Lewis Hamilton Wins British Grand Prix, Brings Triumph Home
British Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton has triumphed in the Grand Prix at Silverstone. His win today marks the second year in a row that Hamilton has been victorious on home ground, and is a result that keeps him at the front of the pack in the World Driver’s Championship. His Mercedes teammate, Nico Rosberg, finished 2nd, and four-time Formula 1 Champion Sebastian Vettel took a place on the podium, placing 3rd.
In a related story from the Inquisitr read about why Lewis Hamilton’s tattoos are so meaningful to him.
BBC Sport reports how, in addition to dealing with the (typically British) rain during the race, he also had to combat the Williams team, who roared ahead to an early lead. The duel was to continue over the course of the race, with fierce competition raging between the two teams. It didn’t take long for the safety car to be deployed, following opening lap collisions that put Pastor Maldonado, Romain Grosjean, and Jenson Button out of the race.
DRIVERS RETIRED: Button, Nasr, Grosjean, Maldonado, Verstappen #BritishGPpic.twitter.com/xU9llUVNzD
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 5, 2015
Following their particularly strong opening at the Grand Prix, keeping pole-sitter Hamilton at bay, the Williams team were sitting pretty, with Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas in 1st and 2nd. Bottas was visibly impatient, attempting to get in front of Massa, only to be told over the radio “do not race your teammate.” After he protested, he was then told “it has to be a very clean move and you have to pull away when you’re in front” according to The Daily Mail.
It was in the 22nd lap that Hamilton took the lead, following a brutally efficient pitstop (just 2.4 seconds) in the 20th. His opportunity arose as Williams called Massa in for a pit stop in the 21st lap, with Hamilton taking the opportunity to pull ahead. Bottas came in during the next lap, which gave Hamilton everything he needed.
The rain arrived in the 36th lap, bringing with it the question of whether to switch tires. The Daily Mail reports that Hamilton said the rain had stopped at the 38th lap, which would be his downfall just a short while later. In one of several dramatic position shifts, Hamilton had to come in just 13 minutes later after his tires lost grip, which gave Rosberg the opportunity to pull ahead into first place.
The rain also let Vettel pull ahead of his teammate Kimi Raikkonen in the 40th lap, pushing himself into 5th place. The final dramatic changes came in the 45th and 46th lap, when Hamilton and Vettel pulled ahead into 1st and 3rd place respectively.
Following the race, Hamilton expressed his happiness and thanked his fans, The Telegraph reported.
“I couldn’t have done it without you, I’m so elated. You can’t imagine how happy I am.”
Not content with thanking the 140,000 strong crowd, Hamilton took to Twitter to do the same on an international scale.
GUYS!!! What an amazing RACE!! Thank you all for the incredible support, you all are amazing. IT’S GOOD TO BE HOME!!! pic.twitter.com/oB3fuDtUI9
— Lewis Hamilton (@LewisHamilton) July 5, 2015
The 2015 British Grand Prix has been called a classic by many, but if there’s one person you can rely on to remember it forever — it’s Hamilton.
[Images by Charles Coates, Clive Mason/Getty Images]
