Silverstone (United Kingdom) (AFP)
Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) won the British F1 Grand Prix in extremis on Sunday and crossed the finish line on three wheels with a puncture just ahead of Max Verstappen (Red Bull).
The Briton thus won his 7th victory in his national Grand Prix and flies to the championship, his teammate Valtteri Bottas also had a puncture in the last laps and could not score any points in the championship, finishing only 11th.
While the race had been relatively tasteless with the two Mercedes prancing ahead of their rivals, the final laps saw a lot of suspense due to the punctures of the two Mercedes in the final laps.
“Until this last lap everything was going well. But when I heard that Valtteri had a flat I looked at my tires and everything seemed to be fine, but suddenly I had a flat too. I tried to keep from speed without breaking the rim, ”said Hamilton after the finish.
Verstappen undoubtedly lost the victory by stopping on the penultimate lap to put on new tires which enabled him to break the lap record and score an extra point.
This stop also cost him the time that would have allowed him to pass Hamilton just before the finish line. "I am very happy to have finished 2nd," said the young Dutchman, however.
It was suddenly Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) who inherited an unexpected 3rd place after having done most of the race in 4th position. He took advantage of Bottas' puncture to get on the podium while the Italian cars are currently experiencing a slump.
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