Hamilton cruises to British GP victory

Lewis Hamilton clinched his fifth British Grand Prix victory after a dominant drive at Silverstone.

The Mercedes driver was rarely threatened as he produced a faultless display to sweep to his fourth consecutive Silverstone win.

After converting his pole to the lead, Hamilton powered into a healthy lead which he maintained throughout the pit stops.

Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen proved to be the Brit’s nearest rival and was on course for second until a front left puncture in a dramatic final laps.

This handed Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas, who started ninth, second position, while Raikkonen settled for third after a late pit stop.

Lightning struck twice for Ferrari as Sebastian Vettel suffered a similar front left puncture moments after Raikkonen, which dropped him from fourth to seventh.

Hamilton’s victory has seen him close to within a point of Vettel in the championship standings.

Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo produced an impressive drive from 19th to fifth position.

Hamilton made the most of a strong start to lead Raikkonen into the first turn, while Max Verstappen duelled with Vettel for third.

Verstappen pulled an impressive move around the outside of The Loop to claim the position.

The Safety Car was soon deployed following a collision between Toro Rosso team-mates Carlos Sainz and Daniil Kvyat.

The pair were fighting for position heading into Maggots and Becketts when Kvyat tagged Sainz, resulting in spins for the pair.

Sainz retired on the spot while Kvyat continued with damage to the floor of his car, before receiving a drive-through penalty.

Meanwhile, Ricciardo progressed from 19th to 12th by lap five before running wide at Woodcote, which dropped him to the back of the pack.

Mercedes’ Bottas was among the big movers at the front as he climbed to fifth after eight laps.

At the front, Hamilton held sway from Raikkonen, Verstappen and Vettel.

All eyes turned to the battle for third as Vettel attempted to pass Verstappen at Stowe. The pair ran wide and briefly touched but Verstappen held firm.

Vettel ducked into the pits on lap 19 in a bid to undercut the Dutchman which proved successful for the Ferrari driver.

This promoted Bottas, utilising the soft tyres, to third.

Raikkonen was next to dive in the pits with Hamilton following a lap later.

Hamilton rejoined in the lead ahead of Bottas, who was yet to stop, while Raikkonen held third ahead of Vettel and Verstappen.

Ricciardo managed to climb to sixth before he made his first stop on lap 34 and dropped to 10th.

However, the Australian produced a charging performance to pass the Force Indias of Sergio Perez, Esteban Ocon and the Haas F1 of Kevin Magnussen inside two laps to snatch seventh.

At the front Hamilton was in control as he went onto take the win from Bottas after a tyre drama struck Raikkonen.

A thrilling battle for third had developed between Bottas and Vettel, which saw the former prevail after a spirited exchange.

However, a tyre failure for Vettel saw him slump to seventh.

Verstappen came home in a lonely fourth ahead of Red Bull team-mate Ricciardo and Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg.

The top 10 was completed by the Force Indias of Ocon and Perez, and Williams’ Felipe Massa.

Renault’s Jolyon Palmer retired before the race had even started as his car came to a halt on the formation lap with a hydraulics failure.

His stricken car forced the start to be aborted, cutting down the race distance by one lap.

The list of retirements was completed by the McLaren of Fernando Alonso, who lost power midway through the race.

Championship Standings