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Hello and welcome to ESPN's coverage of the British Grand Prix from Silverstone. --- 12:59: Off come the tyre blankets and the cars start for the formation lap. We can expect a one-stop strategy today, so being the first man through Turn 1 is key for the Mercedes drivers. Hamilton reports poor grip off the line from his formation lap. His poor start in Austria cost him the win... --- 12:58: Nasr will not start the race, Sauber confirms. --- 12:57: Sauber hoping to get Nasr started from the pit lane but they're up against it time wise. Temperatures - air 19 degrees Celsius, track 32 degrees. Still a fair bit of wind at certain points of the circuit. --- 12:55: Five minutes until lights out. --- 12:50: Then the fight between Ferraris and Williams. The first couple of laps will be crucial in that battle for the podium, but you feel Ferrari's attention has shifted to the Mercedes-powered cars behind them rather than the ones ahead. Could be the tale of the rest of the season, that... --- 12:48: The part of the grid I'm most interested in is in the midfield. There's a great mix of cars between seventh and 12th - curious to see how the Toro Rosso's practice pace converts into race pace this afternoon. --- 12:46: The national anthem being belted out from the front of the grid by Alisha Dixon. --- 12:45: Ahead of that are the two Saubers, though only one looks set to start. Ahead of that we have Maldonado and Verstappen - who was perplexed to qualify as low as 13th after Toro Rosso's impressive qualifying form. --- 12:43: The Spice Girls are on the grid too. Apparently we're about to start the 1996 British Grand Prix. --- 12:32: So, looking at the grid in reverse order - we've got the two Manors and then McLaren. Fernando Alonso said the first couple of laps will be the team's most entertaining because it's the only time he and Jenson Button can actually fight for positions. It's going to be another painful weekend for the team and that's fast becoming the recurring McLaren message. --- 12:40: John Surtees on the grid - a man who should be a Sir without a doubt. --- 12:38: Aside from Nasr, everyone else appears to have made it round to the grid OK. --- 12:36: An amazing 140,000 fans here this afternoon. One of the highlights of the calendar, without a doubt. --- 12:34: No movement from Nasr. He asks Sauber if he should switch it to neutral but the team says they don't think it will work. He's turned it off and that could be the end of action for him. --- 12:32: We've already got a car stopped on track. Felipe Nasr has stopped on the run down to Stowe and appears to be playing around with his steering wheel quite desperately. --- 12:30: So, what can we expect from this weekend's race? Well, it looks to be a straight fight between the Mercedes drivers for the win. Lewis Hamilton has reverted back to the clutch he had before the Spanish Grand Prix - his starts since switching to Mercedes' new one have been difficult. |
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Lap 1 |
What a start from the Williams drivers as they both jump Hamilton into Turn 1! Massa leads from Bottas, with Hamilton and Rosberg behind. We've got some Lotus' behind off at the run-off at The Loop. Button is out in the gravel. Hamilton gets back into P2 and now Bottas is having to go wide to defend from Rosberg through Becketts. What a brilliant first lap! Safety car deployed! Some wonderful racing and I was barely able to keep up with it all. Button's race is over, Grosjean is already out of his Lotus so we'll wait for the replays. |
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Lap 2 |
Very long stop for Alonso but that's not too costly with the safety car out. Replays again, absolutely wonderful start from Massa. Behind, it looks like both Lotus' hit each other before both McLarens hit each other! And it was an absolutely stunner from Bottas as well, both Williams drove through the middle of the slow-starting Mercedes drivers. Behind, Hulkenberg has had an absolute blinder and is up to fifth! |
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Lap 3 |
Safety car in this lap. |
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Lap 4 |
