Lewis Hamilton won his home British Grand Prix for the fourth year in a row on Sunday while a penultimate-lap puncture slashed Sebastian Vettels championship lead to a single point.
The Britons drive from pole to flag on an overcast afternoon was lonely, uneventful and dominant — in complete contrast to his Ferrari rivals afternoon — with Mercedes team mate Valtteri Bottas finishing 14 seconds behind to secure the one-two.
“The support has been incredible this weekend. I am so proud I could do this for you all,” said Hamilton, who threw himself into the fans for some crowd surfing after the podium celebrations.
“The team were faultless this weekend, Valtteri did an incredible job as well so its the perfect weekend for us.”
Far behind in his wake, as Hamilton cruised to a 57th career win and soaked up the applause from an army of flag-waving fans, came sudden drama.
Vettel, who had battled on worn tyres, finished seventh after an emergency pit stop with a shower of sparks from the wheel rim. The Germans Finnish team mate Kimi Raikkonen took third.
At the halfway stage of the 20-race season, Vettel has 177 points to Hamiltons 176 with Bottas on 154.
Hungary, a circuit where the Briton has won five times before, is next up.
Hamilton became only the third driver, after his late compatriot Jim Clark and Frenchman Alain Prost, to win the British Grand Prix five times and the first to take four successive victories at Silverstone.
Clark won four in a row in the 1960s but one was at Aintree and another at Brands Hatch.
Red Bulls Max Verstappen finished fourth with Australian team mate Daniel Ricciardo fifth after fighting through the field. Germanys Nico Hulkenberg was sixth for Renault and Force India pairing Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez were eighth and ninth.
