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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.

Seven-figure cars highlight day one of RM's Monterey auction

RM Auctions is one of several houses holding auctions during the Monterey weekend, and Friday night's festivities got quite pricey. Seven-figure vehicles were not at all uncommon during the first day of the two-day event, with the 1953 Ferrari 375 MM Spider, seen above, crossing the block for $9,075,000.
Other big earners included a pair of rare Ferraris, a 1950 166 MM Barchetta and a 1955 750 Monza Spider, which took $3,080,000 and $4,070,000, respectively. Outside of the red Italians, a 1939 Mercedes-Benz 540K Special captured $7,480,000 while a stunning, color-appropriate 1955 Jaguar D-Type took $3,850,000. We've got images of these vehicles, and a few other stunning examples of last night's auction, in the gallery above.
Thought it seems impossible, tonight's auction is expected to see even more high-dollar action. The winner of the 2012 Pebble Beach Concours, a 1928 Mercedes-Benz 680S Torpedo Roadster is expected to command over $10 million. Also crossing the block will be a car we reported on a few weeks back - a supremely rare 1967 Ferrari 275 GTB/4 NART Spyder. One of only 10 in the world, it's expected to take anywhere from $14 to $17 million when it hits the stage tonight.

Race Recap: 2014 Russian Grand Prix is like Valencia, but in Russian

The Sochi International Street Circuit used to host the Russian Formula One Grand Prix has a few things in common with the Valencia Street Circuit that was used to host the European Grand Prix. Both are built among existing infrastructure used for other events, both contain long, narrow stretches run between concrete walls and chain link fencing, and both are, shall we say, not exactly exciting.
We wouldn't know that after qualifying, though, when Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes AMG Petronas finally put in a mistake-free Saturday to line up first on the grid, ahead of teammate Nico Rosberg in second. Valtteri Bottas got his Williams closer than anyone expected, blistering the first two sectors but falling apart in the third and ending up third on the grid. Behind him, Jenson Button impressed in the McLaren in fourth, Daniil Kvyat even more impressive in the Toro Rosso, taking fifth in front of his home crowd. Kevin Magnussen put the second McLaren in sixth, Daniel Ricciardo was the first Infiniti Red Bull Racing in seventh ahead of a Ferrari duo who knew they'd have a hard time, Fernando Alonso in eighth and Kimi Räikkönen in ninth. Jean-Eric Vergne made sure to keep himself in the news with tenth position.
When the lights went out, the most exciting events of the entire race happened in just sixty meters of the braking zone going into Turn 2.