Lewis Hamilton has won his fourth British Grand Prix in mixed conditions at Silverstone.
He was barely threatened for the lead during the whole 52-lap race, with teammate Nico Rosberg battling with Max Verstappen for the last two podium positions.
The race started under the safety car as, mere minutes before the race was due to get underway, a heavy downpour hit the track. Five racing laps were completed before the safety car released Lewis Hamilton to start the British Grand Prix for real.
Around half of the grid dove into the pits after the safety car to change instantly to the intermediate tyres. Hamilton, Nico Rosberg, Max Verstappen, Daniel Ricciardo and Sergio Perez were the five drivers to stay on the full wets longest, and their tactic paid off.
Wehrlein was the first to retire from the Grand Prix as he was caught out at a damp patch through Abbey and spun into the gravel. He brought out the Virtual Safety Car, which allowed the five long-wet runners to pit without losing much time to the pack behind them.
The track dried out apart from a damp patch into Abbey, which was catching out drivers up and down the grid. Hamilton, Verstappen, Perez, Räikkönen, Vettel and Sainz were among the names of the drivers who were caught out.
Fernando Alonso nearly ended his race early as he spun, whilst chasing down Felipe Massa, and ended up in the gravel. Luckily for the Spaniard, he managed to keep the car going and drove out of the gravel. But the mistake ruined his race.
Fernando Alonso almost nearly ended his race early as he spun, whilst chasing down Felipe Massa, recovering from the gravel. Luckily for the Spaniard, he managed to keep the car going and drove out of the gravel. But the mistake ruined his race.
Rio Haryanto was not as lucky. Having an almost identical mistake to Alonso, he shot into the gravel, bumping lightly on the barrier. The Manor driver could not get the car going again so he had to retire his car, making it a double retirement for Manor after their impressive race last time out in Austria.
Only a few drivers came in to pit again for new slick tyres as the sun continued to shine on the Silverstone circuit for the remainder of the race. Hamilton had no competition as he led from start to finish, bar a couple of laps after the pit stops, taking the victory.
Hamilton had no competition as he led from start to finish, bar a couple of laps after the pit stops, taking the victory.
Rosberg finished a provisional second as, in the last few laps, his gearbox failed to leave his car got stuck in seventh gear. A frantic radio message from Mercedes gave the German the information he needed to nurse the car home.
He managed to do so keeping Verstappen behind by 1.3 seconds as the Dutchman took the final step on the podium. Rosberg is currently under investigation for the radio messages and a verdict will be delivered later on.
Daniel Ricciardo finished fourth, a long way off of the fighting podium trio, with Räikkönen making a late move passed Perez to take fifth off the Mexican.
The Force India had an impressive drive, using the weather conditions and tyre strategy to promote himself up from tenth to finish sixth. His teammate, Hulkenberg, finished just behind in seventh, giving the team an impressive haul of points.
After a spin cost him a couple of places earlier on, Carlos Sainz Jr managed to hold onto eighth, ahead of Sebastian Vettel who did not have a chance to use the weather conditions to get higher up on the grid.
His race was hampered, however, after being handed a five-second time penalty for forcing Massa off the track, but was able to pull out enough of a gap to Daniil Kvyat as the Russian was jut too far behind the Ferrari driver.
Six drivers were lost from the race, with Jolyon Palmer and Kevin Magnussen being the last two. Magnussen had to retire his car three laps from the end of the race.
Marcus Ericsson lost engine power in the opening stages of the race, along with Romain Grosjean who had a problem going through Copse corner. The pair of them joined the Manor duo in the retirees list.
Lewis Hamilton is now only four points behind Rosberg in the Championship standings, with Mercedes extending their lead in the constructors over Ferrari with another one-two finish.
