Hamilton claims record sixth home win at British Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton had plenty of reason to celebrate in front of his home fans on Sunday after a record-breaking victory at the Formula 1 British Grand Prix at Silverstone Circuit in the UK. 

After starting on the front row alongside teammate and pole-sitter Valtteri Bottas, Hamilton benefited from a safety-car period midway through the race to take the lead and hold on to it until the very end.

Bottas finished as the runner-up to make for the seventh one-two in 10 races so far this season for reigning constructors World champions Mercedes.

Also with the result, Hamilton claimed his 80th victory in Formula One, his seventh of the 2019 season and sixth at the British Grand Prix, making him the most successful driver at this event.

Hamilton completed the 52-lap sprint in an hour 21 minutes 08.452 seconds. To add to his win, he also registered the fastest lap of 1m 27.369s on his very last go-around.

Bottas was a distant 24.928s behind Hamilton, while Charles Leclerc of Ferrari completed the podium finishers 30.117s behind.

The Red Bull Racing pair of Pierre Gasly and Max Verstappen completed the top five. Verstappen had a horrific ending after Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel crashed into him as they were battling for position. Vettel was eventually given a 10-second time penalty.

Rounding out the top 10 and the points finishers were Carlos Sainz of McLaren, Daniel Ricciardo of Renault, Kimi Raikkonen of Alfa Romeo, Daniil Kvyat of Toro Rosso and Nico Hulkenberg in the other Renault.

Following the race, Hamilton commented: “I remember my first win here in 2008 and the feeling that I had coming out of Brooklands and going down the straight and seeing the crowd, it felt so reminiscent of that today – the excitement and happiness and joy that I felt were exactly the same as back then.

“I’ve done so many races now, and you would think that after so many races you’d get used to it and the feeling would numb down, but it felt like it was the first win I ever had. Valtteri drove a very strong race and we had a really good fight in the beginning; I nearly got him going into Turn 7, but he was next to me and I couldn’t really close the door. After that I backed off a little and waited for the pit stops, hoping that I could maybe overtake him in the pits.

“I extended my first stint for a few more laps, then the Safety Car came out and that was perfect timing for me as I came back out in front of Valtteri.

“I’m really grateful to all of those people that have helped me achieve this today; I have this incredible team behind me and it’s really amazing to be a part of it, to be breaking down walls and records and pushing the limits and boundaries every weekend.”

Hamilton extended his lead in the Drivers’ Championship to 39 points as he is now on 223 while Bottas is second with 184 points. Mercedes improved to 407 points and they lead Ferrari by 164 points in the Constructors’ Championship.

The Formula 1 season resumes in a couple of weeks with the German Grand Prix at the Hockenheimring in Hockenheim from July 26 to 28.