Lights out at Silverstone! 1.02 Rosberg returns to his pole slot as the cars form back up on the grid. Moments away from lights out. ---- 1.00 The cars depart for the formation lap. --- 12.59: Moments to go until the formation lap. The track is unchanged from 2013 - two DRS zones in the same positions, into the Wellington Straight and on the Hangar Straight. Remember 60% of this circuit is taken at full throttle so it will be an awkward position to be in if there is a Mercedes behind you. --- 12.58: A weather update for you. There is a 30% chance of rain, with rain possible at around 2pm - which would be an hour into this race. --- 12.57: Really big fan of Button's pink helmet this weekend. Has been great to see so many pink shirts in the crowd, a tribute of course to his late father John, who passed away earlier this year. --- 12.54: Strategy is going to be essential as ever. Ferrari and Williams will hope they get their pit wall decisions a little better this afternoon. In the middle of the field, the likes of Force India and Toro Rosso might fancy some big points if they make the right decisions today.
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12.52:
12:.50: Ten minutes to go now. Such a buzz around the place every time they race here. 12.47: "God Save the Queen" being played currently by the marching band at the start of the grid. Prince Harry in attendance today.
12.44:< Worth keeping an eye on the McLaren's and Nico Hulkenberg today. Their grid positions are probably higher than their pace would have been in a normal session. Strategy calls could be crucial - remember, Force India have been sublime at the longer runs in recent races. 12.43: Big concerns for Hamilton pre-race though. He reported a right rear brake overheating issue and Mercedes is currently working hard to cool that on the grid. As they are out of the garage they are limited in what they can do, however. Could be a disastrous start to this race for Hamilton. 12.42: Hamilton certainly needs a big start off the line but he'll be hoping old rival Sebastian Vettel or even Jenson Button can give him a bit of a hand by challenging Rosberg.
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--- 12:37: Worth noting Pastor Maldonado was excluded from qualifying yesterday as his Lotus was unable to provide a fuel sample, an error made after the change to the run plan. He starts ahead of the Caterhams in P20, as both were unable to post a time within the 107% of the pole time - due to the changing conditions across the session. --- 12.33: Some interesting comments pre-race from Toto Wolff, who seems to hint Hamilton may well be on a different strategy to Rosberg. A one-stop is the optimum here - switching to the prime hard tying around the lap 24/25 mark. Would be interesting to see what Hamilton would have up his sleeve. A two-stopper would see him come in around laps 23 and 45. As we saw yesterday though, fortunes favours the brave. ---
--- 12.30: The pit lane is open and the cars are making their way out on track. ---
--- 12:25: Only really one place to start with yesterday's session. Lewis Hamilton's late call to abort his flying lap cost him a spot on the front row and possibly pole. He lines up sixth, with title rival Nico Rosberg pole. Williams and Ferrari both failed to get their drivers out of Q1, making errors of judgement of biblical proportions and not reacting to a drying track. Their presence at the back of the grid will make for an interesting race, luckily for them there are plenty of places to pass. --- Good afternoon and welcome to ESPN's coverage of the British Grand Prix. A thrilling qualifying yesterday spiced up proceedings and left us with a mixed grid for today's race - there is surely more drama to follow today. |
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Lap 1 |
The race has been red-flagged after a huge crash for Kimi Raikkonen on lap one. The Finn got wide coming out of Turn 3, bounced back across the circuit and into the opposite wall. Felipe Massa was caught up in the crash and has retired, with Kamui Kobayashi narrowly avoiding a collision with Raikkonen as well. Raikkonen limped from the vehicle and is currently at the medical centre. The restart is delayed while work is done to fix the safety barrier. Updates: 2.04: The cars just about ready to resume racing again. We're hearing Raikkonen has left the medical centre and is now back in the medical centre and is walking fine. Good news. --- 2.02: Massa now chilling in the Williams garage with Eric Clapton. Every cloud... --- 2.00: Grosjean, Vergne and