Daniel Ricciardo caught in 'embarrassing' drama at British Grand Prix

Daniel Ricciardo's horrible run of form has continued at the British Grand Prix after the Aussie driver finished 13th in a race where only 14 cars were left standing.

Ferrari's Carlos Sainz claimed the first victory of his career in a thrilling race halted by a first-lap crash and with the added mayhem of a track invasion by protesters.

'DISGUSTING': F1 icon under fire over Vladimir Putin comments

'FED UP': Bernie Ecclestone's staggering claim amid Hamilton drama

Red Bull's Sergio Perez was runner-up in Sunday's race, 3.779 seconds behind the Spaniard, with seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton third for Mercedes and taking fastest lap for a bonus point.

"Yes! We did it! Vamos!" exclaimed a delighted Sainz over the radio after a win that had looked unlikely at one point despite him lining up on pole position for the first time in his 150th race start.

"I don't know what to say, it's amazing.

"First race win, 150 races later, with Ferrari in Silverstone. I cannot ask for more. It's a very special day, a day that I will never forget, a very special weekend in general."

Australian driver Ricciardo had another disappointing outing, finishing one-from-last in 13th - seven places behind his British teammate Lando Norris.

In embarrassing scenes for McLaren, Ricciardo finished behind both Haas drivers, with Mick Schumacher scoring his first points in F1 in eighth place and Kevin Magnussen finishing 10th.

Ricciardo worked his way up to ninth after the start of the race but was once again plagued by issues with his car.

He has now finished in the top-10 in just two races out of 10 this season.

“For our race, the car just didn’t really seem to operate at the same level of grip as the others," the Aussie said.

"I could just feel it through the tyres as well, trying to carry speed.

“It was just a bit odd, so we have a bit of investigating to do. Then we had an issue with DRS which meant I couldn’t use it after lap 31 which was also a bit of a shame.

“Obviously, it’s tough to overtake with that as well – but simply we weren’t really quick enough anyway today. It was a bit of a lonely afternoon.”

F1 fans were left in disbelief as Ricciardo's woes went from bad to worse.

Carlos Sainz wins in frantic finish

The last nine laps were frantic and full of overtaking as the safety car came in and Perez, Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and Hamilton battled for second.

At one point, eight-times British GP winner Hamilton passed both his rivals in one move and then went from second to fourth and back to third.

Championship leader Max Verstappen finished seventh for Red Bull with a damaged car, his lead over Perez cut from 46 to 34 points after 10 of 22 races.

Leclerc, who had led with 12 laps to go, finished an unhappy fourth after a strategy call that cost him victory.

The Monegasque stayed out during a late safety car deployment and then had to defend against rivals with fresher tyres.

Spain's double world champion Fernando Alonso was fifth for Alpine, with Norris sixth.

Four-times world champion Sebastian Vettel went from 18th to ninth for Aston Martin on his 35th birthday in a race full of action and suspense but with only 14 finishers.

The race was red-flagged and halted for an hour after Chinese driver Guanyu Zhou's Alfa Romeo became wedged on its side between the tyre wall and catch fence on lap one. He was later given the medical all-clear.

The car skidded at speed upside down along the track before being catapulted over the barrier following a multi-car collision.

Williams's Alex Albon and Mercedes's George Russell, who had previously finished every race in the top five, were also caught in the first-lap mayhem and played no further part in the afternoon.

Albon was later flown to hospital for checks.

While the red flags were still being waved, and cars slowed and returned to the pits, a group of protesters ran on to the track to boos from the crowd before being wrestled away.

with AAP

Click here to sign up to our newsletter for all the latest and breaking stories from Australia and around the world.