Hamilton wins British Grand Prix as Verstappen crashes out

Sports Desk, Jul 18 (EFE).- Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton driving for Mercedes on Sunday claimed his record-extending eighth British Grand Prix to close the ranking-point gap with overall leader Max Verstappen, who withdrew in the early going after a crash.

“We’ve got the best crowd here. It’s a dream to win in front of them all,” the Briton told F1 media after clinching his fourth victory of the season.

With two laps to go at the Silverstone circuit, Hamilton managed to overtake Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who had to settle for the second spot, just ahead of Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas of Finland.

“It’s difficult to enjoy 100 percent. I gave all of me but it was not enough in the last two laps,” Leclerc said. “Congrats to Lewis – he did an amazing job. The team is working incredibly well. I’m incredibly proud of them.”

McLaren’s English driver Land Norris and Australian Daniel Ricciardo came in fourth and fifth, respectively, while Ferrari’s Spanish driver Carlos Sainz was sixth, ahead of his countryman Fernando Alonso (driving for Alpine).

Aston Martin’s Canadian Lance Stroll, France’s Esteban Ocon (Alpine) and Japan’s Yuki Tsunoda (Alpha Tauri) completed the top-10.

The race was over early on for Verstappen, who started out in the coveted pole position but had to withdraw during the very first lap after Hamilton’s Mercedes touched the right rear tire of the Dutchman’s Red Bull.

Verstappen lost control of his vehicle and hit the barrier, but fortunately he emerged unharmed from the race-ending mishap.

Nevertheless, ten races into the season Verstappen is still on top of the overall classification with 185 points, but he saw Hamilton cut his lead to just eight points in the British GP while Norris rounded out the 1-2-3 podium with 113 points.

The next race on the agenda will be the Hungarian GP scheduled for 1 August.

EFE arh/ta-bp