Hamilton is eager go get past Massa immediately and runs wide! Bottas gets back into second and now Hamilton has to defend from Rosberg! Raikkonen takes Hulkenberg around the outside at The Loop but the German driver holds his position. Verstappen is in the gravel, losing the rear end on cold tyres! Kvyat gets past Vettel at Copse before Perez gets past the Ferrari man! Does Vettel have a problem? Williams one-two then, could Hamilton have waited a little bit to launch that attack? He tried it around the outside of the final corner once that safety car came in. |
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Lap 5 |
Massa leads Bottas by seven tenths and sets a fastest lap. The Lotus drivers under investigation for that first lap incident. |
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Lap 6 |
The Williams drivers pulling out a small gap. Massa's lead nearly a second, while Bottas is leading Hamilton by about the same margin. Seeing a replay of that restart again. Hamilton thought about it down the inside but then had a go around the outside, great defensive driving from Massa and it forced Hamilton to go wide. Key moment in this race? Hamilton won't be too disappointed, though, Rosberg is still behind him. |
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Lap 7 |
Another fastest lap from Massa, and both Williams drivers are lapping quicker than the Mercs! The benefit of clean air. Raikkonen asking Ferrari to leave him alone as he tries to cool his brakes. "Felipe, this is good, very good," Williams tells Massa. Also tells him to look after the right front. |
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Lap 8 |
Bottas starting to get closer to his team-mate with the benefit of DRS. "Valtteri is faster than you....."??? |
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Lap 9 |
Rosberg sets a fastest lap, there's three seconds covering the top four. The lead car the only one not suffering in this turbulant air - Rosberg will be suffering worst of all. What a battle this should be. "No racing your team-mate for now," comes the message from Williams to Massa. They want to pull away from the Mercedes drivers - sensible call, albeit a frustrating one. Replays show Vettel dispatching Perez for eighth at Brooklands. What a reversal of fortunes at Ferrari! |
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Lap 10 |
If I was Williams, I'd release Bottas and use Massa as the rear-gunner. Bottas gets alongside Massa at Stowe! No racing was the call on the last lap. He can't help if he's just getting closer but you can see Bottas was following team orders as he should have been able to get by then. |
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Lap 11 |
"I have more pace, can I overtake I can do it in the backstraight?" Bottas says after being told again not to race again. Every lap this goes on, Mercedes has a better chance of jumping both drivers. "It has to be a very clean move, and you have to pull away when youre in front," comes the call to Bottas. He opens DRS and is right behind Massa but can't get as close this time around. |
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Lap 12 |
Another fastest lap from Rosberg. 1.8s cover the top four cars, brilliant stuff. Ricciardo pits from tenth, taking on some hard tyres. Williams tells Massa his team-mate will be attacking with DRS. Hamilton sat there waiting to pounce as well. Seems Bottas' best chance to pass has already gone, as Massa is just doing enough to stay ahead. Clear to see Williams is faster in a straight line than Mercedes. |
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Lap 13 |
Both Williams drivers faster than both Mercedes on that last lap, by nearly three tenths on both counts. Sainz pits for fresh rubber. Bottas gets very, very close coming in to Stowe but still not close enough. Massa doing well to keep the lead at the moment. Not attempting to put the mockers on anything here, but Massa last won a race in Brazil 2008. |
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Lap 14 |
Raikkonen pits from behind that train of cars behind Hulkenberg, taking on the hard compound tyre. Cars pitting now move towards a one-stop strategy. |
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Lap 15 |
Vettel also pits from sixth. |
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Lap 16 |
The gap between the top four is still 2.1s. Mercedes thinking about a stop for Rosberg, which might not be a popular call with Hamilton. Raikkonen does a fastest lap on the hard compound, a 1:38.954. Mercedes the only team which has a fresh set of medium compounds they didn't use in qualifying. Could be crucial later in the race... Massa still holding firm ahead of Bottas. |
