Hamilton dream drive earns home win at British Grand Prix

Hamilton's victory, his fifth of the season and 27th in his career, closed the gap to Rosberg in the Formula One world championship standings to just four points.

A winning time of two hours, 26 minutes, 52.094 seconds around 52 laps of the 5.891-kilometre Silverstone circuit saw Hamilton cross the line 30.135 seconds ahead of Williams' Valtteri Bottas while Daniel Ricciardo of Red Bull claimed third, 46.495 seconds behind the leader.

The home of British motor sport was hosting the Grand Prix for the 50th time and fans were thrilled at Brit Hamilton coming out on top, as he did in 2008 en route to his only world title to date.

"It's very mixed emotions at the moment," Hamilton said on the winners' podium.

"At the beginning I allowed him (Rosberg) to get a good gap and look after the tyres. But we came out on the harder tyre and could not believe I had that kind of pace.

"I don't want to see a team-mate fail, I want a one-two, but I really needed this result," he added.

Behind Hamilton, Bottas enjoyed a sensational race to move up from 14th on the grid to take the runner-up spot and the second podium finish of his career.

"We're going in the right way and the team has done a good job. It is pleasure to drive the car. I really enjoyed it. As a team we made the most out of it," Bottas said.

Rosberg started from pole position but reported gearbox problems on lap 20 and was forced to stop his car on lap 29 after Hamilton had passed him with ease.

Rosberg's bad luck was Hamilton's good fortune but he had already done the hard work needed to get into position to take advantage, moving from a starting position of sixth to second.

The early proceedings were halted by a red flag following a chaotic start as Kimi Raikkonen's shattered Ferrari stopped on the track after rebounding from a wall, and Felipe Massa had to take evasive action to avoid a serious collision.

Massa reacted superbly but could not prevent all contact and his Williams could not be repaired, ending his race at his 200th Grand Prix after less than a lap. His effort ensured Raikkonen escaped the incident with only minor injuries.

After a considerable delay to repair the guardrail damaged by Raikkonen, the race restarted behind the safety car with Rosberg followed by Williams' Jenson Button and Kevin Magnussen of McLaren.

Hamilton had made good two places, including one on a wheel-to-wheel duel with Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel, from the original start and wasted no time in closing in on Rosberg.

On the third lap he eased past Magnussen at the Copse corner and cruised past compatriot Button at Brooklands on lap four. It was thrilling driving as he looked to atone for his poor qualifying, but at this point Rosberg's advantage was more than four seconds.

This gap was extended to over five seconds but Hamilton sliced into the lead, closing to within less than three seconds when Rosberg pitted on lap 19.

Hamilton led until lap 24, when he too pitted, but as so often this season, his turn around was slower than Rosberg's, on this occasion by 1.4 seconds.

Rosberg's car problem ensured the Mercedes pair would not be involved in another duel for the top spots.

Reigning world champion Vettel was fifth, once more behind team-mate Ricciardo, with Button splitting the pair in fourth.

Ferrari's Fernando Alonso took sixth while Magnussen, Nico Huelkenberg (Force India), Daniil Kvyat and Jean-Eric Vergne (both Toro Rosso) completed the top 10.

The Formula One season continues on July 20 with the German Grand Prix.