Lewis Hamilton claims emotional home win with Nico Rosberg completing a Silver Arrows double in sensational 2015 British Grand Prix!
Lewis took his 38th career Formula One win and fifth of the 2015 season. A third Grand Prix victory at Silverstone sees Lewis equal Jim Clark and Nigel Mansell's record for wins by a British driver at this circuit. Nico took P2 to seal his 35th career Formula One podium and a Silver Arrows 1-2 finish. Lewis now leads Nico by 17 points in the Drivers' World Championship, with Mercedes AMG Petronas heading Ferrari by 160 in the Constructors'.
Toto Wolff, Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport: That was a pretty perfect race today and a real team result. We have to analyse what happened at the start - the Williams got off the line like rockets and both our guys complained of poor grip. After that, we had to stay close to the Williams and wait for the strategy window to open; we knew we could go longer than them on the tyres, so we made an aggressive early stop with Lewis and that jumped him into the lead. The key thing was the quality of the stop - we gained nearly a second on Massa through the pit lane, and that opened up the race for Lewis. Nico had to battle his way through but when the rain came, he was the fastest man on track and passed both Williams on the circuit - then charged down on his team-mate. There was a lot of communication with the drivers around that time and we even had the team back in Brackley sending us weather reports from up the road - but, in the end, it came down to Lewis making a perfect call to box. He got the inters and then just controlled the race from there. Nico boxed a lap later, then drove it home to P2. I was really proud of the decision making on the pit-wall - it was calm, clever execution in difficult circumstances. A really awesome day so close to both our factories - and a fantastic way to say thank you to all the women and men who've worked countless days and nights to deliver this incredible power unit and racing car.
Paddy Lowe, Executive Director (Technical): What an unbelievable race! Formula One has a great habit of throwing up the unexpected, which is what makes it so exciting. It's never easy and never straightforward. Both cars had poor starts and we need to analyse why that was. The Williams cars got a far better launch and also seemed to have much more grip in the opening phase of the race. I believe our tyres were a bit slower coming up to temperature after the start and then again after the safety car restart, so that's an area we need to look into. The team then produced a fantastic first stop for Lewis in terms of timing and execution to hand him the lead with what was a very early stop for a one stop strategy. Nico was unfortunately struggling to pass the Williams cars, so we debated switching him to a two stop strategy to overcome this. But then, of course, the rain came which changed everything. Lewis made a perfectly judged call to switch to inters at just the right point, while Nico gambled on staying out and actually drove a superb lap to coax the car round in very tough conditions. Luckily, after those stops, the track stayed wet and from there it was a matter of managing the cars home. A great result for the team at one of our home races to bring both cars home in the top two positions after just missing out at the previous two attempts with various mechanical problems - and a fantastic battle once again between two really top drivers.
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Christian Horner, Team Principal: "The weather produced an exciting British Grand Prix, adding an interesting twist which hopefully the fans enjoyed. Dany drove a great race, and all weekend he has done a good job. He possibly could have been in contention for a podium if we had pitted him earlier when he was fighting with Sebastian, and he also spun on his in-lap, but nonetheless, he drove a very strong race. Unfortunately, for Daniel, he suffered an engine energy related issue which forced him to retire early."
Thierry Salvi, Renault: "Daniil had a good start and managed to stay at the front. His performance in the wet was strong and he deserved the finish. Daniel suffered an electrical issue during the race, which affected both the ERS-H and K. Despite several resets, we were not able to fix the issue on track and had to retire. The problem is under investigation and we will resolve it soon."
Felipe Massa finished fourth and Valtteri Bottas fifth after running 1-2 in the first stint of an exciting British Grand Prix today. After a brilliant start, Felipe took the lead of the race, holding on to the position until the first round of pitstops. Valtteri was racing for second off the start, eventually holding third until he was able to capitalise on a mistake from Hamilton to retake the position after a brief safety car period. Hamilton jumped both cars in the first pitstops before rain played havoc with the field allowing Rosberg and Vettel to move ahead as they stopped for intermediates.
Rob Smedley, Head of Performance Engineering: There were a few moments in the race where things didn't go our way. We have to remain positive and proud of our result. The pace we showed throughout this weekend was great, we had a stunning race up until the rain came. We raced two cars against both Mercedes for a majority of the race which shows the hard work and upgrades we are bringing to the car are all working. We closed the gap on second position and moved further ahead of fourth, so it has been a good weekend.
Maurizio Arrivabene: "Overall I can't be happy with this weekend: on an all-dry race, the result would have been much different. I feel happy because once again Seb made the perfect call to come into the pits, and then drove superbly to open the gap to the Williams cars. Also, I am pleased with a very good race strategy. We need to stay humble and not brag ourselves, because today third place came courtesy of a great drive by Seb and a great strategy-but we also need a great car. The strategy guys do a wonderful job, but when it rains, it's the driver who has the final call to the pits. In the case of Kimi, whose strategy was identical to Seb's, he thought it better to come in. If it had rained harder, maybe he could have won the race. But we must be honest and acknowledge that Williams was stronger than us today."
