Formula One British GP: Wild at Silverstone

British pop stars Myleene Klass, Emma Bunton and Geri Halliwell watch from the Red Bull Formula One team garage. AP

Silverstone habitués were treated to a fantastic race in the 65th running of the British Grand Prix, with all the bells and whistles one can expect from a proper grand prix. Yes, rain, crashes, safety car appearances, and lots of overtaking were all for the taking.

At the end of the race, Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg locked up the front row, with Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel taking the third row.

The Williams pair of Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas ended in fourth and fifth, respectively.

At the beginning of the race, Massa and Bottas had phenomenal  starts, vaulting past both the Mercedes in the run to the first corner.

But ever the racer, Hamilton went immediately on the attack to claim the scalp of Bottas.

Meanwhile, at the back of the grid, both McLarens and Lotuses were out of the race even before the end of the first lap.

The actions of  Jenson Button, Fernando Alonso, Romain Grosjean  and Pastor Maldonado brought out the safety car.

Massa then slid behind the Mercedes SLS for a couple of laps.  When the safety car dove into the pits on lap 3, Massa took full control of the race restart.

When Hamilton, who was hot on the heels of the leader, made a mistake and ran wide, Bottas retook P2.

Hamilton found himself having to contend with his main championship rival and teammate Rosberg. The crowd was puzzled by the costly errors made by both.

Meanwhile, the Williams challengers were looking extremely fast and showed they could well snatch the win.

In the midfield, Kimi Räikkönen, made a lunge to get past the Force India of Nico Hülkenberg to no avail, as the latter kept his composure and held on to P5.

Daniil Kvyat, meanwhile, had a better outcome in his maneuver against Vettel. The Russian took Vettel at Copse, with Sergio Perez following suit. The Ferrari was under attack from all sides and had no way of defending. Vettel was a sitting duck.

Hamilton gets a hug from Olympic champion skier Lindsey Vonn. AFP

The dreaded radio message from the Williams garage to not race each other came on lap 9. Massa and Bottas were instructed by the team to hold and defend position.

This move, while sensible from the team’s point of view, robbed the fans of the action expected from a  Formula One race.

While all of this was ongoing in the Williams garage, the Mercs were trying to undercut the leaders.

First to blink was Carlos Sainz; the Sauber took on fresh tires to try and do a one stop race on the hard Pirellis. Likewise, Räikkönen opted to get his change of tires early. The Finn was followed by Vettel, who was having an uneventful race so far.

The hard tires seemed to give both Vettel and Räikkönen an advantage after they notched up better lap times. This had the tifosi stand up in attention, and made the rest of the field wary of the Ferraris’ speed.

Meanwhile, up in front, Massa ran wide at Luffield, thus opening the door for Bottas to try a maneuver.  But ever the veteran, Massa defended his position.

It is one thing to get close to an F1 car, it is entirely different to find a way past one.

While all this was going on, Rosberg and  Hamilton kept registering better lap times, and knocking off precious seconds from the race leaders.

When Hamilton was called into the pits, the team gave him a fast turn around and got him into some clean air, way ahead of the pack. Race leader Massa pitted a lap later, with Rosberg on his heels.

But as they came out the long pit exit, Hamilton flew by and claimed P1 to the delight of the partisan crowd. Hearing more than 100,000  people shouting in unison will always be surreal.

Williams might have been too cautious with its strategy. Had they let Bottas, who was faster than Massa, race ahead, the outcome might have been different. Consequently, all they could do was to have to try to catch the race leader.

Midway into the race, dark clouds loomed overhead. And in typical British summer weather, rain fell in the dying stages of the race. This escalated tensions in the garages: Get the tire call wrong and you’ll end up with a car with no traction, or call in the driver too late and he will suffer the consequences.

Everyone in the pits were focused on the radar, busy calculating for their drivers on how to maximize tire use and the imminent tire stop.

On the 37th lap, the heavens opened up and made driving all that more tricky; slicks on a damp circuit will never be a good thing.

Even the race leader had to slow down. He was losing time compared to Rosberg. Räikkönen, on the other hand, didn’t want to stop; he felt that the track moisture didn’t require an immediate stop. The Finn kept going.

It was different for Vettel and Rosberg. They found it hard to contend with the dampness and slid out at Luffield.

For his part, Hamilton stayed out even as he was sliding in some corners. The Brit didn’t want to relinquish the lead to Rosberg who was catching up. Lap 43 saw more rain being dumped on the circuit. This time Hamilton had to pit. On the following lap, Rosberg followed suit.

Did  Hamilton get a good buffer over Rosberg?  Or would Rosberg undercut Hamilton?

As Rosberg came out of the pits, Hamilton had already flown by to maintain his hold on P1.

The Williams team decided to bring in both drivers on the same lap, stacking them to try and hold position.

But Vettel, who was driving a quiet race, drove past the pits to claim P3. Bottas was deflated: All the work he had earned was for naught.

The rain came down heavier in the closing moments of the race, but this didn’t matter to  Hamilton who already had the race in the bag.

Hamilton kept his composure, helped by the fact that he had about a 10-second lead over Rosberg with four laps to go.

Hamilton took the checkered flag for his fifth win of the year, his second consecutive British GP, and the 38th in his illustrious career.

The Williams duo had a chance to come up with better results, but it was not meant to be. Maybe next time, they should throw caution to the wind and just go all-out for the win.

Hamilton is now only two wins away for tying Vettel for fourth on the all-time wins list. With his current form, he may do it even before years end.

Hamilton now extends his lead in the standings by 17 points to Rosberg, 194 to 177.

On third, Vettel is now 59 points adrift, while Bottas is fourth with 77 points. Rounding up on the top 5 is Räikkönen with 76 points.

The 65th British GP was a crowd pleaser to say the least, and the reported 140,000 attendees didn’t leave wanting more. It was indeed a fantastic weekend.