LOVELY BUBBLY LEWIS

Hamilton back to his crowd-pleasing best as he returns to the podium in front of his adoring Silverstone fans after thrilling roller-coaster of a race

- ANDY DUNN

TOWARDS the end of a thrilling, breathtaking, scary, epic Grand Prix, Charles Leclerc and Sergio Perez were involved in a wheel-to-wheel scrap for second position.

And who, albeit for only an exhilaratingly brief few moments, came out on top after that particular battle?

Sir Lewis Hamilton, of course, swooping past the warring pair with one stunning move.

He may have eventually had to settle for the lowest step on the podium but this was vintage Hamilton, this was throwback Hamilton, this was crowd-pleasing Hamilton.

The seven-times world champion, 37, admitted he never, in the end, quite had the pace of the cars ahead but, boy, did he give them – and the record crowd – a run for their money.

And to think out-of-touch dinosaurs such as Jackie Stewart think that Hamilton should pack it in.

This drive was probably as thrilling as any of Hamilton’s eight victories here – although maybe not quite as remarkable as the one when he won on three wheels.

Let’s not, for a single moment, overlook the achievement of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, winning his first Formula One race in 150 attempts.