Race Review: British GP

The British GP brought with it a full capacity crowd of 140,000 and the first sprint race. It was eventful, to say the least… In The Pits were lucky enough to make it to Silverstone for all three days!

The British GP was held at Silverstone. The track is 5.891 km (3.66 miles) long, with 18 turns and 2 DRS zones. The drivers complete 52 laps of the circuit with the fastest lap going to Hamilton in 2019 with 1:27.369. The structure of the weekend was different from normal due to the sprint qualifying format. FP1 and qualifying for the sprint took place on the Friday, FP2 and the 100km sprint happened on the Saturday and the race took place on Sunday as normal.

The FP1 timesheet was topped by Verstappen, Norris and Hamilton before the Sprint qualifying in the afternoon. After the usual qualifying format which saw all three Brits make it into Q3. The session finished as follows:

P1 Hamilton, P2 Verstappen, P3 Bottas, P4 Leclerc, P5 Perez, P6 Norris, P7 Ricciardo, P8 Russell, P9 Sainz, P10 Vettel, P11 Alonso, P12 Gasly, P13 Ocon, P14 Giovinazzi, P15 Stroll, P16 Tsunoda, P17 Raikkonen, P18 Latifi, P19 Schumacher and P20 Mazepin.

FP2 saw Verstappen, Leclerc and Sainz at the top of the timesheet before the sprint qualifying that afternoon. The sprint race was very enjoyable to watch. Verstappen managed to take Hamilton at the start and despite a battle, held onto P1. Alonso had a brilliant race, working his way from P11 to P7 with Russell dropping one place to P9. However, a bump with Sainz saw Russell receive a 3 place grid penalty. Perez retired from the sprint with damage after he spun out of nowhere. There were a few drivers called to the stewards that evening. Both Sainz and Russell were summoned – Russell for the crash and Sainz for re-joining in an unsafe manner. Mazepin, Vettel and Sainz were also called for failing to follow the race directors' instructions with practice starts in FP2. However, action was only taken against Russell, with no further action for Sainz re-joining the track but a warning for him, Mazepin and Vettel for the FP2 violation. With his penalty applied, the order for Sunday's race was:

P1 Verstappen, P2 Hamilton, P3 Bottas, P4 Leclerc, P5 Norris, P6 Ricciardo, P7 Alonso, P8 Vettel, P9 Ocon, P10 Sainz, P11 Gasly, P12 Russell, P13 Raikkonen, P14 Stroll, P15 Giovinazzi, P16 Tsunoda, P17 Latifi, P18 Schumacher, P19 Mazepin, P20 Perez.

The top 3 finishers were interviewed whilst on their victory parade:

Perez started the race from the Pitlane after requiring a new energy store, control electronics and rear wing assembly, which broke parc ferme regulations.

After an air show and fly over by the RAF Red Arrows and the national anthem performed by the Queen's guards, we had lights out. Hamilton had the better getaway, but Verstappen managed to hold onto P1. The two fought around the first part of the circuit, until Hamilton stuck his car up the inside of Verstappen at Copse, clipped the Red Bull and sent him flying into the wall, with the tyre flying off before the impact in front of the spectators. Leclerc, having already overtaken Bottas, took advantage of this collision and nipped around the outside to take P1. The race was red-flagged, with Verstappen able to climb out of the car and after a trip to the medical centre, he was taken to hospital for scans after the 51 G crash.

The session restarted with a formation lap before a standing restart. The top 10 at this point was: Leclerc, Hamilton, Bottas, Norris, Ricciardo, Vettel, Alonso, Sainz, Raikkonen and Ocon. The lights went out for the second time and Norris took full advantage of the restart, taking P3 from Bottas, with Leclerc retaining P1 and Hamilton P2. Alonso temporarily took Ricciardo but as it was off track, yielded the position back. Later on, Vettel's great race start was lost after he spun at Luffield, dropping him back to P19. Things were more positive for Perez as he had made his way up to P13 from starting in the pits. However, Hamilton was given a 10-second penalty for his collision with Verstappen.

The pitstop started and unfortunately, it was not a good one for Norris on Lap 21. One of his new hard tyres went on slowly, losing his advantage over Bottas and dropping him out P6 behind Bottas and Alonso. Lap 27 saw Hamilton pit and take his 10-second penalty and re-joined behind Norris who was over 35 seconds behind the race leader Leclerc at this point. Sainz also had a sticky pit stop which lasted 12.6 seconds. Leclerc's was cleaner, coming out 2.6 seconds however the Monégasque had been complaining of engine cutouts throughout the race.

The fight for P5 was going strong. From lap 32, Sainz was challenging Ricciardo for the position. The Spaniard had DRS multiple times, but some great driving from the Australian kept him. Hamilton was back on the move in the fight for his win. He took Norris for P3 on Lap 31 and his teammate Bottas moved aside under team orders on Lap 40 for Hamilton to take P2. He had 7.3 seconds to make up to Leclerc and he flew around the circuit to do so. Unfortunately, Vettel was forced to retire at this point due to problems with his car. With 2 laps to go, the gap between Leclerc and Hamilton was down to 1 second. At Copse (the same corner as the Verstappen collision), Hamilton came up the inside and Leclerc, not wanting to risk a huge collision like seen as on lap 1, ran wide and Hamilton flew past for the lead. Red Bull chose to pit Perez to go for fasted lap which dropped the Mexican to P16 for P8; he took the fastest lap from Lewis Hamilton but did not receive the points as he was out of the top 10.

