Vettel wins, Hamilton second at Silverstone

SILVERSTONE, july 8

Sebastian Vettel won the British Grand Prix for Ferrari on Sunday to deny Lewis Hamilton a fifth successive home victory and move eight points clear at the top of the F1 standings.

In a thrilling race with two safety car periods, reigning champion Hamilton went from pole position to the rear of the field before finishing second for Mercedes in a superb fightback. Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen was third, after incurring a 10-second penalty for tangling with the slow-starting Hamilton at the third corner of the opening lap and sending the Briton spinning. The win was Vettel’s fourth of the season, 51st of his career, and once-dominant champions Mercedes’ first defeat at Silverstone since 2012 before the V6 turbo era started. Hamilton was on a charge from the first lap, back up to seventh already after nine laps but still 26 seconds behind his fellow four-times world champion. 

The appearance of the safety car on the 33rd lap, after Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson crashed, was greeted with a huge cheer from the 140,500 crowd and was just what Hamilton needed to close the gap. — Reuters