Lewis Hamilton has described his podium finish at the end of a chaotic British Grand Prix as "a huge bonus" for himself and Mercedes. Mercedes appeared to move a step closer to early-season pace-setters Red Bull and Ferrari at Silverstone after rolling out significant upgrades. Having featured towards the top of the practice times in the dry, Hamilton had to settle for fifth on the grid in a wet qualifying session, though vowed to be "aggressive" on race day. And after Max Verstappen picked up bodywork damage on his Red Bull, taking him out of contention, Hamilton was able to reel in the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz and battle for the win.
Hamilton hails "incredible" home crowd at Silverstone
Running third on the road after he and the Ferraris had switched from Medium tyres to Hards, Hamilton was one of several drivers - including Sainz and Red Bull's Sergio Perez - to take on Softs under a late Safety Car. While this paved the way for Hamilton to pass Leclerc, who stayed out on used Hard rubber, Sainz stormed clear for victory, with Perez also slotting ahead of the seven-time World Champion. Nonetheless, Hamilton was delighted to make the top three on home soil, as the capacity crowd roared him around. "First, I really have to give it up to this crowd," said Hamilton. "We've had the biggest show up in history here in the UK, so thank you to everybody for the incredible support. We don't see this anywhere else around the world. This is literally the greatest group that we get to see, so I'm so grateful for that. "I gave it everything today. I was trying to chase down those Ferraris, but congratulations to Carlos. They were just too quick today for us. "At the end, I was in amongst that battle with Checo [Perez]. Those guys were just too quick on the straights for me today, but I'm so grateful for the hard work all the team did to get an upgrade here. "We've made a step closer to them (Red Bull and Ferrari), so we got to keep pushing."
Hamilton unable to live with rivals' speed on the straights
Asked if the tyres played a role in a victory shot escaping him, Hamilton reiterated that Mercedes need to find speed on the straights. "I mean, we lost a little bit of time in the pit-stop and then I was like chasing, chasing and chasing, but the pace was great on both sets of tyres," said Hamilton. "At the end there it was just a little bit difficult. Once you get a Red Bull behind you, they're so fast on the straights "We've got some improvements to make, but this is a huge bonus for us to be on the podium. "I'm glad everyone was safe from the big crash at the beginning of the day, but yeah, thank you to everybody. "As I said, we're gonna continue to push. Let's keep trying to be the best we can and I send you all positivity."
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