Hamilton wins British Grand Prix to cut Vettel’s lead

Lewis Hamilton dominated the British Grand Prix from start to finish to cut Sebastian Vettel’s World Championship lead to just one point.

The Brit started on pole and pulled away from the first corner. He won a record-equalling fifth British Grand Prix and extended his lead throughout the race.

The battle for the podium places caught the crowd’s attentions. Vettel, Kimi Raikkonen and Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas were all in it until close to the end after Max Verstappen fell away earlier in the race.

Raikkonen was set to finish second but a tyre failure three laps from the end saw him drop to third. The same happened to his Ferrari teammate Vettel a lap later to confirm a Mercedes one-two.

Vettel’s problems forced him to pit with two laps left and eventually finished seventh, pushing Red Bull’s Verstappen into fourth.

Bottas had started in ninth after a five-place grid penalty for changing his gearbox. The Finn started on the soft tires and battled his way to fifth. After coming out the pit on lap 32, Bottas was 4.2 seconds behind Vettel. He narrowed that gap and passed 10 laps later.

The Hungarian Grand Prix follows on July 30, with the Championship finely in the balance.