Hamilton Flies in front of his home crowd, Rosberg and Verstappen battle it out and the Ferrari’s struggle.
After an exciting qualifying session we started the race with Hamilton P1, Rosberg P2. Verstappen P3. 5 minutes before the end of qualifying Hamilton’s pole lap was cancelled as he drove wide on a forbidden corner! With the minutes counting down he still managed to pull it out the bag. The crowds at Silverstone went mad with excitement and relief!
Vettel faced a grid penalty and started in P11, Button has never had a good result at his home GP started in P17. After a bad crash during practice Ericsson started his race in the pit lane.
Unfortunately shortly before the race the heavens opened over Silverstone, the race was starting in the wet. Even more unfortunate due to the wetness of the track the race started under the safety car for the first five laps. For the fans at Silverstone this was more like an F1 fashion show but did give fans a good opportunity to get some good photos.
Finally the safety car is in, we see the race begin. Quite dramatically nearly half the grid all pit including Vettel. Neither the Red Bulls or Mercedes pit.
By Lap 6 we see Verstappen on Rosbergs tail, hounding him down like a Lion hunting his prey. Ricciardo in P4 Pits.
We see the lead building by Lap 7 with Hamilton already 3.7secs in front of Rosberg who has the constant pressure of Verstappen. Its busy again in the pit lane the track is drying out intermediates are the best choice. Wehrlein is out the young driver aquaplaned straight into the gravel which causes a virtual safety car this is a good opportunity for the Mercedes to pit. First in Hamilton closely (very closely) followed by Rosberg then Verstappen. Hamilton still in P1 returning to the track.
Lap 11 and we see Verstappen with the fastest lap, we see an unusual error for Bottas who skids off track to make it calmly back on to track in P13.
You can still see there are areas of the track that are still wet although on Lap 15 Vettel pits for Slicks! Poor Rosberg is getting a mental pounding from Verstappen who will not stop attacking, finally we see an epic overtake by Verstappen on Becketts.
Lap 17 Palmer retires, in the pits he attempts to drive away without a tyre which is investigated, Palmer receives a 10 second penalty. Was this a pit crew error or was Palmer too eager to drive off? Not a good ending to your first home GP.
Both Mercedes pit on Lap 18, along with Ricciardo and Perez who sneaked up to P4. Verstappen leads for a short moment, we see a spin from Vettel who is back in P12 but manages to control the car and stay on track.
Lap 19 its Hamilton in P1, Verstappen in P2. Sainz looses the back of his car manages to keep it on track unfortunately Kvyat doesn’t and ends up in the gravel. The track is still clearly quite wet even though it hasn’t rained now for a while.
We see some amazing action from Alonso in P10 trying everything to pass Bottas in P9. Alonso is so determined he tries to overtake on the grass!
Lap 26 Haryanto in the Manor is out of the race.
Its still quite wet out there and on Lap 28 even Hamilton spins off on turn 1 skilfully manages to get back on track like many others. Turn 1 is a tricky one where a lot of drivers have spun. Verstappen follows Hamilton and makes the same turn 1 error!
Rosberg is catching up with Verstappen, it has been a constant battle between these two all day. Rosberg at Lap 35 complains over team radio that Verstappen is blocking him to overtake it’s a close call as Rosberg nearly takes Verstappen.
There is a 6 second lead for Hamilton by Lap 36 he is flying, Rosberg tries to take Verstappen again by Lap 38 Rosberg has finally got past! While this is happening Vettel in P9 and Massa in P10 are having an epic battle, Vettel even complaining that Massa is trying to take him off the track.
The drama then begins, gearbox problem for Rosberg on Lap 47 and he is losing time with all that constant pushing to overtake it is now possible Verstappen will overtake him again! With only a 1.6sec gap the Mercedes team clearly tell Rosberg to leave 7th gear alone an obvious rule break http://www.fia.com/regulation/category/110. This will be investigated after the race, potential bad news for Rosberg.
Lap 52 and we have hit the final lap clearly Hamilton has this in the bag with now a 10sec lead – Easy! Silverstone erupts this is what the fans came to see!
We see a frosty atmosphere between Rosberg and Hamilton prior to them receiving their trophies on the podium. A great post podium interview by Mark Webber who tries his best to shake off the unfair boo’s Rosberg receives.
Approximately 4 hours after the race it is decided that Rosberg will receive a 10 second penalty for the advice the Mercedes team gave him during the race shifting the race results P1 Hamilton, P2 Verstappen and P3 Rosberg. This now leaves Rosberg with a 1 point lead in the championship after such a great start to the year is this slipping through his fingers? With 11 races left anything could happen!
Next stop Hungary!