Great Britain – Race 1: Charles Leclerc Triumphs Despite a Close Call
Even smoke coming from his engine did not stop Charles Leclerc from winning his fifth race of the year at Silverstone. He finished ahead of Norman Nato and Oliver Rowland.
If the F1 qualifications were disrupted by rain, the F2 race was contested on a dry track, even though the clouds never left the sky over Silverstone.
At lights out, Charles Leclerc had no trouble maintaining his first place. But behind the Monegasque, Norman Nato managed to get the better of Oliver Rowland to occupy the second place. Nonetheless, the two men could not prevent the championship leader from literally flying away. By the 5th lap, he was already 6.4 seconds ahead of his closest competitor.
Just as we thought we were about to witness another demonstration from the Prema driver, a huge smoke plume emerged from his engine. It was then thought that he would have to retire again due to a mechanical problem, as was the case in Monaco.
🌬️ for #Leclerc #F2 #BritishGP 😱 pic.twitter.com/buHgDloz7J
— La F1® sur CANAL (@LaF1SurCanal) July 15, 2017
But nothing came of it, and he made his pit stop on the 8th lap, one lap after his main rivals, before resuming his progress. At the end of the race, he revealed that he noticed the smoke when he saw himself on the giant screen on the straight: « I panicked a bit seeing my car with a lot of smoke on the screen and in my mirrors. I even felt like I was losing power, but actually, everything was fine. »
A significant battle unfolded between Norman Nato, Oliver Rowland, Jordan King, and Artem Markelov. The Russian eventually managed to find an opening against the Brit, who gradually lost positions, finishing in 7th place. A new battle opposed him to Luca Ghiotto in the final laps, but once again, the MP Motorsport driver had to concede.
Nobuharu Matsushita, Robert Visoiu, and Alexander Albon attempted an alternative strategy, starting on hard tires and therefore stopping very late in the race. This attempt was not successful as they finished 10th, 17th, and 18th respectively.
Charles Leclerc took the lead on the 21st lap when the ART driver finally went through the pit stops. He then only had to manage his car to bring it to the finish, despite losing his right mirror on the straight while Norman Nato was able to get out of Oliver Rowland’s reach. The Frenchman said at the end of the race: « Charles was too fast today. I tried to attack at the beginning but then I mainly focused on not being overtaken by Oliver. »
Charles Leclerc therefore extends his championship lead to 63 points over Oliver Rowland.
From our special correspondent in Silverstone
