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Formula 1
British GP
2015 British Grand Prix Sunday - British GP
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Do Williams have a strategy call to make here? If Massa is holding Bottas up, he'll back both cars into the path of the chasing Mercedes.
Stopwatch
Hamilton is even faster than Bottas, so he too is in DRS range.
Stopwatch
Fastest lap for Bottas, he takes 0.3s out of Massa and is now 0.7s behind.
Rosberg is also being told to look after his left-front tyre.
Rosberg is also being told to look after his left-front tyre.
Vettel's ramping up the pressure on Perez now, while the other Ferrari/Force India fight is also getting close with Raikkonen tucked up behind Hulkenberg.
Massa is told to "look after the front-left tyre".
Crucially, Hamilton is 1.0s behind Bottas, and Rosberg 1.1s behind the other Mercedes. No DRS for the leaders at this stage.
As DRS is enabled, Massa scrapes his lead out to 1.0s on Bottas at the front.
Alonso's got past both Manor cars as his recovery continues. He's now 13th. A sniff of a point or two for the Spaniard?
There are five retirements already...
There are five retirements already...
There's sort of a train for fifth, with the gaps between Hulkenberg, Raikkonen, Kvyat, Perez, Vettel, Sainz and Ricciardo all less than a second at the start of this lap.
Hamilton seems to be biding his time here, he's not making big inroads on the Williams drivers yet. He's told that his "rears are still coming up to temp - pressures look OK."
Breaking news
Incident involving Grosjean and Button will be investigated after the race...
Massa leads Bottas by 0.7, Hamilton by 1.6, Rosberg by 2.2.
Yellow flag
We've got yellow flags in the first few corners - Hamilton is told "we need a good lift".
Vettel's dropped to ninth in all this, Perez was quick on the draw and got ahead of the Ferrari.
Crash
Verstappen's off! The Toro Rosso's been pitched sideways and he's out. Not sure what happened there.
Massa, Bottas, Hamilton, Rosberg out front. Yes, really.
Bold move from Raikkonen to attack Hulkenberg as the German gets near the back of Rosberg.
Hulkenberg is forceful in his defence and holds fifth as they round Aintree.
Hulkenberg is forceful in his defence and holds fifth as they round Aintree.
Rosberg has a look at Hamilton but without any joy, so the Mercedes are third and fourth.
Green flag
Restart at the beginning of lap four. Hamilton attacks Massa into Club, locks up, runs wide, and Bottas is through to second again!
Perez is reminded it's safety car line one you can attack/defend - Force India doesn't want its driver to be mugged at the restart.
Ah, no. That replay was unclear.
The Lotus cars hit each other at Village, Alonso spun exiting the corner (almost in avoidance, you might say) and tagged his team-mate, putting Button out of the race.
The Lotus cars hit each other at Village, Alonso spun exiting the corner (almost in avoidance, you might say) and tagged his team-mate, putting Button out of the race.
The cars are at Copse at the moment, with Massa leading Hamilton.
Safety car in this lap.
Hulkenberg just outdid both Ferraris off the line, great start from the German.
Kvyat's managed to split the Ferraris too, so Vettel's fallen to eighth.
Kvyat's managed to split the Ferraris too, so Vettel's fallen to eighth.
A lot has been made of Mercedes' clutch system in recent races, and the sluggish getaway for both cars there suggests there's more work required. The Williams drivers absolutely nailed them.
So it looks like Grosjean was tussling with Ricciardo into Village, slight contact (or avoiding action) meant the Lotus moved left - into the path of the innocent Button, who had made a good start and was attacking on the outside.
Contact ended both drivers races, though Ricciardo escaped and runs 13th.
Contact ended both drivers races, though Ricciardo escaped and runs 13th.
Bottas will be kicking himself for leaving the door wide open at the start. He had Hamilton where he wanted him, but he just invited the Mercedes up the inside into the Loop.
Maldonado's not made it back to the pits, the Lotus has pulled off. He's been told to switch the car off.
Alonso rejoins.
Alonso rejoins.
Current order:
1 Massa
2 Hamilton
3 Bottas
4 Rosberg
5 Hulkenberg
6 Raikkonen
7 Kvyat
8 Vettel
9 Perez
10 Sainz
1 Massa
2 Hamilton
3 Bottas
4 Rosberg
5 Hulkenberg
6 Raikkonen
7 Kvyat
8 Vettel
9 Perez
10 Sainz
Alonso's pit in his McLaren, Maldonado's also in.
Disastrous first lap for the McLarens and Lotuses.
Disastrous first lap for the McLarens and Lotuses.
Crash
Grosjean's Lotus was caught up in the incident at Village. He's out.
Alonso reports front-wing damage.
Alonso reports front-wing damage.
Yellow flag
Safety car before the end of lap one.
Bottas defends from Rosberg into Becketts - just. Drama everywhere you look.
Both Mercedes are slow away, Massa storms through into Turn 1. Bottas briefly takes second, but Hamilton nails him into the Loop. Rosberg is fourth, and Hulkenberg has cleared the Ferraris to take fifth!
Breaking news
A tangle further back, and Jenson Button's out!
Lights out
The lights are out - the British Grand Prix is go and Massa takes the lead!
The cars are filing onto the grid.
Of those 19 cars, only one is starting on the hard-compound Pirellis: Max Verstappen.
The Toro Rosso driver lines up 13th on the prime rubber.
The Toro Rosso driver lines up 13th on the prime rubber.
Green flag
Formation lap is under way. 19 cars (there's no Nasr) head off for one more tour of Silverstone before the British Grand Prix is go.
LAWRENCE BARRETTO: "The Spice Girls, John Newman and, er, Sami Hyypia were among the celebrities on what was a very busy grid today with Alesha Dixon belting out the national anthem."
By: Scott Mitchell, Glenn Freeman, Lawrence Barretto, Edd Straw
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