British Grand Prix: As it happened

An entertaining British Grand Prix, that saw the lead change three times, five cars crash out in the first lap, and a bit of rain that shook things up majorly.

In the end it was HAMILTON on the top step of the podium!

Hamilton makes three British Grand Prix wins in a row!!

LEWIS HAMILTON WINS!!!!!

The crowd is on their feet!! as Hamilton closes in on the chequered flag

HAMILTON ON HIS FINAL LAP!!

Alonso in the points for the first time this season

LAP 50/52 - THREE LAPS TO GO!! Hamilton looks to have this in the bag.

LAP 49/52 - Kimi comes in for a fresh set of Inter's after pitting too early

LAP 49/52 - Will Stevens is out of the race

LAP 47/52 - Alonso is in the points after the rain, with Hamilton 9 secs ahead of Rosberg

LAP 46/52 - Hamilton and Vettel times their stops perfectly!! Kimi's early stop has ruined his tyres

Vettel's early stop has put him in third place!! ahead of the two Williams'

Rain is coming down hard!! Hamilton goes on the Intermediate tyres, as does Vettel

Rosberg taking 2 secs a lap off Hamilton!!

Rosberg gaining on Hamilton, as Perez overtakes a slow moving Kimi on the wet tyres

LAP 41/52 - Rosberg has now gone past Massa, it's a Mercedes 1-2

Rain seems to be stopping, Kimi has probably made a wrong call to go on the Intermediate tyres

Kimi the first driver to go on the Inter's, Rosberg takes Bottas for third

Hamilton says the rain has stopped

LAP 37/52 - All cars staying out for the moment

Bottas says they need to stop! But rain is still not heavy enough

Light Rain has arrived!! Kvyat confirms

RACING IS BACK ON!!! Virtual Safety car is OFF

VIRTUAL SAFETY CAR!! Sainz parks his car in an unsafe spot

Sainz is coasting!! looks to be the second Toro Rosso is also out of the race

Rain expected at 14.05 local time

"Give it everything" is the rallying call from Rosberg's engineer as he tries to get past Bottas

LAP 31/52 - Sainz gets a warning for exceeding track limits as he battles Perez for 9th & 10th

All signs are that the rain is coming, McLaren advice Alonso that it could be quite heavy.

LAP 29/52 - Bottas advised about incoming rain in 15 mins, as Hamilton suggests that it's getting dark out there

LAP 29/52 - Massa pulling away slightly from Bottas and Rosberg.

LAP 26/52 - Hamilton is now 4.2 seconds ahead of Massa.

LAP 24/52 - Hamilton advised that rain is expected in 30 minutes. Could shake it up a bit

LAP 23/52 - The Ferrari's of Kimi and Vettel are back in fifth and sixth after the first round of pit stops. Undercut working well for the Maranello team.

LAP 22/52 - Bottas comes out behind Massa, but ahead of Rosberg. Hamilton leads the race for the first time for today

Bottas, last of the top 4 to pit

LAP 21/52 - Massa and Rosberg come into the pits, but Hamilton has gone past!!! Undercut works

Sorry! Vettel has overtaken Kvyat in the pits!

LAP 20/52 -Hamilton in for his first stop!!

Kvyat has taken Ferrari of Kimi in the stops after Ericsson held them back!!

It's RAINING in Oxford!! It's just 30 miles away.

LAP 18/52 - Bottas yet again reminds Massa on Stow corner that he is right there waiting for his chance

LAP 17/52 - Kimi sets the fastest lap of the race in his new hard compound tyres.

LAP 16/52 - The top four are covered by just 2.1 secs. It's a battle to the finish.

LAP 15/52 - Vettel also comes in for his first stop. The Ferrari's have now moved on to a two-stop strategy.

LAP 15/52 - Mercedes get ready for a pit stop, and pull away. Are they trying a fake.

LAP 14/52 - Hulkenburg holding back Kimi, Kvyat and Vettel. The Finn has enough and comes in for his first stop. Undercut in play now.

LAP 13/52 - Williams look faster than the Mercedes duo on the straights

LAP 12/52 - Ricciardo comes in for his first stop, as does Sainz

LAP 11/52 - Bottas has been given permission to make a move

LAP 11/52 - Bottas ignores the team orders and makes a move on Massa, but couldn't quite pull it off

LAP 10/52 - The top four pulling away from the rest of the field, as Williams instruct their drivers not to race themselves. They are asked to pull away from Mercedes together.

LAP 8/52 - 2.7 secs cover the top four. How long can the Williams' keep the Mercs at bay.

LAP 5/52 - The Ferrari's arestruggling, with Kimi behind Hulkenburg, and Vettel falling behind Kvyat and Perez!!

What a re-start!! Hamilton almost goes past Massa, but locks up and gave second place to Bottas. It's a Williams one-two at the moment

SAFETY CAR in this lap.

Alonso went into Button taking the Briton out of the race!!

Massa split the Mercs on the front and just flew away!! What a start!!! Amazing stuff from the Brazilian

SAFETY CAR!! Jenson Button, Grosjean, Maldonado out of the race

SAFETY CAR!!! Jenson Button and Grosjean out of the race

Massa makes a blistering start and takes the lead. Hamilton second.

LIGHTS OUT!!! BRITISH GP IS A GO!!!!!

30% chances of rain during the race

Drivers are off on their formation lap.

British GP: Sauber's Felipe Nasr will not start the race due to gearbox problems

It's a 420 meter dash from the start line to the first apex. Can Rosberg pip his teammate or will Hamilton keep the lead? GEAR UP!! It's lights out time in minutes

5 MINS TO RACE START!!

Interesting bit of trivia from the McLaren team.

The Force India boys have left their garages and headed for the grid. It's getting closer!!

Alonso will not be adding to his podium tally (unless 17 other cars fail to finish), while Kimi has a chance to equal the Spaniard for highest no. of podiums at Silverstone.

The Lotus boys are strapped in and ready to go. Grid opens in a couple of minutes.

The British RAF display ahead of the race has the Force India crew glued to the sky.

For those who missed qualifying last evening, here is Hamilton's pole lap.

Welcome IBTimes UK's live coverage of the 2015 British Grand Prix. Live lap-by-lap race coverage begins at 1pm BST.