Perez will restart the race on the hard tyre compound having made a change on the grid. --- 1.57: The drivers are back in their cars. The race will be restarted under the safety car, which will peel back into the pits at the end of lap two. --- 1.54: Update on Raikkonen. Ferrari spokesman says: "he is Ok - some bruises on ankle and knee". Excellent news from the medical centre. --- 1.52: Scratch that. Race control confirms we will be back underway at 2.05pm. --- 1.50 The next update is at 1.55pm. --- 1.48: Toto Wolff says Hamilton had "a bit of an impact with Vettel but the car looks alright." --- 1.47: We're expecting another update shortly. Could be time soon for the ten-minute warning. --- 1.44: Marussia says it was a flying wheel from Raikkonen's car is what caused the damage to his car. He was on his way into the pits to fix that damage. Flying wheels are a terrifying prospect after a crash and thankfully we're only talking about damage to a front wing. Barrier repairs look to be progressing well. --- 1.41: I'm not a safety barrier expert but it doesn't look like they are any closer to fixing that down there. The maximum race time there can be is four hours when a suspension is taken into account. 1.38: Chilton gets a drive-through penalty for entering the pits while the race was suspended. No further action on the Perez-Vergne incident. --- 1.36: Ferrari says the first thing Raikkonen said on the radio was "Is Felipe ok?". --- 1.35: Busy afternoon ahead for the stewards. The Turn 1 incident between Jean-Eric Vergne and Sergio Perez is under investigation - causing a collision. --- 1.32: Little wonder why Chilton is under investigation. Seeing a replay of him coming down the pit lane while mechanics are running the other way to get out to the grid. Dangerous stuff. --- 1.31: Another update to come in 15 minutes. Lots of work still going on at that barrier. --- 1.30: Ferrari confirms Raikkonen is having checks on his ankle after limping out of his vehicle. ---- We have confirmation that Raikkonen has gone to the medical centre. Hard to tell what happened but the Finn certainly limped away from his vehicle. Watching the replays again, Massa's evasive action to effectively spin out of Raikkonen's way was incredible reflex driving. May well have saved a far nastier accident. Appears Perez had a bit of a tangle lower down the order as well, which explains why he has dropped down to P19. The drivers are back on the grid then, and we'll go through all this again. Worth noting this could be what we have in store next season with standing restarts. Race control says the race will begin again under the safety car. --- Wow. There is an almighty dent in the safety barrier Raikkonen crashed in to and will need fixing. Race control says there will be another update in 15 minutes. Hope you're all sitting comfortably because we could be here for a while. This all makes that projected rain shower around 2pm even more of a factor in this race. Massa confirms he is out of the race, which is unsurprising given how much damage he picked up to his rear tyre during that crash. Heroic effort from the Brazilian to avoid that crash. Max Chilton is under investigation for returning to the pits under the red flag. He's currently sat at the entry to the pit lane, where his team are working on the front of his car. ---- Huge crash on lap one! Safety car out. Raikkonen and Massa coming together on the drive down to Becketts. Massive impact. Raikkonen limps away from his car - he looks hurt. Massa is driving back to the pits. Off the line Rosberg had a wonderful start but Vettel was jumped by Button, and then lost a place to Hamilton. But all the drama happened behind. Looks like Raikkonen ran really wide at Turn 3 as he tried to pass a Sauber, bounced back into the road and collected Massa. Incredibly lucky not to be collected by a Caterham on his way across the track. The race has been red flagged. Amazingly the first first-lap red flag since Monaco 2000. |
Lap 2 |
The race resumes under the safety car. It will be in at the end of this lap. Vettel and Ricciardo have both switched to the hard compound - suggesting Red Bull is now preparing to go long in this stint now. Alonso is on medium after starting on the hard tyre - meaning he doesn't need to use that compound again in this race. |
Lap 3 |
Rosberg manages the chasing pack well and is well clear as the race restarts. Bottas takes Kvyat into Brooklands as Hamilton looks at taking Magnussen into Copse, it doesn't happen but the Dane runs wide! Hamilton up into third, forcing Magnussen to over-commit. Bottas takes Ricciardo into Stowe, climbing to seventh. |
