Bottas comes up five laps short on one-stop strategy

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Valtteri Bottas looked like he could pull of a win for Mercedes at Silverstone but ultimately failed to hold his lead as tyre degradation took its toll on the Finn's efforts.

A crash by Sauber's Marcus Ericsson triggered a Safety Car on lap 32 of 52 and while Ferrari opted to bring Sebastian Vettel in, the Mercedes camp kept bot its driver out, with Bottas taking command of the race at that point.

The Finn kept Vettel at bay until the race was neutralized again when Carlos Sainz and Romain Grosjean came together, and again Bottas defended his leading position from Vettel.

Vettel wins as Hamilton charges back to second place

His resistance only lasted until lap 47 however, at which point the Silver Arrows driver drifted back to fourth as he battled with his medium compound tyres.

"I felt that there was definitely a possibility to go to the end," Bottas said.

"Obviously, in practice I didn’t do any long runs with the mediums but from our calculations we should have been okay, but it wasn’t."

Mercedes' estimates came up short however, leading Bottas to believe that a pit stop under the first Safety Car was, in hindsight, the way to go.

"Afterwards it is quite easy to say yes we should have pitted. At least to keep the position," he added.

"We took a risk to be first but ended up fourth so just five laps too much."

Bottas admitted however that the pressure applied by Vettel in the closing stages of the race forced him to pull out all the stops, and therefore perhaps shorten his tyres lifespan.

"I was really trying everything I could to stay ahead," he admitted.

"I had to push like qualifying laps to keep ahead and for sure, then the tyres degrade quicker as well so… I tried my best but it was not enough."

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Phillip van Osten

Motor racing was a backdrop from the outset in Phillip van Osten's life. Born in Southern California, Phillip grew up with the sights and sounds of fast cars thanks to his father, Dick van Osten, an editor and writer for Auto Speed and Sport and Motor Trend. Phillip's passion for racing grew even more when his family moved to Europe and he became acquainted with the extraordinary world of Grand Prix racing. He was an early contributor to the monthly French F1i Magazine, often providing a historic or business perspective on Formula 1's affairs. In 2012, he co-authored along with fellow journalist Pierre Van Vliet the English-language adaptation of a limited edition book devoted to the great Belgian driver Jacky Ickx. He also authored "The American Legacy in Formula 1", a book which recounts the trials and tribulations of American drivers in Grand Prix racing. Phillip is also a commentator for Belgian broadcaster Be.TV for the US Indycar series.