Lewis Hamilton four to four at Silverstone

Fourth victory of the season and fourth victory on home soil at Silverstone, Lewis Hamilton had a perfect race in England this Sunday afternoon. After a start under safety car conditions following a violent downpour that occurred just over a quarter of an hour from the start, Hamilton controlled the start of the event on a damp but quickly drying track. The Briton, like his teammate Rosberg, remained on the track at the restart after five laps, unlike a large half of the peloton who chose to immediately put on the intermediate tires.

The numerous wet areas on the Silverstone track quickly trapped several drivers, including Pascal Wehrlein (Manor) who stopped his MRT 05 in the gravel trap of the first turn, causing the virtual safety car to be put in place. A period taken advantage of by Mercedes to call his two drivers back to the pits to pass the intermediate tires and benefit from a comfortable lead at the front of the race.

Behind the Silver Arrows duo, alone Max Verstappen will manage to hang on. The trio, author of errors on the track, notably at the first corner like many drivers this Sunday (Alonso, Sainz, Räikkönen…) will break away and lead the entire Grand Prix. The pilot Red Bull will remain threatening for Nico Rosberg and pass the German at the exit of Chapel.

After the second stops to put on slick tires, sequence initiated by Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari), Verstappen retains second place but will finally give in to Rosberg on the 39th lap before Stowe.

The ranking will no longer change, with Hamilton winning ahead of Rosberg, victim of gearbox problems in the final laps. The German remains under investigation due to radio exchanges to discuss the problem with his stand. Verstappen completes the podium, a top three in which the Red Bull driver is interfering more and more.

Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull) took fourth place ahead of Kimi Räikkönen (Ferrari) who got rid of the Force India of Sergio Pérez at the end of the race. Nico Hulkenberg (Force India) takes seventh place ahead of Carlos Sainz (Toro Rosso). Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari), penalized five seconds during the race for forcing Felipe Massa (Williams) to go off-course, is ninth ahead of the Toro Rosso of Daniil Kvyat. Grand Prix to forget for Romain Grosjean (Haas), forced to retire after a mechanical problem on the VF16 at the start of the race.

With this fourth success of the season, Hamilton returns to four points behind Rosberg in the championship before the next meeting at the Hungaroring on July 24.

Race results

Find the full report and analysis of the British Grand Prix, produced by our special correspondents at Silverstone, in issue 2071 of AUTOhebdo, available tomorrow evening in digital version, and from this Wednesday on newsstands.