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Lap 17 |
The other Ferrari does a fastest lap on those new hard tyres, a 1:38.520. Bottas right up alongside Massa at Luffields but his team-mate just has better traction on the run through to Copse. Bottas has another sniff around the outside of Stowe but can't find a way past. Massa is driving very well under the pressure from behind. |
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Lap 18 |
Vettel pumps out another fastest lap. Unfortunately for Ferrari he's down in 10th. Massa's wide line through Luffield always lets Bottas gets close at that part of the track. Williams must let Bottas go if they want to win this race and defend from Mercedes' undercut. Alonso pits from 12th. Bottas has a look down the inside of Massa but again is not close enough at Stowe. Some dark clouds forming not far from the circuit. |
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Lap 19 |
The Ferraris are currently being held up behind Ericsson in eighth. Hulkenberg still doing a great job in sixth. Great stop, just 2.4seconds in the box. Hulkenberg also pits. Hamilton emerges ahead of Perez, who is down in sixth. Important that he didn't emerge behind any traffic so Mercedes will be very pleased with that. Hamilton pits from third. Here's where the race gets interesting. Raikkonen flies past Ericsson around the outside of Stowe. |
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Lap 20 |
Race leader Massa pits, followed closely by Rosberg. Let's see what Hamilton's got in his pocket.... This is also hanging Bottas out to dry a little bit. Rosberg and Massa are released side by side! Massa gets out of the pit lane ahead of Rosberg but Hamilton has emerged in front! |
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Lap 21 |
So Hamilton is your new race leader, he's absolutely flying on the new tyre. Williams way too conservative and Bottas must be absolutely spitting underneath that visor. Bottas pits from the brief lead. |
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Lap 22 |
Fastest lap from Lewis Hamilton, a 1:37.274. Bottas gets out ahead of Rosberg! But Rosberg lunges down the inside at The Loop but Bottas holds firm! Brilliant driving from the Williams man. |
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Lap 23 |
Replays show it again. Bottas hangs it around the outside, keeps the power down and that's an impressive job to stay ahead on colder tyres. "Nico, we're going to go to Plan B, so push now," Mercedes tells Rosberg. A miserable weekend for Ricciardo ends as he is wheeled into the garage to retire. |
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Lap 24 |
Hamilton's lead is now 3.4s. This race is now about the fight for the second two spots on the podium as Hamilton scampers clear in fresh air. "OK, this is a straight fight until the end of the race with the cars around us," Massa is told. Bottas is also told they're racing now. Would have been handy for the Finn to have that message a little earlier... |
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Lap 25 |
Apparently there's a threat of rain in 30 minutes, as Hamilton sets another fastest lap. Hearing that Bottas said "It's too late now," when he was finally told he could overtake Massa. He's right as well, he had the perfect opportunity at Stowe and the team wouldn't let him by. Away from the front, the Ferraris are back up to fifth and sixth having made those early stops. |
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Lap 26 |
Raikkonen told rain will come at Stowe first if it does come, and that it's predicted in around 20 minutes. This one is far from over yet. Hamilton's lead is now 4.2seconds. Earlier we heard a radio message from Hamilton asking if he needed to extend or maintain the gap, Mercedes just said getting to the end of the race is key. At the moment it's all falling into place for the world champion. |
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Lap 27 |
Massa does a personal best to give himself a bit of breathing room to Bottas. That gap is now 1.1s. "You were better on your tyres in that first stint so maybe we can get him later," Williams tells Bottas. At the moment he's got Rosberg all over the back of his gearbox. It's getting very, very dark in the sky. |
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Lap 28 |
The cars battling for second swing past the blue-flagged Manor of Merhi. Lapped traffic will be key this afternoon.
