This week Lewis Hamilton has been riding a positively turbulent wave but that he has ended it by surfing serenely into the arms of an ecstatic and adoring crowd will feel like the ultimate vindication. He has shifted perspectives, momentum and secured a turnaround on many levels with a masterful and dominant pole to flag victory at the British Grand Prix.

F1: Lewis Hamilton wins British Grand Prix as Sebastian Vettel finishes seventh – as it happened Read more

From being booed for missing the F1 demonstration in London last Wednesday his every turn of the wheel was cheered to the rafters at Silverstone. He had defiantly defended his decision to take a two-day holiday and miss the event in the British capital to prepare for this race and having delivered so emphatically his position looks stronger than ever.

More so, as he embraced the crowd just as he had done after winning this race last season, the bigger picture was of even greater import. Hamilton had gone into the race 20 points behind Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, but with the German only able to manage seventh he is now only one point behind at the very midway stage of the season. It is as close as it has been since the two drivers were tied on 43 apiece after the second round in China.

Vettel was wearing his disappointment well but the pace Hamilton and Mercedes showed at Silverstone will put him under huge pressure in the next race at Hungary, the last before F1 has its summer break.

Hamilton had been enthusiastically meeting fans, signing autographs and posing for selfies on Saturday night after he had taken pole by half a second – the largest advantage any driver has enjoyed over the single lap discipline this season. Yet if the scrutiny and tough questions he faced earlier in the week were a distant memory by then, by late Sunday afternoon they had gone completely.

“I know what is right for me and what is right to get myself ready,” he said. “I train myself and know what I needed to do to get myself ready. I’m really happy as with all that negativity that came into the weekend … to be able to perform the way I have – the qualifying lap was awesome – and today there were no slips or lack of focus.”

Indeed it was a consummate performance and with it absolute confirmation that just as the home crowd is in his pocket, so too is the glorious high speed, challenge of Silverstone.

Having reached Jim Clark’s record of five poles at the British Grand Prix, Hamilton has now also equalled Clark and Alain Prost’s record of five wins in the race.

His mastery of Silverstone in the Mercedes of the turbo-hybrid era is now unmatched. This is his fourth consecutive British Grand Prix win, again matching Clark’s record, and he has converted pole position to victory in the last three races here.

He did so in some style – as the great Clark’s records fall within his grasp he moved one closer to matching another. It is the fifth grand chelem of Hamilton’s career – securing pole, win, fastest lap and leading every lap – matching Alberto Ascari and Michael Schumacher. Only Clark has more, with eight.

Untouchable out in front, he had the control that was denied his title rivals and in particular cost Vettel so dearly. The German’s brakes were smoking just before the off and he had a slow start, losing third place to a punchy Max Verstappen. Vettel could not pass the Dutch driver, who was wonderful but fairly uncompromising while going wheel to wheel, and Ferrari called their driver into the pits early to attempt to pass through the undercut.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Daniel Ricciardo fought back remarkably well to claim fifth place from 19th on the grid. Photograph: Clive Mason/Getty Images

The manoeuvre succeeded and with his team-mate Kimi Raikkonen maintaining second place, the Scuderia looked to have the damage minimised. Yet they had reckoned without a remarkable charge from Hamilton’s team-mate Valtteri Bottas.

The Finn had taken a five-place penalty for a gearbox change and started from ninth on the grid. Using the offset tyre strategy of going long on harder rubber for his first stint, Bottas hared off in pursuit of Vettel after his only stop on lap 32. Ten laps later he had caught him and after they had vied with one another for two laps, Bottas made it stick on the way into Chapel.

Fourth place might still have been Vettel’s but while Hamilton had things to himself up front, drama in his wake was to scupper Ferrari. The higher speeds this year under new regulations – the cars are around five seconds a lap faster here than last year – has been putting much more load through the tyres. It showed more than ever here.

Raikkonen suffered the first blow – the tread on his left front tyre completely gone and although his tyre did not deflate, he was forced to pit with two laps to go. A lap later Vettel suffered a puncture to the same wheel and he too was forced in, dropping places.

Supplier Pirelli confirmed afterwards that the two issues had been distinct, but in both cases the tyres would have been at the limit of what they might have been expected to endure. Ferrari had gone aggressive with their strategy for Vettel – which had delivered so well for the German in Bahrain – but here it had been asking too much.

Memory Lane: British GP – in pictures Read more

It had been costly on many levels. Bottas advanced to second place, securing Mercedes’ second one-two of the season. Raikkonen managed to cling on to third but Vettel dropped to seventh. He had been passed by the two Red Bulls of Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo – the latter coming back superbly from 19th on the grid due to pre-race penalties – and the Renault of Nico Hulkenberg.

Vettel’s lead in the drivers’ championship has all but gone and the Scuderia are suddenly a full 55 points behind Mercedes in the constructors’ standings, despite having brought an engine upgrade to Silverstone.

Hamilton’s team have engendered a mighty momentum shift after struggling so hard to find their car’s balance early in the season, and the British driver could not be in a better place. He has ridden out the breakers and is now on the very crest of this wave.