Hamilton ecstatic after “perfect call” pitstop

Hamilton delighted the Silverstone fans with his fifth win of the year, which extends his world championship lead to 17 points.

"I think it is the first time in my whole F1 career I made perfect tyre choice," said Hamilton. "I called it as I could see rain come in more, so I came in for the wets just at the right time – I've never had that before, so I feel extremely happy about that.

"I could see the rain coming more, and I said 'I've got to come in'. When I came out I was saying 'I hope that it does rain'.

"There was nothing genius about it, and I don't think it was lucky either, but they said the rain was coming. It felt like the next lap was going to be the real tricky one. I made the decision, for once it was the right call."

Hamilton explained the action before that, losing the lead to Williams's Felipe Massa and then another spot to Valtteri Bottas, and said it was one of the most exciting wins of his career.

"The race was very, very tough – very slippery off the start but it made it more exciting," he said. "It was a fantastic race."

"At the restart I was eager to get past Massa, but I couldn't get the car stopped at Turn 15, fell back to third and then I couldn't overtake those guys.

"When the rain came, it's so difficult, and I lost temperature in front tyres – it is always tricky for the guy who is out in lead. It is questionable how much risk you take.

"One of the trickiest races I've had for a long, long time, I didn't want to take any risks, I didn't want to drop it to disappoint the fans."