Before the race had begun there was some changes to the race order; Max Chilton took a five place grid penalty for a gear box change, Gutierrez would start 19th, Lotus' Pastor Maldonado, unable to provide a fuel sample after Saturday's qualifying went down to 20th place and both Caterhams of Kamui Kobayashi and Marcus Ericsson would line up at the very back of the grid as they failed to meet the 107% rule.
All cars decided to go out on the option tyre apart from the Ferrari's; opting for a different strategy and a likely one-stop race plan to try and push their way through the field.
Knowing the Ferrari's and Williams starting at the back would be something to keep close attention to was proved right for all the wrong reasons on the very first lap.
Kimi Raikkonen was pushed wide on the entrance to the Wellington straight, and as he joined back onto the track he went over a bump causing his car to instantly snap- losing control of the car as the Ferrari veered to the right into the armco barrier, the force was enough to send the car spinning back into the paths of on coming cars- one of which being the man celebrating his 200th Grand Prix. Felipe Massa's razor-sharp instinct avoided a head-on collision, reducing the impact through a self-applied spin hitting the car on Massa's rear left tyre.
Kimi Raikkonen was able to limp away from the crash; with later medical examinations reassuring everyone that he was okay- suffering only bruises to his right ankle and knee.
The race was stopped as the cars lined up in race order that would prove to be an hours delay to ensure the damaged armco barrier was repaired.
There were further incidents on the first lap as Sergio Perez and Jean Eric Vergne came together on Turn One but were able to both continue without any sanctions from the race stewards. And Max Chilton would receive a drive-through penalty for entering the pit lane once the red flag was waved.
Another driver to make an unusual characteristic mistake was Fernando Alonso who misjudged his grid box for the start of the race and would receive a five second stop and go penalty.
As the race got back underway under the safety car, Jenson Button was looking to capitalise on his impressive start going from 3rd to 2nd, but as the safety car came in, race leader Nico Rosberg stormed away- already increasing the distance between them by nearly two seconds.
Lewis, trying to turn the negative of yesterday's qualifying into a positive race, being spurred on by his home crowd moved past Mclaren's Kevin Magnussen as he ran wide and then former team mate Button putting him around five seconds behind Rosberg.
Sauber, still without a point on the board, had a day to forget as Esteban Gutierrez whose poor form asks a question whether he'll still have a race seat until the end of the season, woefully crashed into Pastor Maldonado forcing him airbourne at Luffields.
Complaining about issues with downshifting, Nico Rosberg experienced what Lewis Hamilton has had to endure two previous times this year, as the Mercedes gearbox failed on him, in vain of his best efforts to get the car going again, Rosberg had to retire the car on Lap 30, giving up the lead to teammate Lewis Hamilton, sending the crowd into jubilation.
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| Toast of Britain: Hamilton on the podium |
From there on in, it was a comfortable race for Hamilton, unchallenged by the impressive Finn of Valterri Bottas coming from 14th to 2nd and Australian Daniel Ricciardo in 3rd who proved once again he is a highly talented racing driver who only looks set to improve.
Wheel to wheel racing from two drivers sharing six world championships between them caused drama as the battle the 5th place took to the radio with Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso complaining of one anothers perceptions of the track limits and the Spaniard insisting Vettel was using his DRS in undesignated areas of the circuit.
But an overwhelmed Lewis took his fifth win of the season and repeated what he did six years to the day as he won The British Grand Prix for the second time in his career.
Fellow Brit Jenson Button finished a hugely impressive 4th in a race that his late father John, would surely of been proud of as were all of Formula One and its supporters.
Lewis now goes into the next race with just four points separating him and his teammate for the Driver's Championship.
Below are a rundown of the final standings:
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