Button and Hamilton outdone by Vettel in British Grand Prix

Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton were swamped with the kind of fever that made British Grand Prix winner Sebastian Vettel wish he was English.

There was no repeat yesterday of the triumphant scenes of patriotic jubilation that Silverstone witnessed a year ago, when Hamilton swept to a stunning 68-second victory en route to the world title.

There had been expectation from the majority of a sell-out 120,000 Silverstone crowd following Button's majestic start to the season, with six wins from the opening seven races.

History beckoned, as only one man throughout the 60 years of Formula One had succeeded in winning seven of the first eight grands prix – Michael Schumacher in 2004.

But it was not to be as Button was forced to settle for sixth, 46 seconds adrift of Vettel who strolled to his third victory of his career, second this year and first in the dry.

German Vettel was given an ovation from the British crowd that had him questioning his nationality.

"It is only my second time here at Silverstone, but I enjoyed it so much," said Vettel.

"When I looked left and right in the last two laps the people were standing up and clapping and cheering. It was fantastic.

"I regret a little bit I'm not an Englishman because the fans were fantastic.

"At the time I wanted to wave and say 'thank you', but then I thought to myself 'no'.

"There have been stories in the past where it didn't look so good with drivers doing it. So I have to thank now every single person in the grandstands. The atmosphere was great.

"This is what I was dreaming of when I saw the first grands prix here at Silverstone in the era of (Nigel) Mansell.

"It is kind of unreal now to think I am here and I have made it. I have won this grand prix, so I am very, very happy."

It is the kind of reception Button had also been dreaming of in the build-up.

Button still has a 23-point lead over Brawn GP team-mate Rubens Barrichello who finished third behind Mark Webber, as Red Bull scored their second one-two of the year, with Vettel now 25 points adrift.

Button had predicted that this would not be his weekend after his win in Turkey a fortnight ago, and the 29-year-old was proved right.

"Hopefully this will be the worst race of the year," said Button. "And after struggling so hard to get three points, in a way this might be an important three points."

As Vettel streaked away into the distance from the start, with the 21-year-old a second per lap quicker than Barrichello and Webber, Button found himself boxed in behind Jarno Trulli on the run down to first corner Stowe.

With nowhere to go, Button dropped from sixth place on the grid to ninth by the end of the first lap, and that was his race done on tyres he could not heat due to the cool British climate.

"If you don't get the tyres in the working range, it doesn't matter what car you've got, it doesn't work, so that was my problem," added Button.

As for Vettel, he was unassailable, going on to complete the F1 hat-trick known as the 'grand chelem' of pole, race win and fastest lap, finishing 15 seconds ahead of Webber and a remarkable 41 clear of Barrichello.

Although Button closed in on Ferrari's Felipe Massa and Williams' Nico Rosberg in fourth and fifth, there was no grandstand finish.

As for Hamilton, it was a race of attrition in a McLaren he has now come to accept is simply woeful.

Appreciating the support his fans had given him, Hamilton said: "I gave it my all today. It's still a proud day to be able to represent my country, and I want to say a huge thank you to the fans.

"It's been the biggest crowd for a long, long time, and really due to them, all the support, the noise they make, the cheering, that's helped to carry me through the weekend.

"I hope they know I pushed my hardest and I'll bring it back to them one day."