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Lewis Hamilton wins British GP, slashes Vettel's lead to 1 point

SILVERSTONE, England - Lewis Hamilton won his home British Grand Prix for the fourth year in a row on Sunday, while a penultimate-lap puncture slashed Sebastian Vettel's championship lead to a single point. The Briton's drive from pole to flag on an overcast afternoon was lonely, uneventful and dominant - in complete contrast to his Ferrari rival's afternoon - with Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas finishing 14 seconds behind to secure the one-two. "The support has been incredible this weekend. I am so proud I could do this for you all," said Hamilton, who threw himself into the fans for some crowd surfing after the podium celebrations. "The team were faultless this weekend, Valtteri did an incredible job as well, so it's the perfect weekend for us." Far behind in his wake, as Hamilton cruised to a 57th career win and soaked up the applause from an army of flag-waving fans, came sudden drama. Vettel, who had battled on worn tires but looked like securing the final podium position until the blowout, finished seventh after an emergency pit stop with a shower of sparks from the wheel rim. "There was no sign of that happening," said Vettel over the team radio. "There were vibrations but I had it for 20 laps and it didn't get massively worse. The tires didn't look great but they never look great." The German's Finnish teammate Kimi Raikkonen, who had been second before also being hit with a late puncture that sent Bottas and Vettel ahead of him, took third. At the halfway stage of the 20-race season, Vettel has 177 points to Hamilton's 176 with Bottas on 154. Hungary, a circuit where the Briton has won five times before, is next up. Hamilton became only the third driver, after his late compatriot Jim Clark and Frenchman Alain Prost, to win the British Grand Prix five times and the first to take four successive victories at Silverstone. Clark won four in a row in the 1960s, but one was at Aintree and another at Brands Hatch. Red Bull's Max Verstappen finished fourth, ending a run of retirements, with Australian teammate Daniel Ricciardo fifth after fighting through the field. Germany's Nico Hulkenberg was sixth for Renault and Force India pairing Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez were eighth and ninth with Brazilian Felipe Massa securing the final point for Williams. Jolyon Palmer's miserable run continued, with Britain's only other driver on the grid failing to make the start after his Renault broke down on the formation lap with a brake failure.

'No pink': Why there are some colors Ferrari won't do

Off the top of your head, how many colors do you think Ferraris come in? There's the famous rosso corsa, of course. Then there's yellow, which is objectively the best Ferrari color. I know a guy with a pristine early-90s 348ts in coke-dealer white, and there are definitely black and silver Ferraris out there. But if you've ever wondered why you can't get a Ferrari in any garish color you want, a Ferrari exec recently discussed which of the company's colors are most popular and why you'll never see a pink Ferrari. "It just doesn't fit into our whole ethos to be honest," Ferrari's Australasia CEO Herbert Appleroth told news.com.au. "It's a brand rule. No pink. No Pokemon Ferraris!" When asked about other colors, Appleroth suggested that while they might be OK for other, more plebeian cars, they were not right for Ferrari. "There are other colors that aren't in our DNA as well, and they are wonderful colors too, but some are perhaps more suited to other brands." Appleworth went on to say that Ferrari strives to provide a highly customizable car-buying experience. "Enzo Ferrari used to say a different Ferrari for every Ferrari-ista, as globally we don't want two cars to be the same," he told News.com. "There are many different levels of personalization from sitting in the dealership and working through all of your options to the tailor-made program where you fly to Italy to the factory in Maranello and sit in the atelier and work out your specifications." So, while big-bucks supercar buyers have near infinite interior and drivetrain options when ordering a new Ferrari, they'll have to settle for after market sprays or custom wraps to get that perfect shade of pink on their Lusso.Related Video: News Source: News.com.au Auto News Ferrari paint colors customize

Montezemolo steps down, Marchionne steps up as chairman of Ferrari

If the history of an automaker is divided up by the mandate of its leadership, then this is surely the end of an era for Ferrari. After repeatedly locking horns with Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne over a variety of issues, longtime Ferrari chairman Luca di Montezemolo has announced his resignation.
Montezemolo has a long history with both Fiat and Ferrari. He started his career at the former before moving over to the latter in 1973 (only a few years Fiat took over half of Ferrari), starting out as Enzo Ferrari's assistant. He was appointed head of the Scuderia the following year, driving the team to success and subsequently taking over all of the Fiat group's racing activities. After the Prancing Horse marque struggled in the wake of its founder's death in 1988, Montezemolo was appointed to take it over in '91 and has been at the helm ever since.
Following Fiat chairman Gianni Agnelli's passing in 2003, both Montezemolo and Marchionne were named to the Fiat board. A year later, after the passing of Gianni's younger brother Umberto, Montezemolo was named chairman of the Fiat Group (to be succeeded six years later by Agnelli heir John Elkann) and Marchionne its chief executive.