Englishman Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) won the British Formula 1 Grand Prix in the final lap, despite suffering a puncture in the end, allowing him to just cross the finish line ahead of the Dutchman Max Verstappen (Red Bull).
Hamilton, who extends his record of victories in his home Grand Prix to seven, takes another step towards a seventh world championship title, increasing his overall lead.
He came to this Grand Prix with a five-point lead over his teammate, the Finnish driver Valtteri Bottas, who also suffered a puncture in the final part of the race at Silverstone and could not score points, finishing in eleventh place.
Bottas remains in second place in the standings, but now 30 points behind Hamilton. Verstappen is third, six points behind the Finn and 36 points behind the leader.
Before the exciting ending, the race had been relatively uneventful, with the two Mercedes cars dominating over their rivals. But a succession of punctures in the final laps changed the script of the Grand Prix.
"Until that last lap, everything was going well. But when I heard that Valtteri had punctured, I looked at my tires and everything seemed fine, but suddenly I punctured. I tried to maintain speed without breaking the rim," explained Hamilton after crossing the finish line.
Verstappen likely missed out on victory because he stopped in the penultimate lap to put on new tires, which at least allowed him to set the fastest lap and earn an extra point.
But that pit stop cost him a few seconds that would have presumably allowed him to overtake Hamilton before the finish. "I'm very happy to have finished second," said the young Dutchman. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) inherited third place unexpectedly, after running almost the entire race in fourth place.
Spanish driver Carlos Sainz Jr (McLaren), who started seventh and seemed to be able to finish fourth, suffered a puncture on the unpredictable final lap and finished outside the points, in fourteenth place. He later moved up to thirteenth place thanks to a five-second penalty to Italian driver Antonio Giovinazzi, who dropped to fourteenth place.
British Grand Prix Classification
1. Lewis Hamilton (GBR/Mercedes) - 306.198 km in 1h 28:01.105
2. Max Verstappen (NED/Red Bull-Honda) at 5.856
3. Charles Leclerc (MON/Ferrari) at 18.474
4. Daniel Ricciardo (AUS/Renault) at 19.650
5. Lando Norris (GBR/McLaren-Renault) at 22.277
6. Esteban Ocon (FRA/Renault) at 26.937
7. Pierre Gasly (FRA/AlphaTauri-Honda) at 31.188
8. Alexander Albon (THA/Red Bull-Honda) at 32.670
9. Lance Stroll (CAN/Racing Point-Mercedes) at 37.311
10. Sebastian Vettel (GER/Ferrari) at 41.857
11. Valtteri Bottas (FIN/Mercedes) at 42.167
12. George Russell (GBR/Williams-Mercedes) at 52.004
13. Carlos Sainz Jr (ESP/McLaren-Renault) at 53.370
14. Antonio Giovinazzi (ITA/Alfa Romeo Racing-Ferrari) at 54.205
15. Nicholas Latifi (CAN/Williams-Mercedes) at 54.549
16. Romain Grosjean (FRA/Haas-Ferrari) at 55.050
17. Kimi Räikkönen (FIN/Alfa Romeo Racing-Ferrari) 1 lap
Fastest lap: Max Verstappen (NED/Red Bull-Honda) 1:27.097 on lap 52 (average: 243.494 km/h)
Retirements:
Kevin Magnussen (DEN/Haas-Ferrari): accident 1st lap
Nico Hülkenberg (GER/Racing Point-Mercedes): mechanical problem before the race
Daniil Kvyat (RUS/AlphaTauri-Honda): spin in 33rd lap
Driver Standings after the British Grand Prix
1. Lewis Hamilton (GBR) 88 pts
2. Valtteri Bottas (FIN) 58
3. Max Verstappen (NED) 52
4. Lando Norris (GBR) 36
5. Charles Leclerc (MON) 33
6. Alexander Albon (THA) 26
7. Sergio Pérez (MEX) 22
8. Lance Stroll (CAN) 20
9. Daniel Ricciardo (AUS) 20
10. Carlos Sainz Jr (ESP) 15
11. Esteban Ocon (FRA) 12
12. Pierre Gasly (FRA) 12
13. Sebastian Vettel (GER) 10
14. Antonio Giovinazzi (ITA) 2
15. Daniil Kvyat (RUS) 1
16. Kevin Magnussen (DEN) 1
Constructor Standings after the British Grand Prix:
1. Mercedes 146 pts
2. Red Bull-Honda 78
3. McLaren-Renault 51
4. Ferrari 43
5. Racing Point-Mercedes 42
6. Renault 32
7. AlphaTauri-Honda 13
8. Alfa Romeo Racing-Ferrari 2
9. Haas-Ferrari 1