Lewis Hamilton wins British GP, slashes Vettel's lead to 1 point

il y a 6 années, 8 mois - 17 Juillet 2017, Autoblog
Lewis Hamilton wins British GP, slashes Vettel's lead to 1 point
Lewis Hamilton won his home British Grand Prix for the fourth year in a row on Sunday, while a penultimate-lap puncture slashed Sebastian Vettel's championship lead to a single point.

The Briton's drive from pole to flag on an overcast afternoon was lonely, uneventful and dominant - in complete contrast to his Ferrari rival's afternoon - with Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas finishing 14 seconds behind to secure the one-two.

"The support has been incredible this weekend. I am so proud I could do this for you all," said Hamilton, who threw himself into the fans for some crowd surfing after the podium celebrations.

"The team were faultless this weekend, Valtteri did an incredible job as well, so it's the perfect weekend for us."

Far behind in his wake, as Hamilton cruised to a 57th career win and soaked up the applause from an army of flag-waving fans, came sudden drama.

Vettel, who had battled on worn tires but looked like securing the final podium position until the blowout, finished seventh after an emergency pit stop with a shower of sparks from the wheel rim.

"There was no sign of that happening," said Vettel over the team radio. "There were vibrations but I had it for 20 laps and it didn't get massively worse. The tires didn't look great but they never look great."

The German's Finnish teammate Kimi Raikkonen, who had been second before also being hit with a late puncture that sent Bottas and Vettel ahead of him, took third.

At the halfway stage of the 20-race season, Vettel has 177 points to Hamilton's 176 with Bottas on 154.

Hungary, a circuit where the Briton has won five times before, is next up.

Hamilton became only the third driver, after his late compatriot Jim Clark and Frenchman Alain Prost, to win the British Grand Prix five times and the first to take four successive victories at Silverstone.

Clark won four in a row in the 1960s, but one was at Aintree and another at Brands Hatch.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen finished fourth, ending a run of retirements, with Australian teammate Daniel Ricciardo fifth after fighting through the field.

Germany's Nico Hulkenberg was sixth for Renault and Force India pairing Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez were eighth and ninth with Brazilian Felipe Massa securing the final point for Williams.

Jolyon Palmer's miserable run continued, with Britain's only other driver on the grid failing to make the start after his Renault broke down on the formation lap with a brake failure.

That forced an aborted start, with the field doing another formation lap before the lights went out and Hamilton made a clean getaway.

Vettel, brakes smoking, meanwhile lost a place to Verstappen.

The Toro Rossos of Carlos Sainz and Daniil Kvyat collided on lap two, with the Spaniard shunted out and the safety car making an appearance for three laps.

Kvyat, who has been involved in a series of incidents of late, looked at fault and was given a drive-through penalty for rejoining the track in an unsafe fashion.

With Hamilton pulling away, Vettel and Verstappen provided some fireworks with the Dutch teenager keeping the door firmly closed as they went wheel to wheel.

"He wants to play bumper cars or something," exclaimed Verstappen over the radio.

2017 FORMULA 1 ROLEX BRITISH GRAND PRIX - RACE RESULT

14-16 Jul 2017 Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone

144Lewis HamiltonMERCEDES511:21:27.43025
277Valtteri BottasMERCEDES51+14.063s18
37Kimi RäikkönenFERRARI51+36.570s15
433Max VerstappenRED BULL RACING TAG HEUER51+52.125s12
53Daniel RicciardoRED BULL RACING TAG HEUER51+65.955s10
627Nico HulkenbergRENAULT51+68.109s8
75Sebastian VettelFERRARI51+93.989s6
831Esteban OconFORCE INDIA MERCEDES50+1 lap4
911Sergio PerezFORCE INDIA MERCEDES50+1 lap2
1019Felipe MassaWILLIAMS MERCEDES50+1 lap1
112Stoffel VandoorneMCLAREN HONDA50+1 lap0
1220Kevin MagnussenHAAS FERRARI50+1 lap0
138Romain GrosjeanHAAS FERRARI50+1 lap0
149Marcus EricssonSAUBER FERRARI50+1 lap0
1526Daniil KvyatTORO ROSSO50+1 lap0
1618Lance StrollWILLIAMS MERCEDES50+1 lap0
1794Pascal WehrleinSAUBER FERRARI50+1 lap0
NC14Fernando AlonsoMCLAREN HONDA32DNF0
NC55Carlos SainzTORO ROSSO0DNF0
NC30Jolyon PalmerRENAULT0DNS0

2017 DRIVER STANDINGS

1Sebastian VettelGERFERRARI177
2Lewis HamiltonGBRMERCEDES176
3Valtteri BottasFINMERCEDES154
4Daniel RicciardoAUSRED BULL RACING TAG HEUER117
5Kimi RäikkönenFINFERRARI98
6Max VerstappenNEDRED BULL RACING TAG HEUER57
7Sergio PerezMEXFORCE INDIA MERCEDES52
8Esteban OconFRAFORCE INDIA MERCEDES43
9Carlos SainzESPTORO ROSSO29
10Nico HulkenbergGERRENAULT26
11Felipe MassaBRAWILLIAMS MERCEDES23
12Lance StrollCANWILLIAMS MERCEDES18
13Romain GrosjeanFRAHAAS FERRARI18
14Kevin MagnussenDENHAAS FERRARI11
15Pascal WehrleinGERSAUBER FERRARI5
16Daniil KvyatRUSTORO ROSSO4
17Fernando AlonsoESPMCLAREN HONDA2
18Jolyon PalmerGBRRENAULT0
19Marcus EricssonSWESAUBER FERRARI0
20Stoffel VandoorneBELMCLAREN HONDA0
21Antonio GiovinazziITASAUBER FERRARI0

2017 CONSTRUCTOR STANDINGS

1MERCEDES330
2FERRARI275
3RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER174
4FORCE INDIA MERCEDES95
5WILLIAMS MERCEDES41
6TORO ROSSO33
7HAAS FERRARI29
8RENAULT26
9SAUBER FERRARI5
10MCLAREN HONDA2