With late rain at Slverstone Hamilton times it perfectly to hold off all comers; Rosberg settles for a forlorn 2nd place but Vettel grabs a fortuitous podium

All race weekend the weather at the famed Silverstone circuit had been absolutely perfect with plentiful sun and balmy temperatures. But with 16 laps remaining in the British Grand Prix the skies turned dark and rain began to spatter half of the track in a more typical display of English summer weather. That meant it was judgement time for the pit wall strategists, as well as the contenders for the win at the front of the race. Ferrari’s Kimi Raikonnen was the first to make the call to gamble on Intermediate wet tires on Lap 39 but it proved to be a wager made too soon and the Finn made no ground in mixed conditions. By Lap 43, however, the intensity of the precipitation picked up and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton dove into pits to make the switch after several squirmingly slow laps. By the time he exited after his service, the skies opened up and Hamilton seized the opportunity, building a gap on his teammate Nico Rosberg, who had stayed out on dry tires and only pitted on Lap 45. It all broke right for the Englishman at that moment and the racing gods had smiled on Hamilton once again at his home Grand Prix. In that decisive moment, he had essentially won at Silverstone for the 3rd time, a very exclusive club. And so he marched home to a dominant win amidst the hearty cheers of his countrymen, the beneficiary of good timing and good luck. But then, luck is the residue of design and after blowing a sure win in Monaco it would be hard to argue he wasn’t owed one after all.

Photos courtesy GrandPrix247.com

It was hardly Hamilton’s and Mercedes’ usual uncontested victory. Team Williams had a storming start to the race with both Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas overtaking Hamilton and Rosberg directly off the starting line. For a while it seemed as if Frank Williams’ legendary British team could hold off mighty Mercedes and pull the upset. But it wasn’t to be. With Bottas looking the faster of their drivers team Williams did not issue any team orders to have Massa cede the lead to his junior teammate and that seemed to enable Mercedes to keep close despite their unusual starting hiccup. So when the first round of stops came, Hamilton was ideally poised to leapfrog both of the Williams with a typically sterling Mercedes stop. And that was exactly how it played out. Hamilton had a blistering out lap and was able to come around ahead of both Massa and Rosberg after they pitted simultaneously a lap later, as well as Bottas a lap after that. Even worse for Williams, when the rains did come they stayed out too long on slicks while Ferrari called in Sebastian Vettel to change to Intermediates. While their early call with Raikonnen didn’t pay off, the call for Vettel did in spades. Suddenly, in a race in which the German’s Prancing Horse had been nowhere, Vettel was able to reel in several positions including his teammate and both Williams to practically steal the last step on the podium with a fortuitous P3. The unlucky guinea pig Raikonnen finished P8.

That left Williams asking what might have been and relegated Massa to P4 and Bottas to P5. They have got to be cursing the unwanted rain. But they may also be second-guessing their strategy calls earlier in the race and whether they should have let the racy Bottas scoot on by Massa and try to build a gap against Mercedes that might have held up amidst all the whether-related chaos.

With his Red Bull teammate Daniel Ricciardo retiring on lap 29, Daniil Kvyat flew the flag for the team with a very consistent and hard-earned P6. Force India had a very good day in the points in their new car with Nico Hulkenberg coming home P7 and Sergio Perez grabbing P9 after starting from 11th on the grid. The last World Championship point was earned by McLaren’s Fernando Alonso. In past years a 10th place finish would be a major disappointment for the Spanish former double World Champion. But in light of McLaren’s well documented woes and with the finish representing Alonso’s first points of the season (if you can believe that!), he and the team have got to be feeling thankful for small favors.

This Sunday’s British GP also saw an unusual amount of attrition. Sauber’s Felipe Nasr was unable to take the grid and the Lotuses of Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado crashed out on Lap 1 along with McLaren’s veteran English driver, Jenson Button. And as mentioned above, Ricciardo’s Red Bull failed to finish and so did both of the Toro Rossos of rookies Carlos Sainz and Max Verstappen.

Top 10 finishers in the British Grand Prix:

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race weekend is in two weeks time from the Hungaroring. The twisty circuit in Hungary is one that Hamilton has dominated throughout his career so look for him to consolidate his lead in the Driver’s Championship and for Williams to fall back a bit due to lack of downforce as compared to Ferrari. With their chance for victory washed away late at a Silverstone circuit that perfectly suited their straight-line speed, the 2015 British Grand Prix could be one that Williams rues for a long time to come.