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Race winner Lewis Hamilton overtakes his team while celebrating at the pit wall after the F1 Grand Prix of Great Britain at Silverstone. (Photo by Mark Thompson / Getty Images)
Philip Duncan
Lewis Hamilton made a remarkable comeback, winning the British Grand Prix after being accused of risking Max Verstappen’s life as the rivals of Formula 1 crashed at 190 mph.
Hamilton overtook Charles Leclerc with only two and a half laps of an exciting race left after the Ferrari driver at the Copse exit in front of 140,000 spectators on a hot afternoon in Silverstone where the That season’s title shot was boiling, the road had left Over.
Hamilton was hit with a 10-second penalty for a terrible first-round shunt that ended Verstappen’s afternoon in the cordons and then in the hospital.
But his breathtaking win – his eighth on home turf – put him seven points close to Verstappen in one remarkable afternoon.Hamilton jumped out of his Mercedes and jumped over a barrier before waving the Union flag in front of the overcrowded grandstands.
« It’s massively overwhelming, » said the seven-time world champion. “It was a physically difficult race with the best spectators. A home audience is the best. It is a dream to do this in front of all of you. «
About his collision with Verstappen, he said: » I gave it my all this week. I always try to be measured in fights with Max and he’s aggressive.
« I was by his side and he didn’t give me the space, but no matter if I agree with the punishment, I would Don’t let anything stand in the way of the national anthem and the British flag. «
The biggest focal point of the last few seasons came after just nine corners. Hamilton pushed pole-sitter Verstappen during the first lap.
The Dutchman closed the door on his rival in the beginning right-hand corner of Abbey. But his defense through the following turns put Hamilton on his forefoot and the Mercedes man walked the Wellington Straight at over 200 mph just before Verstappen, only to see Verstappen hold the position by hitting the racing line through Brooklands Get the best analysis and comment on the GAA Alliance Leagues, Rainbow Cup in Rugby and Rory McIlroy’s Revival with our free newsletter.
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But Verstappen ran too far on the Luffield exit, giving Hamilton a third chance at stardom. Verstappen moved into the middle of the track before Hamilton pulled up the old pit straight next to him and within inches of the wall.
Verstappen was just ahead when they approached the right-handed cop, but when the Dutchman turned to the corner, hit Hamilton’s left front on the right rear of his Red Bull.
The force of the impact drove Verstappen out of control, backing through the gravel and into the barriers to an audible worried groan at the largest gathering at a sporting event in Britain since the beginning the pandemic.
Verstappen’s race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase was right on the radio and asked: « Max are you okay? » For eight seconds there was nothing. Then suddenly the sound of a man flinching in pain after an impact registered at 51G.
Verstappen managed to free himself from his copied Red Bull machine, then stood hunched over and led to an ambulance . There was relief and applause among the fans when he managed to wave.
The race was stopped and then the allegations began, especially from Red Bull team boss Christian Horner.
In a heated radio message FIA Race Director Michael Masi said Horner: “He was never anywhere near wrong in this corner.
“ Every driver who has driven this route knows that you don’t stick a bike in Copse. It’s a huge accident.
« And it was 100 percent Max’s corner. From my point of view, Hamilton is fully to blame, who should never have been in this position.
» You would have had a serious accident can have. Thank goodness it was intact, so I hope you will deal with it appropriately. ”
Later he added,“ Thank goodness we didn’t have a driver here today who was seriously or worse injured. ”
After a delay of 45 minutes, the race was restarted. Hamilton started from second after Leclerc overtook him shortly after his collision with Verstappen.
Hamilton was then given a 10-second penalty, which he served during his pit stop on lap 27 of 52, which put him on the fourth place behind Lando Norris, Valtteri Bottas and a dozen seconds behind Leclerc.
Hamilton overtook Norris on lap 31 before Bottas was knocked out of the way by Mercedes. The world champion then went on the hunt for Leclerc, reducing the gap to just 1.5 seconds with four laps to go.
On lap 50 of 52, Hamilton put his Mercedes on the inside of Leclerc’s Ferrari through Copse before he withdrew, but the Monegaske went far and Hamilton took the lead to the delight of the partisan crowd.
He crossed the finish line 3.8 seconds ahead of Leclerc, Bottas completed the podium and Norris was fourth.
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