Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel puts neck on the line to beat Hamilton in British GP

World
Europe

After laboring with neck pain on Saturday, Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel found the perfect tonic 24 hours later by beating Lewis Hamilton to win the British Grand Prix, which is the latter’s home race, on Sunday.

The German won the British GP in front of a partisan crowd and extended his lead in the Formula One championship standings to eight points after 10 of 21 races.

“Sebastian drove a great race, fighting like a lion despite the pain in the neck,” Ferrari team Principal Maurizio Arrivabene said.

“I will feel it a little bit tonight. It doesn’t matter. It held up. The race was fantastic,” Vettel said after claiming his fourth win of the season.

Vettel moved level with Prost on 51 F1 wins, trailing only Hamilton (65) and Michael Schumacher (91).

The podium presentation of the British Formula One Grand Prix: first Scuderia Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel (3rd L), second Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport driver Lewis Hamilton (2nd L) and third Scuderia Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen (R1) on July 8, 2018, in Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone, England. /VCG Photo

However, Mercedes and Ferrari traded insults and accusations after the race, as the controversy centered on an incident in the opening lap when Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen collided with Hamilton’s Mercedes at Turn Three.

As a result, Hamilton, who had an aggressive start from pole position, dropped to the back of the field. “Just got wheel spin and lost ground to the others and then just got a tap from behind and that was that,” Hamilton said.

“Interesting tactics, I would say, from their side,” Hamilton complained immediately afterward. Later he was quick to say it wasn’t an issue: “I don’t have any concerns.”

Also, the Briton’s Mercedes boss Toto Wolff and the team’s non-executive chairman Nikki Lauda both suggested that Ferrari's crashes with their team’s cars might be more than just unlucky “racing incidents.”

“We’ve just got to try to position ourselves better so we are not exposed to the red cars because who knows whether that’s going to happen again. We’ve got to work hard as a team to try to lock out the front row and make sure we're fully ahead of these guys,” Hamilton said.

“This is the greatest race of the year and this is the greatest crowd and I’m sorry I couldn’t bring it home for you today,” Hamilton told his disappointed fans. “We take it on the chin and believe me, I will not give up. I will not give up.”

Source(s): AP ,AFP