SILVERSTONE, England (Reuters) – Lewis Hamilton won his home British Grand Prix yesterday and slashed Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg’s Formula One lead to four points after the German retired for the first time this season.
Hamilton, who last won at Silverstone in his 2008 championship year, now has 161 points to Rosberg’s 165 with 10 races remaining and his title hopes fully restored. It was his fifth win of the year.
“I don’t want to see a team-mate fail, I want a one-two, but I really needed this result,” said Hamilton on the podium in front of a cheering crowd.
Finland’s Valtteri Bottas finished second for Williams, 30.1 seconds behind Hamilton, for his second successive podium and best ever finish after starting 14th following a nightmare in qualifying.
Australian Daniel Ricciardo was third for Red Bull and a further 16.3 seconds down the road.
The race was red-flagged almost as soon as it started after Ferrari’s 2007 champion Kimi Raikkonen had a big crash that left the Finn limping to the medical centre with a sore ankle but otherwise unscathed.
It was the first time a race had been halted on the opening lap since Monaco 2000.
When it re-started behind the safety car after an hour’s delay to fix damaged barriers, Hamilton went from overnight devastation to delight as Rosberg finally suffered some of the misfortune that had plagued his team mate.
The championship and race leader reported a gearbox problem after 20 of the 52 laps, and just after Hamilton’s race engineer had informed the second placed Briton it was “Hammer time’ – time for a full-on charge.
Nine laps later, Rosberg slowed, pulled over and parked up on the grass as Hamilton sped past his only rival for the championship.
“It was just slowly but surely,” said Rosberg, who had previously finished first or second in every race while Hamilton has endured two retirements through no fault of his own.
“It started on lap 20 and then it just got worse from there. There was nothing I could do or that they could suggest to save the gearbox.
“I was very much in control until then,” added the German. That’s why it’s all the more disappointing.”
