Lewis Hamilton delivered a remarkable comeback to win the British Grand Prix after he was accused of putting Max Verstappen’s life on the line when Formula One’s championship rivals crashed at 190mph.
Hamilton passed Charles Leclerc with only two-and-a-half laps remaining of a thrilling race after the Ferrari driver ran out of road on the exit of Copse in front of a 140,000 spectators on a sizzling afternoon at Silverstone where this season’s title battle boiled over.
Hamilton was hit with a 10-second penalty for a terrifying lap-one shunt which saw Verstappen’s afternoon end in the barriers and subsequently hospital.
Hamilton was then slapped with a 10-second penalty which he served at his pit stop on lap 27 of 52 which dropped him to fourth behind Lando Norris, Valtteri Bottas and a dozen seconds adrift of Leclerc.
Hamilton passed Norris on lap 31 before Bottas was ordered out his way by Mercedes. The world champion then set about hunting Leclerc with the gap reduced to just 1.5 seconds with four laps to run.
On lap 50 of 52, Hamilton put his Mercedes on the inside of Leclerc’s Ferrari through Copse before backing out of the move, but the Monegasque ran wide and Hamilton assumed the lead to the delight of the partisan crowd.
He crossed the line 3.8 seconds clear of Leclerc with Bottas completing the podium and Norris finishing fourth.
