Lewis Hamilton moves within eight points of Max Verstappen in the driver's championship as the Briton stole pole position from Charles Leclerc.

  • Red flag stoppage 

Silverstone saw half a lap of action before the stewards raised the red flag - Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton battled from the offset, as the pair went into Copse Hamilton clipped the Red Bull driver - Verstappen shunted into the barriers suffering a hefty knock.  

The race was swiftly suspended while Red Bull racer Verstappen was checked over by the medics and his car was carried off the track.

Tensions were rising in the pit lane between Red Bull and Mercedes; Christian Horner relayed to the FIA his frustration while Toto Wolff preferred to tell the stewards in person as he desperately defended his driver. 

Verstappen was sent to hospital for precautionary checks and Lewis Hamilton received a 10-second time penalty. 

  • After the restart 

Charles Leclerc was handed the lead as he defended the first position with all his might. 

Shortly after the restart, Sebastian Vettel spun off track after trying to pass Kimi Raikkonen. 

Fast forward a few laps and there was still an expectation for Hamilton to get on the podium despite still having to serve his 10-second penalty. 

Leclerc had some minor hiccups with his power unit allowing Mercedes to pile on the pressure between laps 16 and 18 - at one point Hamilton had closed the gap to  0.452s.

While Ferrari and Mercedes were battling for the top spot, Lando Norris was like a charging horse ready to pounce, the young Brit was just 5.846s off the lead. 

After being told “100% maximum attack”, it got heated in the McLaren pit lane - Lando Norris boxed and had problems with his right rear, he was halted for 6 seconds. 

Hamilton served his time penalty on lap 27, he came out fifth, the leader at the time, Leclerc pitted 3 laps later.

  • Closing stages

Leclerc had defended brilliantly since the restart and was on course to win the British Grand Prix. 

Inside 40 laps, Hamilton managed to pass teammate Valtteri Bottas, at that stage, Leclerc was eight seconds in front of the Brit.

Hamilton was closing in on the Ferrari driver and set a fast lap with ten to go.

Lewis' tires were severely blistered but still received plenty of encouragement from his team as they believed he could take his eighth victory at Silverstone. 

While an intense battle was taking place at the top, Sergio Perez changed to soft tire compounds to deny Hamilton an extra race point in the championship - Perez wouldn't get the extra point as he finished outside the top ten. 

With 140 thousand fans behind Lewis Hamilton, it was anyone's race to win with three laps to go. 

Remember the collision at Copse on lap one? We witnessed history again on lap 50 as Hamilton came on the inside of the Ferrari pushing Leclerc off the track - he claimed the first position and won the British Grand Prix for the eighth time. 

The 38-year-old has put himself back in the mix for the championship closing the gap to eight points. 

Speaking on the team radio immediately after his win, Hamilton was left inspired by his Mercedes teammates. 

"Great job guys, this goes back to everyone in the team, thank you so much  for continuing to push this year I'm so inspired by you guys - there's a long way to go but let's keep pushing guys."