Six-times Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton said "survival instinct" clicked in after a last-lap puncture almost cost the Mercedes driver a record seventh British Grand Prix.
Hamilton had been cruising to a solid home victory from pole position at Silverstone, with Finnish team mate Valtteri Bottas second, until the fates packed a race-worth of drama into the last two laps.
Bottas's tyre went first, dropping the Finn to 11th at the finish, and then it was Hamilton's turn with the Briton suddenly finding himself driving on three tyres with Red Bull's Max Verstappen catching up fast.
Only the fact that the Dutch driver had stopped for fresh tyres to claim the fastest lap, leaving him 31 seconds to make up, saved the day.
Hamilton said his heart had also nearly stopped, but instinct clicked in to secure his third win in a row and 87th of his career - four short of Michael Schumacher's all-time record.
"As the minutes go by I feel worse and worse when I realise what just happened," he told reporters.
"I think in the heat of the moment you have the adrenalin going. I'm guessing that fight for survival instinct comes out.
"I was able to stay calm and really measured and try to bring the thing home.
"I heard that Max was catching at crazy speed."
Hamilton's engineer Peter Bonnington counted down the gap to Verstappen on the final lap as the champion limped towards the chequered flag.
"I could hear, seven, six, five," said Hamilton. "And I just managed to keep it together."
Hamilton said the team needed to investigate why they had the tyre problem, and was unsure whether he had collected some debris or just worn it out with a long stint.
He said there had been no warning before it let go.
"I was trying to gauge just how worn it was but I didn't have any feeling of it being particularly really worn," he explained.
"I don't think I've ever won a race just on three wheels." (Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
Verstappen said Mercedes deserved to win and he had no regrets about his late pitstop that brought him a point for fastest lap but may have cost him victory.
The Red Bull driver was in third place with Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas seemingly heading for a comfortable one-two when he decided to go for the fastest lap bonus point on fresh tyres.
Bottas then suffered a puncture on the penultimate lap that dropped him to 11th while championship leader Hamilton hung on to win after his front left tyre went on the last lap.
Verstappen was too far behind to make up the distance, closing from 31 seconds to five at the finish.
"I know everyone is asking whether we should not have pitted for the soft tyre because we could have won but could have, would have, should have. You can always ask these questions with hindsight," said the Dutch 22-year-old, who finished second.
"I don’t regret anything and I believe we made the right decision to pit for fastest lap at the end. We did the right thing and who knows if I would also have got a puncture.
"At the end of the day Mercedes deserved to win as they were faster than us, some people are saying Lewis was lucky but he was actually unlucky to get the puncture in the first place and so was Bottas."
Until the punctures, Verstappen's afternoon had been low on excitement.
So lonely was his race behind the two Mercedes that he reversed roles for fun and reminded his race engineer to remember to stay hydrated.
"Other than that I was just counting sheep," he said.
- Reuters
Lewis Hamilton credits survival instinct for three-wheeled win
Image: Bryn Lennon / Getty Images
Six-times Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton said "survival instinct" clicked in after a last-lap puncture almost cost the Mercedes driver a record seventh British Grand Prix.
Hamilton had been cruising to a solid home victory from pole position at Silverstone, with Finnish team mate Valtteri Bottas second, until the fates packed a race-worth of drama into the last two laps.
Bottas's tyre went first, dropping the Finn to 11th at the finish, and then it was Hamilton's turn with the Briton suddenly finding himself driving on three tyres with Red Bull's Max Verstappen catching up fast.
Only the fact that the Dutch driver had stopped for fresh tyres to claim the fastest lap, leaving him 31 seconds to make up, saved the day.
Hamilton said his heart had also nearly stopped, but instinct clicked in to secure his third win in a row and 87th of his career - four short of Michael Schumacher's all-time record.
"As the minutes go by I feel worse and worse when I realise what just happened," he told reporters.
"I think in the heat of the moment you have the adrenalin going. I'm guessing that fight for survival instinct comes out.
"I was able to stay calm and really measured and try to bring the thing home.
"I heard that Max was catching at crazy speed."
Hamilton's engineer Peter Bonnington counted down the gap to Verstappen on the final lap as the champion limped towards the chequered flag.
"I could hear, seven, six, five," said Hamilton. "And I just managed to keep it together."
Hamilton said the team needed to investigate why they had the tyre problem, and was unsure whether he had collected some debris or just worn it out with a long stint.
He said there had been no warning before it let go.
"I was trying to gauge just how worn it was but I didn't have any feeling of it being particularly really worn," he explained.
"I don't think I've ever won a race just on three wheels." (Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
Verstappen said Mercedes deserved to win and he had no regrets about his late pitstop that brought him a point for fastest lap but may have cost him victory.
The Red Bull driver was in third place with Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas seemingly heading for a comfortable one-two when he decided to go for the fastest lap bonus point on fresh tyres.
Bottas then suffered a puncture on the penultimate lap that dropped him to 11th while championship leader Hamilton hung on to win after his front left tyre went on the last lap.
Verstappen was too far behind to make up the distance, closing from 31 seconds to five at the finish.
"I know everyone is asking whether we should not have pitted for the soft tyre because we could have won but could have, would have, should have. You can always ask these questions with hindsight," said the Dutch 22-year-old, who finished second.
"I don’t regret anything and I believe we made the right decision to pit for fastest lap at the end. We did the right thing and who knows if I would also have got a puncture.
"At the end of the day Mercedes deserved to win as they were faster than us, some people are saying Lewis was lucky but he was actually unlucky to get the puncture in the first place and so was Bottas."
Until the punctures, Verstappen's afternoon had been low on excitement.
So lonely was his race behind the two Mercedes that he reversed roles for fun and reminded his race engineer to remember to stay hydrated.
"Other than that I was just counting sheep," he said.
- Reuters
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