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Lap 29 |
Alonso and the Manors are only a couple of retirements away from some points. Rosberg's pace is not good enough if Mercedes are switching him to a two-stopper. He needs to have cleared at least one of the Williams drivers. Rain expected in 15 minutes. "Getting pretty dark," Lewis says. "OK, copy that Lewis. Something's on it's way." Don't you just love the British weather? |
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Lap 30 |
Hamilton still pushing as he extends his lead to five seconds with another fastest lap, a 1:37.093. That's five tenths faster than Massa's last, six tenths quicker than Bottas', and seven tenths quicker than Rosberg's. Alonso being told the expected rain could be quite heavy. |
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Lap 31 |
Rosberg just did a purple first sector but is not any closer to Bottas, that gap still around the seven tenths mark. Raikkonen is 12 seconds down on Rosberg but it's clear Williams are matching the pace of Mercedes now. Sainz being warned about track limits at Copse, suggesting he's been exceeding that area of the corner in recent laps. The Toro Rosso rookie currently in eighth, which is where he qualified. Force India either side of the lone Toro Rosso runner this afternoon. |
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Lap 32 |
Perez runs wide at the Loop as he continues to chase down Sainz and that won't have helped his cause at all. |
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Lap 33 |
Hamilton's lead is now six seconds as Bottas pumps out his personal best lap of the day, a 1:37.513. This battle clearly shows Williams is matching Mercedes on raw pace. Rain expected in five minutes. Sainz has gone off the circuit and he is hitting his steering wheel in frustration. Another Renault issue? He's stopped the car at Club corner on the run off and the young Spaniard looks absolutely livid. That has moved Alonso up to 11th. Virtual Safety Car deployed at that section of the track. |
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Lap 34 |
VSC still being employed, which means no cars should lose any gap because they're all sticking to the same delta time. You feel Sainz could have done a better job of pulling that car over closer to the wall. Lots of weaving and this VSC period could coincide with the start of rain, which we're expecting around the pit straight. |
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Lap 35 |
Seems Bottas may have gained a bit of time on Rosberg under the VSC... Hamilton has lost a couple of tenths to Massa as well. Sainz's car is being lifted off the circuit. The lap times are different across the circuit - everyone behind Rosberg doing 2:08s, the top four in the 2:11/2:12s. Hamilton, especially, appears to be going pretty slowly. He's had bad experiences with safety cars this year, of course....He's also trying to get brake temperature back into that car. Track clear and we're racing again. |
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Lap 36 |
Umbrellas are going up in the grandstand! Rain time. Cold, hard compounds in the rain - this could be quite juicy. Some hands being extended out of the Williams pit wall to judge how much its raining. "There are drops everywhere, we need to stop," says Bottas. Williams in danger of at least losing third to Rosberg here by double stopping. Sounds a touch early for an intermediate tyre stop.... |
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Lap 37 |
Raikkonen telling Ferrari it's not raining hard enough to justify a stop for different tyres yet. No-one has bitten the bullet and come in yet. Hamilton's lead now up to 7.3 seconds. It's getting heavier. "The rain has stopped," Hamilton tells Mercedes. |
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Lap 38 |
The important thing here is for teams to react to the weather rather than the radar. Replays show Vettel struggling through Luffield, which looks very wet. Rosberg right up behind Bottas at that same part of the track! Stevens pits for Manor.... Rosberg goes wide across a run-off area. The conditions are absolutely tracherous at the moment. Time for pit stops? |
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Lap 39 |
Hamilton stays out. "We'll kill the tyres if we pit!" Bottas is told. Vettel passes Raikkonen into Stowe corner as the Ferrari's duke it out for fifth. Raikkonen dives straight into the pits for intermediates. This looks far too early for intermediates but Kimi has put them on - the green-striped tyre on the side of his car. The cars are having to tip-toe through the circuit and Rosberg has passed Bottas at Maggots! Bottas appeared to be really struggling with the grip through Copse. Bottas wanted to pit just one lap ago. |
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Lap 40 |
Replays show Hamilton running wide at Copse. Radar suggests the worst of the shower is over.... Stevens, Alonso and Raikkonen have all switched to intermediates and that doesn't look like it's a good idea at the moment. "We think that rain shower has passed. Next rain shower in five minutes, but it will be light," comes the message to Hamilton. Raikkonen's sector times nowhere near fast enough to justify moving on to inters. Replays show Kimi's pit stop was a bit slow with a delay on the front right. Rosberg is absolutely flying and is now reeling Massa in for second. |
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Lap 41 |