Lap 4 |
Hamilton now just half a second off former team-mate Button. Rosberg unsurprisingly sets a fastest lap and is already four seconds clear. Behind that Hamilton dispatches Button into Brooklands, to huge roars from the crowd. Button barely putting up a fight there. Can he catch Rosberg? Bottas is absolutely flying and now takes Hulkenberg for sixth. |
Lap 5 |
Superb stuff from Bottas. Let's not forget he started down in 14th. Ferrari says Raikkonen's crash into the barrier was 47g, which in layman's terms is an almighty shunt. Rosberg eeking out a lead in front - it's currently 5.3s. Is Hamilton suffering from his limited running in FP2? |
Lap 6 |
The DRS is now enabled. Hulkenberg is holding up a train of cars led by Ricciardo.Behind that Alonso is dancing all over the back of Kvyat and he takes the rookie through the old pit straight. Ricciardo all over Hulkenberg into Stowe but he holds on. Alonso sniffs an opportunity and he takes Ricciardo at the next corner! Super driving from the Ferrari driver. |
Lap 7 |
In case we needed any reminding, Alonso is pretty good at this racing malarky. Now he has Hulkenberg in his cross hairs. The Mercedes pace out in front is staggering. Rosberg's last lap a 1:38.750. Button's was 1:41.129! Alonso is all over the back of Hulkenberg now as Ricciardo complains about losing his rears. |
Lap 8 |
Alonso is now under investigation for being out of his grid slot at the original race start. He dispatches Hulkenberg on the way into Brooklands and he's up to seventh. |
Lap 9 |
It'll be a huge shame if all this hard work from Alonso is for nothing. He's turning in a remarkable stint out there currently. Button is already 10 seconds behind Hamilton, but two seconds ahead of team-mate Magnussen. Hulkenberg now having to fend off Ricciardo - the Force India appears to be a bit of a sitting duck at the moment. The Red Bull puts the DRS zone down the Hangar Straight to good use and passes Hulkenberg into Stowe. |
Lap 10 |
Gutierrez in all sorts of problems in his Sauber. He's off out on the gravel with what looks like a right front puncture. Appears he hit the side of Maldonado and launched the Lotus into the air a little - arrived way too late coming into that corner. A reverse from their shunt in Bahrain, minus the spinning through the air. |
Lap 11 |
Vettel already pitting on the hard tyre, taking on a set of mediums. Possible the world champion was unhappy with this current stint. Rosberg still maintaining that lead out there. |
Lap 12 |
Hamilton four tenths faster on that last lap though. The gap now down to 4.8s. The stewards are looking into the collision between Maldonado and Gutierrez. Phrase rarely used, but Maldonado completely blameless for that one. Ericsson limps back into the pits with some suspension damage. He pulls up and the mechanics start to wheel him back into the garage. |
Lap 13 |
Alonso has a five-second stop/go penalty for starting outside of his grid slot at the original start. He can serve that at the end of a routine stop so not a massive disaster. Bottas sweeps past Magnussen into Stowe with DRS assist. Super stuff from Bottas and now he has Button in his sights two secons up the road. |
Lap 14 |
The gap out in front is down to 4.3s. Hulkenberg tells Force India the high-speed corners are "absolutely killing us". He's also warned about exceeding the track limits. Button is 21 seconds down on Hamilton now. Mercedes in a world of its own. |
Lap 15 |
Amazing that Maldonado is still driving out there after that Gutierrez incident. Looked lucky to avoid serious damage. Hamilton eeking away at Rosberg's lead now. Alonso edging closer and closer to Magnussen, he's around half a second down. Mercedes tells Rosberg his stint has been extended by a lap as his tyres look good. Alonso gaining on Magnussen at quite a rate and sweeps by into Stowe. Cracking move down the inside. The Spaniard absolutely motoring. Behind him Vettel goes by Hulkenberg into Stowe - Red Bull appears to have a significant speed advantage over Force India. Ricciardo pits. |
Lap 16 |
Hamilton has cut the gap down to 3.8s at the start of this lap. Ricciardo took on a pair of medium tyres at that stop. Bottas all over the back of Button and he goes around the outside of the Brit into Stowe - he's absolutely rocketing out there. |
Lap 17 |
Another man absolutely rocketing is the man in front of Bottas. Hamilton sets a fastest lap, a 1:38.554. Gap now down to around three seconds. Rosberg told to push so we can expect a pit stop for the race leader soon. |
