Lewis Hamilton climbs from last to fourth in British Grand Prix as series of drivers' wheels explode

Sign up to our free sport newsletter for all the latest news on everything from cycling to boxing Sign up to our free sport email for all the latest news Sign up to our free sport email for all the latest news SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy The spectacular tyre failure that robbed Lewis Hamilton of the British Grand Prix victory he was determined to deliver to his legion of fans not only handed the win to his Mercedes’ team-mate Nico Rosberg but proved a prelude to a dramatic and dangerous day which moved Red Bull design guru Adrian Newey to suggest that the sport had had a “narrow escape.” The brilliant sunshine that blew away the gloom of Friday lent the ‘home of British motorsport’ a welcome garden party atmosphere, but the spectacular failures suffered by Pirelli’s tyres brought dark clouds of their own swirling back over the sport.A brilliant recovery drive, aided by two safety car interruptions, saw Hamilton fight back from 18th place to fourth and finish within 7.7s of winner Rosberg, and though he put a brave face on the intra-team situation he readily expressed his anger over the tyre debacle. British Grand Prix, Silverstone 1 N Rosberg Mercedes GP 1hr 32min 59.456sec 2 M Webber Red Bull 1:33:00.221 3 F Alonso Ferrari 1:33:06.580 4 L Hamilton Mercedes GP 1:33:07.212 5 K Raikkonen Lotus F1 Team 1:33:10.713 6 F Massa Ferrari 1:33:14.029 7 A Sutil Force India 1:33:15.791 8 D Ricciardo Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:33:15.999 9 P di Resta Force India 1:33:17.399 10 N Hulkenberg Sauber-Ferrari 1:33:19.165 11 P Maldonado Williams 1:33:20.591, 12 V Bottas Williams 1:33:24.550, 13 J Button McLaren 1:33:25.356, 14 E Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari 1:33:25.656, 15 C Pic Caterham 1:33:57.256, 16 J Bianchi Marussia 1:33:35.456, 17 M Chilton Marussia 1:34:43.056, 18 G van der Garde Caterham 1:34:07.156, 19 R Grosjean Lotus F1 Team at 1 lap. World Championship standings Drivers: 1 S Vettel Red Bull 132pts, 2 F Alonso Ferrari 111, 3 K Raikkonen Lotus F1 Team 98, 4 L Hamilton Mercedes GP 89, 5 M Webber Red Bull 87, 6 N Rosberg Mercedes GP 82, 7 F Massa Ferrari 57, 8 P di Resta Force India 36, 9 R Grosjean Lotus F1 Team 26, 10 J Button McLaren 25, 11 A Sutil Force India 23, 12 J-E Vergne Scuderia Toro Rosso 13, 13 S Perez McLaren 12, 14 D Ricciardo Scuderia Toro Rosso 11, 15 N Hulkenberg Sauber-Ferrari 6, 16 P Maldonado Williams 0, 17 V Bottas Williams 0, 18 E Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari 0, 19 J Bianchi Marussia 0, 20 C Pic Caterham 0, 21 M Chilton Marussia 0, 22 G van der Garde Caterham 0. Manufacturers: 1 Red Bull 219pts, 2 Mercedes GP 171, 3 Ferrari 168, 4 Lotus F1 Team 124, 5 Force India 59, 6 McLaren 37, 7 Scuderia Toro Rosso 24, 8 Sauber-Ferrari 6, 9 Williams 0, 10 Marussia 0, 11 Caterham 0.