Fernando Alonso scored what he described as ‘the first point of many' for McLaren-Honda today. It was a particularly opportune comeback: on lap one he spun to avoid an accident ahead of him, T-boning team-mate Jenson Button, and damaged his front wing, prompting a pit-stop to fit a new nose-box.
Thereafter, he put his head down, took a worthwhile gamble to make an early switch to Intermediate tyres as soon as the rain started, and moved into 10th position. When his closest challenger, Marcus Ericsson, switched from Inters to Options, then back to Inters as the rain ebbed and flowed, Fernando secured his position, despite increasingly worsening grip from his tired tyres.
Jenson's home race was particularly cruel. He was eliminated on the first lap, the resultant impact lifting the car off the ground, switching it off in the process. He was out on the spot - a real pity, as this afternoon's changeable conditions seemed perfectly suited to play to his strengths.
Eric Boullier, Racing director: "Although it's well worth mentioning that Fernando got off the mark in the 2015 world championship standings by finishing 10th here today, that isn't an accomplishment we're about to extol.
"Having said that, it was heartening to see that his car ran reliably all afternoon, even though its race pace was demonstrably insufficient. He never gave up, though, and his dogged efforts fully deserved the world championship point they earned him. Irresolute he is not.
"In the changeable weather conditions in which he usually excels, Jenson was very unlucky to be eliminated on lap one, through no fault of his or indeed of Fernando's. Their collision was just one of those things - the culmination of an unavoidable chain reaction triggered by the unruly jostling for position by drivers immediately ahead of them. So, yet again, poor Jenson was unable to put on a show in his home Grand Prix, which was a great pity.
"As always, the Silverstone crowd was magnificent - 140,000 super-knowledgeable race fans shouting themselves hoarse - and it was fitting that a local hero, and an ex-McLaren driver to boot, won for them today.
"British Formula 1 fans are among the most loyal and passionate in the world, and we're acutely aware of how steadfast their support for us has been and remains even in times of tribulation; speaking on behalf of all at McLaren-Honda, let me aver that next season we intend to give the Silverstone faithful something about which to enthuse."
Yasuhia Arai, Honda R&D senior managing officer - chief officer of motorsport: "Thanks to a great job by the race team, and all Fernando's efforts, he was able to gain a precious world championship point for us today.
"Jenson was unfortunately forced to retire due to the incident at the beginning of the race, so we still have a task ahead of us to get both cars to the finish in future races. On the plus side, our power units' settings for both qualifying and the race were exactly as we targeted for this weekend, so we hope that this is headed in the right direction.
"The next circuit in three weeks' time is a low- to mid-speed configuration, so energy management is going to be very important throughout the race. We'll use the data learned today to race at Hungaroring."
Sahara Force India scored eight points in today's British Grand Prix with Nico Hülkenberg racing to seventh place and Sergio Perez coming home ninth. The double points finish consolidates the team's fifth position in the Constructors' championship.
Vijay Mallya, Team Principal & Managing Director: "To score eight points in our home race and strengthen our hold on fifth place in the championship is a fantastic achievement. Historically we've never been especially strong on the high-speed layout of Silverstone, but today the updated VJM08 looked competitive in all weather conditions. This track provides a tough test of a Formula One car so I'm optimistic we can keep up the momentum as we enter the second half of the season. Both Nico and Sergio drove exceptionally well today; they kept out of trouble and coped well with the changeable conditions. It wasn't easy to know when to pit for intermediate tyres because some parts of the track were wet and some were dry, but I think we made the right decisions with the information we had."
Franz Tost (Team Principal): "We clearly expected a much better result today because the car has shown a very good performance this weekend. Max lost the rear of the car and therefore he couldn't continue, while Carlos had to retire when his car stopped because of what seems to be an electrical issue. Of course this is very disappointing because I think that both cars had the potential to finish in the points, but instead we've ended up with two retirements. The fact that our direct competitors have scored points isn't helpful for our championship hopes either. We will now analyse the reasons for these retirements and we hope to come back fully-prepared for the next race in Hungary in two weeks' time."
Cedrik Staudohar (Renault Sport F1 track support leader): "Both drivers had a strong pace and it is frustrating that neither driver could capitalize on the performance. The engine stopped in Carlos' car as a result of an electrical issue. We will determine the cause when we study the car in more detail. Max retired when he went off track, but we need to take the positives from the weekend as a whole and look forward to Hungary where we hope to be on the pace again."
Lotus F1 Team's hopes for the British Grand Prix evaporated before the completion of the first lap after an incident instigated retirement for both Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado. Contact between Daniel Riccardo's Red Bull and Romain's E23 led to contact with and damage to Pastor's car; Romain retired almost immediately whereas Pastor was able to complete more of his lap before being told to park and retire.