Lap 18 |
Hamilton narrows the gap down to 2.8s. Behind him, Bottas is a massive 28 seconds behind. The crowd noise is building a little bit here as the screens show Hamilton gaining over Rosberg in the last five laps. Ricciardo passes Sutil for P9 as he does his best lap of the race. Hamilton once again told by Peter Bonnington "it's hammer time" as Rosberg heads into the pits. |
Lap 19 |
Hamilton inherits the lead then. Big, big lap needed from the Brit. Crucial moments in this race and in the title battle. Hamilton flying and sets the fastest second middle sector. Bottas told he's doing a great job with the tyres and tells Williams he thinks there might be another ten laps left in those medium tyres. One-stop territory from Bottas. Rosberg now posts the fastest middle sector of the race on his new tyres. Rosberg's stop just 2.7s as Mercedes bolts on some new medium tyres. |
Lap 20 |
Alonso all over the back of Button as he starts a new lap. He's right in DRS zone but he can't get by at Village, and he locks up into Luffield. He's still well within range. Rosberg reports "a gearbox problem with the downshift". But he is lapping faster than Hamilton now so surely it's time for Mercedes to pit the race leader. Alonso gets another sniff of Button going into Stowe but he's still not close enough. |
Lap 21 |
Mercedes tells Rosberg it is looking into his gearbox issue but no information yet. If it is a serious problem Rosberg's pace certainly isn't showing it. Ricciardo is stuck behind Hulkenberg again - the Force India is yet to pit. He opens his DRS into Brooklands and dives into eighth. Easy stuff for Force India. Still no pit from Hamilton, who is still losing time to Rosberg on those old tyres. |
Lap 22 |
Rosberg sets a fastest lap on his fresh tyres, a 1:38.309. Surely now it's time to pit Hamilton, unless he's trying a one-stop strategy... Which he almost certainly isn't. He's just shortening one of his other stints you would think. |
Lap 23 |
Still no pit from Hamilton. He's 15 seconds ahead of Rosberg but lost half a second to him in that lap. At the moment Button has all the answers to the questions being asked of him by Alonso. |
Lap 24 |
Hamilton reports his tyres are starting to drop off, which will surely prompt a pit stop from Mercedes. Alonso has another look down the inside of Stowe but decides against it, Button holding firmly onto fourth place at the moment. Mercedes tells Hamilton to do one more lap on his current tyres. Not sure the thinking behind Mercedes' strategy currently but they are paid a lot more money than me to come up with these decisions, so they must know what they are doing. |
Lap 25 |
Hamilton dives into the pit lane now. Pit stop time of 4.1 seconds for Hamilton - Rosberg's was 2.7s - but he bolts on the hard tyres. Would imagine he will do a fairly short stint here and then put on some mediums for a late charge. Looks like there was a slight delay getting the right rear tyre. Cue the conspiracy theories... Vettel all over the back of Magnussen and he takes him after some clever driving, darting on the inside at Turn 6 and catching Magnussen unawares. |
Lap 26 |
"Don't worry about the pit stops guys, but let's get a good one next time ok" says Hamilton. He's keeping a lid on his emotions today. He's nearly six seconds down on Rosberg now. Alonso comes in for his stop - which starts with a five second delay for that earlier penalty incurred at the original race start. |
Lap 27 |
Hamilton on the hard compound sets a fastest lap! A 1:37.176 - where did that come from. Hamilton absolutely flying out there but is still five seconds down on Rosberg. Black and white flag being shown to Alonso now as well. That's surely a warning about exceeding the track limits, something Button complained the Spaniard had done on a few occasions earlier. It's not a full black flag for Alonso though, which would be full disqualification. Just a slap on the wrist. Alonso is now all over the back of Hulkenberg in P9. |
Lap 28 |
And Alonso sweeps by through Copse corner, taking Hulkenberg for P9. Force India seems to have absolutely no power whatsoever. The gap out in front down to four seconds. |
Lap 29 |
Magnussen comes in to the pits and puts on the hard compound. Hamilton's lap times must be filtering through the paddock... Hamilton leads! Rosberg has no upshifts and is stuck in fifth gear and the crowd goes absolutely wild. Bad luck finally strikes for Rosberg - can the German save his race? Rosberg is at cruising pace now. He pulls onto the grass and he looks set to retire... he's now down to third. |
