Hamilton feeling vindicated by British GP victory

Lewis Hamilton's record-equalling fifth British Grand Prix victory left the Mercedes driver feeling vindicated about his preparations for the race.

Hamilton had been criticised for taking two days off on holiday during the week rather than attending the London F1 Live event. But he said that his performance this weekend at Silverstone had shown he had made the right call.

"I know what is right for me, I know how to get myself ready," he told Sky Sports F1 after the race. "I wouldn't have the poles I have, I wouldn't have the wins I have.

He explained that "I train myself, I know what I need to do to get myself ready, and this weekend has shown it.

"I'm really really happy with all that negativity that followed coming into the weekend to be able to perform the way that I have. The qualifying lap, which was freaking awesome, and then today's race.

"There wasn't a moment that I had any slips of lack of focus," he added.

"The last couple of races haven't really reflected the great work in the team. Finally this weekend we were really able to exploit that and show it. I know everyone is superhappy - we're going to have the best team photo!

"It's a perfect weekend for us," he continued. "The feeling I can't really describe. It feels amazing to be up here. So proud to see all these great flags everywhere. The support has been immense and I'm really proud I could so this for [the fans]."

• Peerless Hamilton clinches fifth British Grand Prix win

The day's race had looked like a walk in the park for Hamilton, but he stressed that it was never was simple as it looked inside the cockpit.

"It wasn't so easy, it's never easy," he said. "I got a very good start. After that I was able to manage the gap between myself and Kimi and just bit by bit extend.

"We were planning on stopping on lap 19 or something like that, so we were able to extend it by quite a bit. Then at the end I had a decent gap so it was just about managing that 12 to 14 second gap I had to Kimi

"I could see the TV screens at a few places around the track so I got to see a bit of the race. And then I heard at the end there were some tyre blow-outs.

"I had some graining and some vibration on mine. So the last couple of laps I took it easy as I knew others were having trouble.

"Coming across the line, I could have kept going. I felt like I could have kept going. I think we really had the legs this weekend."

Hamilton's win - while Sebastian Vettel slumped to seventh due to a late tyre failure - transforms the championship situation. From a 20 point gap after Austria, Vettel's lead now is down to just a solitary point.

It means that Hamilton could take the lead of the title battle in the next race in Hungary going into the summer break.

"That's the plan," he said. "I hadn't even thought about that until now, obviously, because I had such a big gap to close."

 
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