Two laps later, Hamilton crossed the line, grabbed a Union Jack flag and did a victory lap around the track, with the home fans cheering every step of the way. The race finished as follows:

P1 Hamilton, P2 Leclerc, P3 Bottas, P4 Norris, P5 Ricciardo, P6 Sainz, P7 Alonso, P8 Stroll, P9 Ocon, P10 Tsunoda, P11 Gasly, P12 Russell, P13 Giovinazzi, P14 Latifi, P15 Raikkonen, P16 Perez, P18 Schumacher and both Vettel and Verstappen DNF.

Driver Of The Day: Leclerc

It was an amazing drive from the Ferrari driver. He was able to take full advantage of the Verstappen Hamilton incident, launching himself into P1, holding off Hamilton at the restart and staying in position until the final 2 laps, all whilst his engine was cutting out on him. It was an amazing result for him and the team, even if it was a bit bittersweet having held P1 for so long.

Biggest Crash: Verstappen

A 52G crash on the first lap was not how anyone saw the British GP going. Hamilton knocked into Verstappen, sending him flying into the wall at Copse, his tyre coming off before he even made contact with the barriers. This incident was controversial, to say the least. Some say it was Hamilton's fault for not backing off, some say it was Verstappen's fault for not yielding the line, others believe it was a racing incident. Regardless, it caused some heated words and hand gestures from Christian Horner, with Helmut Marko going as far as to say that Hamilton should have been banned for a race. Hamilton was given a 10-second penalty for the incident however it divided F1 fans everywhere, particularly as Hamilton went on to win his home race and celebrated in a big way. You can watch the crash here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIKel6jVD3Q

Overtake Of The Day: Alonso

During the sprint race, Fernando Alonso provided a masterclass on where to position your car coming when the lights go out. At the beginning of the sprint race, he rocketed himself up to P7, from P11, weaving his way around other cars on the grid, hitting the first few corners beautifully. You can watch the moves here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46mjA9Hk-mA

Biggest Heartbreak: Russell

This has to go to George. He had an incredible Friday qualification session, getting into Q3 in P7 before qualifying for the sprint in P8. He maintained this place in the sprint race before a slight touch with Sainz, which sent the Spaniard spinning, saw him receive a 3 place grid penalty for the race start on Sunday. He maintained 12th place but everyone was hoping for Russell's first points with Williams to be at his home race, particularly as he had done so well on the Friday and Saturday.

Special mention has to go to Verstappen. He ended up in hospital and lost valuable points in the championship, but everyone is glad to see that he is okay and in good shape for the next race.

Best Radio Comment: Totto Wolff and the FIA

What has now become a meme everywhere is Mercedes Team Principal asking Race Director Michael Massey whether he had got his email. He was told quite promptly by Massey that he does not check his emails during a race…. It left fans in the stands at Silverstone laughing. Here's the full message and response:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpRQJcCIKs4

You can listen to some of the other team radios here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSypQcWixhA

Takeaways

What a great weekend for McLaren. Despite a slightly dodgy pit stop which prevented Norris from fighting for P3 with Bottas, they came in P4 and P5. It was a great race for Norris who managed to take P3 at the start of the race, particularly considering the rough week he had after being mugged and not sleeping well at all. Ricciardo managed to fight off the Ferrari of Sainz for a good 20 laps which was an incredible feat. Hopefully, this Danny Ric is the one we see for the rest of the season.

George Russell was so close once again. That boy seems to have the worst luck. He performed so well to get into Q3 and during the sprint. The crowd were backing him all the way, and the cheer that went up when he made it into Q3 was unbelievable. Maybe next round is where he will finally get his first points for Williams?

Something of note is Red Bull's strategy with Perez after the Verstappen crash. They sacrificed points for Perez and in the Constructors Championship just to stop Hamilton from getting a point for the fastest lap. With a few laps to go, Perez came in for a surprise 3 pit stop for a set of soft to set the fastest lap. He managed to do so but because he did not finish in the top 10, he did not get the point himself. Seems an interesting, and maybe spiteful move, after the Verstappen Hamilton crash and maybe an unnecessary sacrifice for 1 point.

Sebastian Vettel showed us what a class act he is. He spent the hours after the race collecting rubbish from the stands with the Silverstone workers. What a wonderful man. Despite all the rubbish left, every driver loved having the fans back in the stands. The atmosphere there was electric, particularly when the British drivers were being interviews, or even just driving past. It was great to have a bit of normal back after such a crazy year.

In terms of our take on the Verstappen Hamilton crash, we believe it was a racing incident. However, a driver of Hamilton's calibre should have known better than to position his car where he did on the highest speed corner. The celebrations and what seemed like a lack of interest in Verstappen's wellbeing post-race may not have been the best look however it is done now, Hamilton got a 10-second penalty and the next race is right around the corner. It will certainly be exciting to see what happens between the two drivers.