1958 British Grand Prix. Silverstone, Great Britain. 19 July 1958. Peter Collins, Ferrari Dino 246, 1st position, action. © LAT Photographic
Incidentally, only twice has the British Grand Prix been run on July 6: this year and in 2008, and rather strangely Hamilton won that race too!
Hamilton is the first British driver to win at home in a Mercedes since Stirling Moss triumphed at Aintree in 1955 and he’s also the first driver since fellow Brit Peter Collins in 1958 to win the British Grand Prix from sixth on the grid. The last man to win in Britain from outside the top five grid slots was Emerson Fittipaldi, who won the 1975 race after starting his McLaren in seventh (the lowest starting position of any winner in Britain).
Hamilton joins Jim Clark (five wins), Nigel Mansell (four wins), Stirling Moss, Jackie Stewart and David Coulthard (all two wins) in an exclusive club of British drivers who have won more than once at home.
In other British news, Jenson Button - starting his 15th race at Silverstone - equaled his best ever finish on home turf with a well-earned fourth place (he also finished fourth in 2004 and in 2010). Sunday’s race was also the 256th of his career, moving him into joint-third with Riccardo Patrese on the all-time race starts list.
For Mercedes, Hamilton’s win was extra special. Not only was it their eighth of the season but it comes almost 60 years to the day that the great Juan Manuel Fangio delivered their first world championship victory at Reims in France in 1954.
But it wasn’t all good news for Mercedes - Nico Rosberg saw his world championship lead reduced to just four points after he failed to reach the chequered flag for the first time since Hungary last year. The German had scored points in 17 consecutive races up to Silverstone, and now leaves Fernando Alonso and Nico Hulkenberg as the only drivers to have scored in every race this season.
Williams also looked to be heading for a disastrous weekend after problems on Friday and a miserable qualifying session on Saturday. But Valtteri Bottas, fresh from scoring his maiden podium with third place in Austria, fought superbly from 14th on the grid to claim second place - his best ever Grand Prix finish. It was the 299th time that a Williams driver has stood on an F1 rostrum and the first consecutive podium finishes for the British team since 2005 when Nick Heidfeld scored second places in Monaco and Europe.