Lewis Hamilton celebrates his race win (Getty)In what proved a race-winning move, Hamilton came in for another pit stop on Lap 49 — putting him 20
seconds behind Verstappen but giving him much faster tires than Verstappen for the closing stages.
"We should have pitted as well," Verstappen shouted, as if aware of the denouement.
Verstappen's lead was wilting in the afternoon sun, and with five laps left it was just only three seconds.
Minutes later, Hamilton's Silver Arrow flew past him. After taking the checkered flag, Hamilton was quick
to recognize his team was right all along.
"Sorry I doubted the strategy," he said. "Oh man, that feels good. That feels so good."
So will looking at the championship standings. He now leads Bottas by 62 points and Verstappen by 69 with
nine races left when the season resumes on 1 September at the Belgian GP.
Vettel, a four-time F1 champion, is 96 points behind Hamilton in fourth place and has not won any of the
past 20 races.