Hamilton's lead still 7.1s despite that moment at Copse. Rosberg dives down the inside of Massa at The Loop and he makes it stick. So a Williams one-two has turned into a Mercedes one-two. Raikkonen is crawling around the circuit on those intermediate tyres. He's five seconds off the pace! More rain on the way. |
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Lap 42 |
Rosberg was two seconds faster than Hamilton on the last lap.... The lead now 5.7s. Perez passes Raikkonen, who needs to get rid of those intermediates ASAP. |
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Lap 43 |
"More rain now!" says Hamilton, who has lost another two seconds to Rosberg. The lead down to 3.7s. "Keep us advised on the tyres Nico, may go to inters," Rosberg is told. He's flying on the current set. Hamilton has no match for Rosberg's pace at the moment. Hamilton pits! He says he has no grip and this is a huge moment in the race. Which tyres do they put on? He gets new intermediates... It is starting to rain harder. This race is still impossible to call. |
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Lap 44 |
Rosberg has a long way to navigate around this track to get back with dry tyres. But how quickly can Hamilton turn his new intermediates on? "Box this lap, I think," Rosberg says. Ericsson comes in and changes inters for slicks. Bad call, lad. Hamilton swings around the outside of Massa and he's flying on those intermediates. Massa and Bottas still on the hard tyres. Rosberg pits! This one will be close. It's really coming down quite heavily. |
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Lap 45 |
Hamilton retains his lead. Williams are having to pit both men at the same time! Bottas has been absolutely hung out to dry by Williams in this race. It's a quick switch over by Williams and the Finn seems to have lost fourth to Vettel! Vettel is actually third ahead of the Williams drivers! Bottas runs deep at the Loop. Vettel and Hamilton pitted on the magic Lap 43 - both men left the pit lane and the rain started coming down harder. Big cheers from the crowds as they see Hamilton leading again. I don't think I've ever seen a more perfectly-timed pit stop. Luck, or magic at Mercedes? Whatever it is, that makes up for their Monaco blunder. |
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Lap 46 |
Poor Kimi Raikkonen. He made the right call at the wrong time and is now down in eighth. "The weather is getting heavier!" Massa complains, but it looks to be easing off in places. Lots of spray coming from these cars. Alonso is up into the points after Ericsson's two pit stops in two laps. These will be his first points of the season. "Six laps remaining. We can still do something here," Tony Ross tells Rosberg. If he does, he needs to start doing it now as Hamilton's lead is 9.1s. |
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Lap 47 |
Bottas, who came a team order away from leading this race, is now 43.4s down on Hamilton in fifth. Williams also left both teams out on the hard compound when the rain came down. |
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Lap 48 |
Hamilton has extended the lead back to 9.6s. We've got a Manor crawling across the grass without a front wing - it's Will Stevens and that's let Merhi past him for 12th! Stevens is crawling back to the pits - that's a long half lap to do without a front wing. Stevens lost it coming into Luffields, swerving across the track and hitting the barrier. Raikkonen pits from eighth - he's got plenty of time in hand to Perez. He gets new intermediates for the final four laps. |
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Lap 49 |
Hamilton three laps away from a second straight win on home turf. He's 10 seconds clear of Rosberg. Vettel also lapping quicker than Massa, so this race really got away from Williams quickly. The media debriefs at Williams this afternoon are going to be fairly busy, I imagine. |
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Lap 50 |
Hamilton advised there's some further light rain on the way.
Hamilton told the rain intensity is increasing. He doesn't need to do anything crazy now, this is all about bringing the car home with 10 seconds in his pocket over Rosberg. |
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Lap 51 |
Hamilton starts the penultimate lap. "This tyre is just not working at all," complains Bottas. He sounds ever so slightly pissed off. I wonder why.
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Lap 52 |
Big cheers for Hamilton as he starts the final lap of the race. Very tidy lap from Hamilton as he navigates the final few corners. The sun is just starting to come back through the clouds as well. Vettel claps his hands as he crosses in third. Bottas has Kvyat closing in on him but the Red Bull man can't get close enough for fifth. Lewis Hamilton wins the 2015 British Grand Prix "Get in there Lewis!" says Peter Bonnington. Paddy Lowe gets on the radio to congratulate Hamilton on an excellent drive. "Nice one! Nice one!" Vettel says to Ferrari. Hamilton does doughnuts at the end of Stowe. A half-hearted doughnut, however. He needs to keep that engine for Hungary... |
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Hamilton pulls into parc ferme and throws his fists into the air. A well-earned win by the world champion. "That's the best call I've ever made," says Lewis Hamilton in the weigh-in room. |
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Fernando Alonso pits with a damaged front wing. Maldonado has also stopped on track.
