Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton won the British Grand Prix on Sunday at the Silverstone Circuit, clinching his 87th victory to close in on Formula One great Michael Schumacher’s record of 91 wins.
Hamilton’s car endured a puncture in the last lap, but finished six seconds ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. His Mercedes teammate Valterri Bottas, too, got a puncture with three laps left, giving Verstappen the advantage to move up. Had the Red Bull driver not made the pit stop for a tire changebefore the last lap, he would have pipped Hamilton to take the chequered flag.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc finished third, his second podium finish of the season.
“Up until that last lap everything was relatively smooth sailing. When I heard his (Bottas’ tire) went I looked at mine and it seemed fine,” Hamilton said after the race.
“You could see (the tire) falling off the rim,” Hamilton said. “I was just praying to get round and not be too slow. I didn’t think I would make it round the last two corners.”
Verstappen remarked that it was both lucky and unlucky for him, but “second is a good result”.
Bottas went for a tire change, but dropped out of the points and finished 11th.
Former four-time champion Sebastian Vettel finished 10th in his Ferrari.
Like the previous races, the British GP also saw drivers wearing anti-racism t-shirts as part of the Black Lives Matter campaign. Out of the 20 drivers, 13 took a knee as everyone stood behind an ‘End Racism’ message written on the grid.