Hamilton has claimed his fourth British Grand Prix win today, as well as his fourth win of the season in a race that started behind the safety car due to heavy rains. The British champ started on wet tires like the rest of the field before changing to inters and finally slicks.

Rosberg finished second, but is currently under investigation for getting help regarding his gearbox settings over the radio. Verstappen claimed third, having held second for several laps before his pace slowed down due to a loose rear. The young Red Bull driver has constantly proved his excellent driving skills as well as the pace of the Red Bulls this year.

British GP 2016 Results

1. Hamilton – Mercedes
2. Rosberg – Mercedes
3. Verstappen – Red Bull
4. Ricciardo – Red Bull
5. Raikkonen – Ferrari
6. Perez – Force India
7. Hulkenberg – Force India
8. Sainz – Toro Rosso
9. Vettel – Ferrari
10. Kvyat – Toro Rosso

Since its inception in 1926, the British GP alongside the Italian GP are the oldest running Grands Prix in history. The British GP is even more special as it was the first Formula 1 race to take place when the F1 Championship was introduced in 1950. The race has primarily been held at the Silverstone circuit after shifting from Brooklands. Aintree and Brands Hatch have also hosted the event in the past.

Jim Clark and Alain Prost hold the record for most wins at five while Ferrari leads the manufacturer category with 15 wins. In more recent times, Hamilton has the most number of wins at three, sharing the record with Jack Brabham, Niki Lauda and Michael Schumacher.

Just like the past few races, Silverstone was no exception to the wonders of the sky as heavy rain began to fall long before the track action kicked off. Drivers began to form on the grid armed with slicks, the sun came out moments later but the race would still start behind the safety car. That said, all drivers started on wets, there was no formation lap either.

“Ok there’s quite a bit of standing water,” Vettel reported over the radio. The Ferrari driver started from eleventh place after picking up a five place grid penalty for changing his gearbox. Raikkonen started from fifth in the other Ferrari at the British GP 2016.

Hamilton who started from pole at the British GP 2016 had his fair share of trouble, reporting the slow pace of the safety car that made it impossible to get temperatures up in the tires. Lap 2 and 3 were completed under the safety car as more drivers reported wet patches on the track.

The safety car disappeared on lap 5 and Hamilton led the pack into action, but most cars dived into the pits immediately for inters. They included Raikkonen, Bottas, Sainz, Hulkenberg, Alonso, Vettel, Grosjean, Magnussen, Wehrlein and Gutierrez. Hamilton meanwhile only opened a lead over his rivals, followed by Rosberg, Verstappen and Ricciardo. In the end, Ricciardo dived into the pits too for a set of inters leaving the top three rolling on wets.

The virtual safety car came out on lap 7 after Wehrlein got trapped on the gravel at the Abbey curve. At this point, the top three drivers made their stops for inters too, and rejoined in the same order of Hamilton, Rosberg and Verstappen. Wehrlein became the first retirement of the race.

So after lap 10/52 the top ten comprised of Hamilton, Rosberg, Verstappen, Perez, Ricciardo, Raikkonen, Sainz, Massa, Bottas and Hulkenberg. Bottas and Haryanto both spun at the Club, but for third placed Verstappen, the track honors were all his after blasting a fastest lap of 1m51.848s, quicker than Hamilton.

Various teams were now urging their drivers to make their tires last until it was fully dry, avoiding unnecessary stops. Third placed Verstappen was reporting a more drier track on lap 15, but the inters would last a little longer. The real fight was between Rosberg and Verstappen, the young Dutchman was only 0.5s behind as he continuously set new fastest laps.

Raikkonen in sixth was the next man to set a fastest time of the race with a quicker 1m51.234s, Hamilton responded with a much quicker 1m50.649s. Vettel and Raikkonen pitted almost at the same time for slicks, Hamilton and Rosberg also made their second stops picking up a set of slicks each.

While still on inters and now in the lead, Verstappen set a new fastest time with a 1m47.479s lap. The Red Bull driver made his second stop too picking up slicks before rejoining in second, ahead of Rosberg.

By lap 20/52, the top five comprised of Hamilton, Verstappen, Rosberg, Perez and Ricciardo. Hamilton managed to bang a new fastest lap on 1m43.283s, this was however beaten by Verstappen with a 1m40.747s which brought Hamilton’s lead down to 5.3 seconds. The battle for fastest laps did not stop there, Hamilton banged another quicker 1m39.092s lap, his lead was up to 8.3s by lap 23.

Rosberg began to respond to the two cars ahead, setting a new fastest time of 1m38.041s, yellow flags flew after Alonso suffered a big off moment at Abbey. The McLaren driver managed to get back on track, only for Sainz to spin at the same location – a 360 spin that allowed him to rejoin the track. Meanwhile, Rosberg cracked another fastest lap with a 1m37.317s.

Hamilton also spun at Abbey allowing both Verstappen and Rosberg to get within his 5.4s lead. And in a similar fashion, Verstappen also ran wide at the notorious Abbey. Vettel managed to pass Kvyat on lap 29 after putting in some muscle, a little wheel-to-wheel action but the Ferrari proved to be quicker than the Toro Rosso.

Hamilton managed to bring the lead pressure down by setting a new fastest lap on 1m36.891s, elevating his lead to 7.1s. Even Perez was no exception to Abbey’s thirst trap, he ran wide but managed to retain fifth.

Verstappen was complaining about his rear being loose, not long after that Rosberg finally managed to pass the Red Bull at Stowe.

“He pushed me off the track,” that was Massa complaining after going off wide during a battle with Vettel. Indeed the Ferrari driver was under investigation for that incident. At the same time, Palmer retired his Renault in his first home Grand Prix.

Vettel was handed a five seconds penalty but that was only made worse by his second off moment at the Abbey thirst trap.

With less than ten laps left in the race, Rosberg was doing his best to catch up with teammate Hamilton but both drivers proved to be equally fast. Verstappen was 11s off the lead hoping to hold on till chequered flag. At this point, Rosberg held the fastest time of the race with a blistering 1m35.548s lap.

Suddenly, on lap 47 Rosberg reported a gearbox problem. And he was indeed losing pace to Verstappen who had his fair share of troubles. “Avoid seventh gear, Nico,” Mercedes told him. He was also advised to pass through it quickly into eighth. Hamilton had a comfortable 10s lead but the gap between Rosberg and Verstappen was only 2s.

A message from the Red Bull team to Verstappen via the radio suggested that Rosberg was under investigation for the help he received regarding his gearbox settings. Race control however confirmed that Rosberg would indeed be investigated after the race for that incident.

After the final lap, it was Hamilton who crossed the finish line first, leading Rosberg, Verstappen, Ricciardo, Raikkonen, Perez, Hulkenberg, Sainz, Vettel and Kvyat in the top ten.

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