrous Sprint Qualifying on Saturday, began to come back through the field despite starting on hard tyres.
A brief power cut for Leclerc threatened to offer Hamilton the chance of a move but was soon fixed with the Ferrari able to continue in front.
Despite starting on the Hards, Perez was among the early stoppers attempting to undercut the cars ahead.
A slow stop for Norris allowed Bottas to reclaim a net third for Mercedes in the pit-stop phase.
Hamilton completed his penalty and resumed in fourth, but was soon back in the podium places with a move on Norris into Copse.
Leclerc was able to pit and retain the lead but would have two Mercedes’ closing in as the laps ticked down.
Perez’s fightback was halted in a small DRS train behind Fernando Alonso and Stroll, prompting Red Bull to pit him again for new tyres.
Hamilton continued his push with Mercedes ordering Bottas to let his teammate through into second.
That cleared the way for the world champion to hunt down the Ferrari ahead. And Leclerc simply didn’t have enough to hold off the Mercedes as Lewis went for another move into Copse with Charles running wide on the exit.
LAP 50/52
Hamilton gets past Leclerc at Copse#BritishGP ?? #F1 pic.twitter.com/bKTqjdYDgH
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 18, 2021
Bottas came home in third, with Norris fourth after his pitstop drama. Daniel Ricciardo held off Carlos Sainz for fourth, as the Ferrari driver rued a very slow pitstop.
Alonso took seventh with Lance Stroll eighth, Yuki Tsunoda and Esteban Ocon completed the top 10.
Full results from the British Grand Prix can be seen below:
A race that will be talked about for a long time #BritishGP ?? #F1 pic.twitter.com/XMpp8gCMGy
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 18, 2021