Silverstone — Carlos Sainz claimed his maiden Formula One win on his 150th start in a thrilling British Grand Prix at Silverstone on Sunday.
The Ferrari driver kept his cool to beat Red Bull's Sergio Perez and Lewis Hamilton for Mercedes.
World champion Max Verstappen finished seventh but retained the series lead in a race marred by a multi-car pile up at the opening corner.
"I don't know what to say, it's amazing. First race win 150 races later with Ferrari in Silverstone, it's a very special day," said Sainz, who won from pole.
Behind Sainz there was an epic battle closing laps battle between Perez, Hamilton and Charles Leclerc.
For Hamilton this was his 11th race without victory, the seven-time champion's longest losing sequence.
Hamilton, who paid tribute to the 130,000 fans, said: "I was in amongst that battle but the upgrade we brought here made us closer to them."
This 10th round of the 22-race season began with carnage at the first corner after a horror crash with Zhou Guanyu's Alfa Romeo flipped upside down and hurtling over the circuit's safety barrier.
George Russell's Mercedes, Alpine's Esteban Ocon, Yuki Tsunoda (Alpha Tauri) and the Williams of Alex Albon were also involved.
Zhou's car was catapulted upside down, the Chinese rookie's head saved by his car's roll hoop-halo as it skidded off across a gravel trap and over tyre barriers into the catch fencing, where it bounced back to finish semi-upright in a stationary position.
Both Zhou and Albon escaped serious injury in the smash which caused a one-hour delay.
AFP