Romain started from P12 on the grid on fresh medium compound tyres. Pastor started from P14 on the grid on new medium compound tyres.
Federico Gastaldi, Deputy Team Principal: "Motorsport is sometimes a cruel sport and we saw that today. There was nothing either of our drivers could have done to avoid the first lap incident and that was our race over. It's been a frustrating home weekend for us. We weren't able to show the pace we have in the car, we've suffered from a few niggles, then it was a very early bath for both our guys. Our focus is now very much on Budapest and doing everything we can to ensure we perform at the best of our ability there."
Nick Chester, Technical Director: "Both Romain and Pastor were the victims of over-exuberance at the start of the race meaning that both returned to the garage for a very short debrief after only a lap on track. It's now a rapid return to Enstone to put everything we can into preparing the cars for Hungary and our next opportunity for a points haul."
A very unfortunate British Grand Prix for the Sauber F1 Team. Marcus Ericsson put in a flawless performance until the weather came into play. The Swede lost a lot of time due to numerous pit stops and, therefore, finished 11th. The Sauber C34-Ferrari of Felipe Nasr had issues on the way to the starting grid. The team identified a mechanical issue with the gear box. Because of this, the Brazilian was not able to participate in the race.
{b}Monisha Kaltenborn, Team Principal: {/b}"A very unfortunate race in which many things went wrong. Felipe was not able to race due to a mechanical issue with the gearbox. Marcus put in a strong performance until the weather conditions changed. Afterwards it is clear that we changed too early onto intermediate tyres. As the rain that was predicted didn't come as much as it was expected, his intermediate tyres lost grip and, therefore, he lost lap time. Then it seemed that we were able to close the gap in the next two to three laps due to what we expected to be a dry period. That's why we changed to slicks. If we had waited for one more lap, this wouldn't have happened."
The Manor F1 Team achieved its best result of the 2015 season today, with Roberto Merhi finishing the British Grand Prix in 12th position and team-mate Will Stevens in 13th.
A sell-out crowd, intense racing, sunshine and showers - Silverstone delivered it all as the team celebrated the occasion of its home race with a strong performance in front of the British fans, which saw them edging towards a points-scoring position.
John Booth, Team Principal: "What a great race! A classic British Grand Prix which had a bit of everything. In particular, the changeable conditions kept us all on the edge of our seats, with the intensity of the rain being very difficult to read. Both Will and Roberto delivered a strong performance today and it was nice to see everything coming together for Roberto after having a rather more frustrating earlier part of the weekend. We did experience a software glitch, which affected the calling of Will's first pit stop and lost him a substantial amount of time in the pit box. Towards the end of the race, the combination of the greasy conditions and Will's worn intermediates caused him to spin off, damaging the nose in the process. Nonetheless, our excellent reliability enabled us to achieve a good two-car finish in front of our home crowd. The fans have been incredible all weekend, so I'm pleased we were able to shine a little in today's race."
Tyre strategy was the key to Lewis Hamilton's victory at the British Grand Prix, when the Mercedes driver stopped earlier than his rivals at Williams to overhaul them and lead the race. Mercedes made exactly the right strategy call twice: bringing Hamilton in for his second stop (for intermediates) just as proper rain hit the end of the grand prix.
Hamilton qualified on pole but lost the lead following an electrifying start from Williams drivers Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas. However, he stopped one lap before the race leader and some rapid pit work from the Mercedes mechanics helped Hamilton take the lead after the stops were completed.
The rain at the end of the race added an extra variable to the action, with both Manors and the Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen being first to switch to the Cinturato Green intermediate. However, these stops were slightly too early, leading to increased wear at the end of the race that necessitated a further stop close to the chequered flag.
As the rain fell harder with nine laps to go, Hamilton pitted from the lead for the intermediates, followed by Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel. The rain then obliged the entire field to switch to intermediate tyres, with Vettel's early stop helping him seal a podium by jumping both Williams drivers, who ran in first and second for the first 20 laps.
Once the final pit stops were complete, Hamilton regained the lead to eventually win the race by more than 10 seconds from his team mate Nico Rosberg. By finishing 10th after three pit stops, Fernando Alonso claimed with McLaren his first point of the season.
Paul Hembery: "That was certainly one of the most exciting races of the year, during which the timing of the pit stops was absolutely crucial - not just once, but twice, when the rain began to fall properly right at the end. Strategy was key to the race, with big gains and losses at stake depending on which tyres were chosen and when. Once more the crowd at the British Grand Prix was absolutely fantastic this year: the scenes of celebration at the end were of the sort that you rarely experience anywhere else in the world."
Truth-O-Meter
The rain as well as two safety car periods (one at the beginning of the race followed by a virtual safety car at the end) had a profound effect on race strategy. We predicted a one-stopper as the most likely strategy, changing from medium to hard on lap 23. Hamilton stopped on lap 19, then made his second perfectly-timed stop (for intermediates) on lap 43.
