Head out of the gates of the iconic Silverstone circuit in any direction, and chances are you’ll stumble over an F1 team HQ; not least the home of the Silver Arrows in Brackley and Brixworth. This simple fact is why winning at the home of British motorsport – Silverstone – is on a level with taking the top step at Monaco or scoring big at iconic F1 circuits like Monza or Spa. Simply put a Formula One British Grand Prix is a homecoming race for the championship.
Even more reason then, why we are stoked to report that Lewis Hamilton scored a near perfect weekend at his and the MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team’s home track – from P1 on the grid to the top of the podium in 52 laps - grabbing his 47th career victory - his fourth at Silverstone as well as his fourth of the 2016 season so far.
“It’s been the best weekend of the whole year,” Lewis told us. “I couldn't believe it started raining at the beginning of the race. I thought: "are you serious?" It makes it so much harder for everyone when that happens. I couldn't really see the safety car either. It was going really slowly and my rear brakes were getting way too cold, so I was trying to heat them up and before I knew it I'm heading straight for the back of the thing! Thank goodness I could turn! Luckily it was okay and from there I was feeling great in the wet conditions. A huge thank you first of all to the team for doing such an amazing job.
Our performance this weekend has been outstanding. The engineers and mechanics did a great job, so big thanks to all of them once again. And then the crowd... I mean, where do they all come from? It's absolutely amazing! Nothing we see in any other country even comes close - and that for me just shows the passion us Brits have for sport, regardless of the weather. It's pouring down and these guys are just like "yeah, we love it!" This is beyond my wildest dreams, honestly. When I was younger I didn't see the other stuff that comes with being a Formula One driver. I was just in awe of the racing and it wasn't until I grew up that I started to understand. I'm just trying to bask in the glory and enjoy it because one day I'll be watching someone else; hopefully a young Brit, winning here and I want to make the most of these moments. For now though, it's my time - our time. Thank you so much to everyone out there today. It's just been unbelievable."
Team mate Nico Rosberg mounted the best defence possible against Lewis but ultimately couldn’t hang with him in the ever-changing wet-to-dry conditions. Hampered by a gearbox problem where the German racer was stuck in seventh gear, Nico looked for help from his team over the radio during the race. The pit wall informed him to attempt a different setting, before suggesting he "avoid seventh gear". The German racer then asked for clarification as to whether he "should shift through it", to which he received an immediate response - "Yes, shift to eighth gear quickly".
Unfortunately an investigation after the chequered flag – found that the team had given Nico too much technical information on the radio and he was awarded a 10 second penalty – dropping him from his original finishing position of second to third. Nico however remains determined to take the fight to Lewis on his own home race in Germany.
Nico said: “Lewis did a better job over the whole weekend and deserved the win, so congratulations to him. I was happy to have finished the race as my gearbox issue at the end was really serious and I almost had to retire the car - but luckily I got it fixed. Generally, though, it felt great out there and I had a great pace on the medium tyres. The battle with Max was good fun. It took a bit of time but I managed to overtake him on the outside. Over the whole weekend the atmosphere here at Silverstone was really outstanding. Okay, I recognise that some guys out there don't like me as much as Lewis. But that's normal in his home country and I felt that the majority was very supportive of me. That's why the British fans are the best and most passionate racing fans in the world, so thank you to them for making it a really great event. Now I look forward to the last two races before the summer break including my home Grand Prix in Germany.”
Next up is the awesome Hungarian Grand Prix on the 24th July.
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1h34m55.831s
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Renault 8.250s
3 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 16.911s
4 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull/Renault 26.211s
5 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1m09.743s
6 Sergio Perez Force India/Mercedes 1m16.941s
7 Nico Hulkenberg Force India/Mercedes 1m17.712s
8 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso/Ferrari 1m25.858s
9 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1m31.654s
10 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso/Ferrari 1m32.600s
11 Felipe Massa Williams/Mercedes 1 Lap
12 Jenson Button McLaren/Honda 1 Lap
13 Fernando Alonso McLaren/Honda 1 Lap
14 Valtteri Bottas Williams/Mercedes 1 Lap
15 Felipe Nasr Sauber/Ferrari 1 Lap
16 Esteban Gutierrez Haas/Ferrari 1 Lap
17 Kevin Magnussen Renault Gearbox
- Jolyon Palmer Renault Gearbox
- Rio Haryanto Manor/Mercedes Spun off
- Romain Grosjean Haas/Ferrari Transmission
- Marcus Ericsson Sauber/Ferrari Electrical
- Pascal Wehrlein Manor/Mercedes Spun off
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