Lap 30 |
Race now Hamilton's to lose you would think. rosberg pulls off on the grass but looks like he is still trying to get those gears working. The car parks up. Championship leader Nico Rosberg is out of the British Grand Prix. |
Lap 31 |
The concern at Mercedes must be that this could be an issue for Hamilton. He's told to look after his car - yellow cars out at that section as Rosberg finally clambers out of his car at Becketts. First DNF for Rosberg, who has been on the podium at every race this season. |
Lap 32 |
That takes the pressure off Hamilton's pit wall slightly now, but they still need to bring this car home. Behind him Bottas looks set for second at least - don't know whether he has the pace to cut down that gap to Hamilton. The Finn pits and comes out behind Vettel into third, but the German still needs to pit again and is on 21-lap old tyres. In reality he's still P2. |
Lap 33 |
Looks like Bottas is one-stopping as well as Williams tells him not to worry about Vettel out in front because of his older tyres. He's closing right up on the world champion and has a look coming into Copse, but he backs out. Hulkenberg also on a one stop strategy and Force India tells him to watch the tyres until the end of the race. Bottas uses the DRS to his advantage at Stowe and eases past Vettel, who comes into the pits, so I imagine the German had absolutely nothing left in his tyres to defend against Bottas again. |
Lap 34 |
Vettel takes a new set of medium tyres and rejoins just ahead of Alonso in fifth, who is just ahead of Magnussen. Quite a battle could be forming here. Alonso has a look round the outside of Brooklands and then Magnussen has a look down the inside but he can't make anything work. Alonso shows us just how big his balls are as he flies past Vettel into Copse. Staggering driving. Vettel moved onto the inside and Alonso just kept his foot on it - left it up to Vettel whether they were going to have a crash or not. |
Lap 35 |
Alonso now has Button two seconds up the road. Love him or hate him, sometimes you have to take your hat off to Alonso - that was an unbelievable pass. |
Lap 36 |
Hamilton a massive 46 seconds ahead of Bottas. Alonso still not shifting Vettel at the moment. There's six world championships between these two men, remember. More of the same please fellas. |
Lap 37 |
Perez reports Sutil is going wide at Turn 9 "all the time" - basically gaining time on him. Force India tells him that was good info and there are no prizes for guessing where they will be sending that. Worth noting that Vettel on fresher tyres than Alonso, so might be happy to sit behind him for the time being until the Spaniard's tyres start going off. While all this is going off Button has increased his lead over Alonso to 3.7s on the harder tyre. Vettel flies past Alonso at Wellington but Alonso reclaims the position and closes the door! Stunning stuff. |
Lap 38 |
Vettel complains "I would have crashed into him!", referring to Alonso closing back in on him. We'd need to see a replay but looks like Alonso's aggressive strategy isn't going down to well with the world champion. Seeing the replay again there, Vettel has absolutely nothing to complain about. Alonso just takes the position back down the inside. |
Lap 39 |
"What's going on with the brakes again! I mean how can I race!?" complains Sutil. That might explain why he keeps running wide. Sounds like Sutil is starting to lose his patience a bit, understandable given his season so far. Alonso still holding off Vettel but the Red Bull has a little look coming back into Village. Don't think Alonso can get away with finishing this lap on these medium tyres, especially if Vettel stays this close to him for too long. |
Lap 40 |
This right here is why people love Alonso. Racing at its best - just imagine what would happen if he had a car with race-winning potential. Hamilton tells Mercedes his tyres feel good and that there's "a lot of life in them". The risk factor has gone from his strategy and he can afford to play it safe. Vettel no closer coming back into Village and doesn't fancy another attempt down the outside after what happened two laps ago. |
Lap 41 |
Button told Ricciardo - currently third - might be going until the end of the race on his tyres so he is told to chase down the Red Bull driver for a podium. Imagine if we had two Brits on the podium. |
Lap 42 |
