Lewis Hamilton said he felt very proud to win the British Grand Prix for the sixth time. The Mercedes driver strengthened his lead at the top of the drivers’ championship with victory over team-mate Valtteri Bottas at Silverstone.

The Finn had been on pole position after qualifying and led the race itself early on but a safety car intervention benefitted Hamilton who took the lead and held it throughout to record his seventh win of the season.

The race also saw a crash between Max Verstappen and Sebastian Vettel, the Ferrari driver suffering a 10-second penalty as a result.

He therefore finished 16th on the grid, another disappointment in a frustrating season for the German who is yet to win a race this campaign and sits fourth in the drivers’ standings well behind the Mercedes top two of Hamilton and Bottas.

Hamilton has a 39-point lead after his latest victory and said it was special to win in front of his home fans. He said: “Honestly I’m a bit out of breath. I can’t tell you how proud I am to be here today in front of my home crowd.

“There’s so many British flags out there and every year I see it and you think you get used to it but it feels like the first time and I’m forever grateful to everyone out here I hope you enjoyed the day.”

The next race is the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim in two weeks’ time. Hamilton is at 1.03 to win the world title again at the end of the season with Bottas 17.00 and Verstappen 67.00.