Hamilton Recovers from Poor Start to Win British Grand Prix

Photo Credit: FOTO STUDIO COLOMBO X PIRELLI

 

One of the more popular rounds on the Formula 1 championship, the British Grand Prix was first run in 1926 and has a history at the former World War II airfield of Silverstone since 1948. From 1987, Silverstone has served as the permanent home of Britain's grand prix race.

For a long time, the event has served as a home race for major teams and drivers. While diversity of competitors has widened changed over the years, but the British Grand Prix is still heavily coveted by national interests including seven current teams based in the country. All through the weekend of the 2015 edition of the race at Silverstone, defending winner and Brit Lewis Hamilton made no secret to how important the British Grand Prix is to him. "I can’t describe the feeling I had last year – lifting that trophy again in front of the sea of fans on pit straight after so many years and after a tough start to the weekend too. It’s something that will always stay with me and nothing less than the same again will do."

Taking the pole on Saturday with teammate Nico Rosberg on the front row, Lewis Hamilton mindset ahead of the 52-lap main event is to be the top Mercedes AMG race car presuming it would be the team's race to lose. In what was a wacky race start Sunday, both Mercedes AMG car drivers were caught off-guard when the five lights went out. In a bizarre sight, the Williams-Mercedes cars on the second row leapfrogged the Mercedes AMG vehicles. Felipe Massa took an early lead with teammate Valtteri Bottas assuming the second place position.

Behind the lead pack, a first lap incident involving Lotus F1 Team and McLaren race cars occurred. Damage race machines on track resulted in a safety car period as well as three of the four cars (Jenson Button, Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado) linked to the chaos unable to finish the race. Fernando Alonso was also connected to the mayhem but was able to persevere after reaching the pits for a new front wing.

The early stage of the British Grand Prix claimed a number of vehicles powered by Renault. One exit was Max Verstappen who spun off track in one of the Toro Rosso-Renaults. However, the second Toro Rosso of Carlos Sainz Jr. and the Red Bull race car of Daniel Ricciardo both encountered an electrical faults with their powerplants. Daniil Kvyat was the only Renault powered contender to finish at Silverstone crossing the line in sixth place.  

When it appeared the race was lost on the start, the Mercedes AMG team fought back. For Lewis Hamilton, the British Grand Prix was won on pit road. A swift pit stop performed on the #44 car by the Mercedes AMG pit crew placed Hamilton ahead of Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas. Retaking possession of the first place position, Lewis Hamilton was falter-free as he cruised to a 10.956-second victory at Silverstone for his third victory. Describing the entire weekend as very special in his home country, Hamilton expressed he was tearing up in the last lap of the grand prix. In the previous two times Lewis Hamilton has won the British Grand Prix (2008 and 2014), he went on to win the year's championship title.

Both drivers for Williams Martini Racing used the word "frustrating" to describe their results in the 2015 British Grand Prix. Having been in position to win or score a podium finish at Silverstone, Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas were thrown for a curve with the late race rain. It was near the end of the race where Hamilton's teammate Nico Rosberg and Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel gained an advantage over to Williams-Mercedes race cars to gain podium spots. Williams Martini Racing took fourth and fifth place at Silverstone with Massa claiming the edge over Bottas.

Deeper in the finishing order, both Force India-Mercedes vehicles finished in the points. Nico Hulkenberg took seventh place while Sergio Perez was ninth at the chequered flag. Splitting the two Force Indias was the second Ferrari driven by Kimi Raikkonen. In the tenth and final point-scoring spot in the British Grand Prix's results was Fernando Alonso. Overcoming an opening lap tangle, Alonso grabbed his first point of a season that has been dominated in lackluster results with the McLaren powered its Honda power unit.

The 2015 Formula 1 will get two weeks off to prepare for July 26th's Hungarian Grand Prix.

2015 Formula 1

British Grand Prix

Race Results

Pos #	Car #	Driver	Team	Engine
1	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes AMG	Mercedes-Benz
2	6	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes AMG	Mercedes-Benz
3	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	Ferrari
4	19	Felipe Massa	Williams	Mercedes-Benz
5	77	Valtteri Bottas	Williams F1	Renault
6	26	Daniil Kvyat	Red Bull	Renault
7	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India	Mercedes-Benz
8	7	Kimi Raikkonen	Ferrari	Ferrari
9	11	Sergio Perez	Force India	Mercedes-Benz
10	14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren	Honda
11	9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber	Ferrari
12	98	Roberto Merhi	Manor Marussia	Ferrari
13	28	Will Stevens	Manor Marussia	Ferrari
14	55	Carlos Sainz Jr	Scuderia Toro Rosso	Renault
15	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull	Renault
16	33	Max Verstappen	Scuderia Toro Rosso	Renault
17	8	Romain Grosjean	Lotus	Mercedes-Benz
18	13	Pastor Maldonado	Lotus	Mercedes-Benz
19	22	Jenson Button	McLaren	Honda
20	12	Felipe Nasr	Sauber	Ferrari