Hamilton comes into the pits with 11 laps left - the team erring on the side of caution. They have a massive 40 seconds on Bottas. Smooth pit stop and he heads back out. Button is eight seconds down on Ricciardo so let's keep an eye on that gap and see if it comes down. Would be great to see him get a podium here, especially with that tribute helmet to his father. He's currently lapping quite a few tenths quicker than Ricciardo. Vettel having another sniff on the exit of Village but Alonso holds firm. He lines him up into Stowe but Alonso does not budge, keeping it steady through the inside and forcing Vettel to pull out of the move. "He didn't leave the space!" complains Vettel. It looks like he did but Alonso is driving quite aggressively. |
Lap 43 |
I don't think many people will have much sympathy with Vettel - especially as he is complaining about Alonso racing too hard. He needs to get his head down and pass, I'd say. Ferrari tells Alonso they are reporting Vettel for exceeding the track limits - a nice little riposte. |
Lap 44 |
Button has cut the gap down to 7.6s but it looks like he's going to fall well short at this rate. Magnussen is told to close up on Alonso and Vettel to see if he can lap up any afters from their duel. Could be quite a fight brewing for the last few laps. Red Bull tells Ricciardo Button will not be able to catch him at the current rate. |
Lap 45 |
Ferrari reporting Vettel for exceeding the track limits but Alonso is clearly doing the same thing. Vettel says "and another one" in a quite resigned tone over the radio. Vettel having another look at Alonso at the same place through Luffield but he's not able to find a way past. |
Lap 46 |
Button chipping away at Ricciardo but the gap is only down to 7.0. Ricciardo doing a great job on 32-lap old tyres out there. |
Lap 47 |
Alonso doing a great job of hanging on to this position. This time Vettel goes wide of the track limits and now finds himself right up behind the Spaniard. Vettel gets a bit wide, but he takes the position into Brooklands but Alonso jumps back past, the two men go wheel-to-wheel across down the old pit straight toward Stowe and eventually Alonso has to lift and Vettel finds it through. Vettel fuming on the radio that Alonso took so long to lift. He's now up to P5. |
Lap 48 |
Exhilarating stuff from Alonso and Vettel. Alonso now the one fuming - Vettel started that move at the end of the previous lap, where he had exceeded the track limits. Looks like there could be some tasty fallout from this after the race this afternoon. |
Lap 49 |
Hamilton cruising out in front, he has just four laps left. Bottas also cruising round for a career-best second. Alonso says "I need to be given back that position immediately". Alonso thinks Vettel got DRS because he had exceeded the track limits earlier on. An emotional ending to an epic battle out on track. Alonso still ranting on the radio. |
Lap 50 |
Come on Jenson. Who wouldn't want him to get third here this afternoon? He sets his fastest lap of the race, a 1:38.529, and is now four seconds down on Ricciardo. Looks like he's about to run out of laps though. |
Lap 51 |
"Check the brakes because I can smell something burning," Vettel tells Red Bull. Grosjean pulls off the race track. Button now 2.9 seconds down, Ricciardo's tyres might just be going off now! He's taken over a second off the Red Bull driver on the last two laps. |
Lap 52 |
Sorry, that was Maldonado who pulled off at Turn 1. Hamilton told to exercise some caution as a result for the potential of spilt oil. He's less than five miles away from his fifth win of the season. Button 1.6 seconds down on Ricciardo coming into the final lap! This is going to be close. Bottas crosses in second position, his career best. Button agonisingly close to Ricciardo but just isn't close enough - he crosses eight tenths behind Ricciardo! Heartbreaking for Button. From zero to hero in 24 hours for Hamilton after his error in qualifying yesterday. What a superb response from the 2008 world champion and this year's title battle is back in the balance. Lewis Hamilton wins the British Grand Prix and the crowd goes wild as he crosses the line. Vettel finishes six seconds up on Alonso, which shows you just how much the Ferrari was holding him up. "You can't touch this Lewis, home grand prix win....Lap it up!" says Peter Bonnington to Hamilton on the radio. He's pumping his fists in celebration and lapping up the reaction from the crowd. |
Wonderful stuff from Hamilton - six years to the day from his last victory at Silverstone. Bottas and Ricciardo round off the podium. Before heading onto the podium it seemed Hamilton needed a couple of moments to compose himself - this was an emotional win for him and an absolutely vital one too. |