Hamilton wins British GP despite last-lap puncture

Lewis Hamilton held on for a win at the British Grand Prix, despite having a puncture on the final lap of the race at Silverstone.

Having seen his teammate suffer the same fate one lap earlier, the reigning champion had a big enough gap to hold off the challenge from Max Verstappen, while Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc completed the podium.

The field was a car short before the race began as Nico Hulkenberg suffered a mechanical failure while the Racing Point was still in the garage.

The safety car was out at the end of the opening lap when Kevin Magnussen tried to go around the outside of Alexander Albon, launching the Haas into the gravel, and earning the Thai driver a five-second time penalty.

Daniil Kvyat’s race was also over early on as the Russian’s AlphaTauri spun around while running over a kerb, sending him violently into the barrier.

Kvyat’s crash brought out the safety car again, with every driver pitting except for Romain Grosjean, moving the Haas driver up to fifth. Carlo Sainz soon put the Frenchman under pressure, and complained Grosjean was moving under braking, resulting in a black and white warning flag for unsportsmanlike driving.

Grosjean appeared to move again while being passed by Daniel Ricciardo, before the Haas man came into the pits, struggling to find a gear while leaving the pitbox, dropping him to be back of the field.

Lance Stroll appeared to be struggling on his tyres towards the end of the race, losing out to Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly late on.

There was late drama for Mercedes when Valtteri Bottas, having been complaining of vibrations, suffered a front left puncture with just a couple of laps to go.

It came early in the lap, leaving the Finn with the majority of a lap to complete before he could get back to the pits, dropping him out of the points.

He wasn’t the only one struggling though as Carlos Sainz also had a puncture, and Kimi Raikkonen’s front wing failed, puncturing his front left.

Red Bull, fearing Verstappen could suffer the same fate, brought the Dutchman in for a second pitstop, solidifying his podium place.

Hamilton suffered a puncture on the last lap, but Verstappen’s late pitstop meant he had a big enough lead over the Red Bull driver to hold on for victory, carefully navigating the final couple of corners to nurse his Mercedes to the finishing line.

Ricciardo’s tyres lasted well, allowing him to pass both McLaren drivers in the closing stages, while Albon, having also made a second pitstop, made a late push to squeeze into the points, although his teammate denied him the fastest lap bonus point on the final lap.

Provisional classification:

1 Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)

2. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)

3. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)

4. Daniel Ricciardo (Renault)

5. Lando Norris (McLaren)

6. Esteban Ocon (Renault)

7. Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri)

8. Alexander Albon (Red Bull)

9. Lance Stroll (Racing Point)

10. Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari)

11. Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes)

12. George Russell (Williams)

13. Carlos Sainz (McLaren)

14. Antonio Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo)*

15. Nicholas Latifi (Williams)

16. Romain Grosjean (Haas)

17. Kimi Raikkonen (Alfa Romeo)

DNF:

Daniil Kvyat (AlphaTauri)

Kevin Magnussen (Haas)

DNS:

Nico Hulkenberg (Racing Point)

*Giovinazzi crossed the line 12th, but dropped two places due to a 5-second time penalty for an infringement under the safety car.