Mercedes Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain celebrates after winning the British Grand Prix at the Silverstone Race circuit in central England Sunday. — Reuters SILVERSTONE, England — Lewis Hamilton won his home British Grand Prix Sunday and slashed Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg's Formula One lead to four points after the German retired for the first time this season. Hamilton, who last won at Silverstone in his 2008 championship year, now has 161 points to Rosberg's 165 with 10 races remaining and his title hopes fully restored. It was his fifth win of the year. Finland's Valtteri Bottas finished second for Williams, 30.1 seconds behind Hamilton, for his second successive podium and best ever finish after starting 14th following a nightmare in qualifying. Australian Daniel Ricciardo was third for Red Bull and a further 16.3 seconds down the road. The race was red-flagged almost as soon as it started after Ferrari's 2007 champion Kimi Raikkonen had a big crash that left the Finn limping to the medical center with a sore ankle but otherwise unscathed. It was the first time a race had been halted on the opening lap since Monaco 2000. When it re-started behind the safety car after an hour's delay to fix damaged barriers, Hamilton went from overnight devastation to delight as Rosberg finally suffered some of the misfortune that had plagued his teammate. The championship and race leader reported a gearbox problem after 20 of the 52 laps, and just after Hamilton's race engineer had informed the second placed Briton it was “Hammer time' - time for a full-on charge. Nine laps later, Rosberg slowed, pulled over and parked up on the grass as Hamilton sped past his only rival for the championship. Britain's Jenson Button chased Ricciardo home to take fourth for McLaren on an emotional afternoon for the 2009 champion. Red Bull's quadruple champion Sebastian Vettel finished fifth after a lively battle with Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, who took sixth after originally starting 16th and then being hit with a stop/go penalty for overshooting his mark on the grid. Danish rookie Kevin Magnussen was seventh for McLaren, with Germany's Nico Hulkenberg eighth in a Force India. Russian Daniil Kvyat and Frenchman Jean-Eric Vergne were ninth and 10th respectively for Toro Rosso. Brazilian Felipe Massa's 200th race start did not even last a lap. The Williams driver spun to avoid slamming at speed into Raikkonen's car as it bounced off the barriers and returned to the track, but there was still contact and too much damage to make the re-start. — Reuters
