England – Race: Hamilton Once Again a Prophet in His Own Country!
Hamilton secures victory for the sixth time in his career at Silverstone! A triumph built right under Bottas' nose, who had initially resisted well at the start of the race. However, the Briton benefited from a crucial pit stop during the safety car intervention. Behind him, there was a fierce battle between Leclerc, who finished third, and Verstappen, eventually fifth, after the Dutchman was clipped by Vettel with 14 laps to go.
Shy, the British sun was surrounded by clouds at the dawn of the tenth start of this 2019 season. A cool temperature for this British Grand Prix, with 18 degrees in the air and 28 on the tarmac at Silverstone.
On the starting grid, a scare disrupted the preparation of Verstappen’s Red Bull, third on the starting grid. The rear wing was the issue, with a last-minute change on the Dutchman’s car, which nevertheless set off without problems for the formation lap. Two minutes later, the start was given!
Bottas vs Hamilton / Verstappen vs Leclerc, two intense battles!
Poleman, Valtteri Bottas was assertive by immediately moving onto the ideal line, a way to close the door on Lewis Hamilton. Behind the Mercedes duo, Charles Leclerc maintained his third position at the end of the first lap, ahead of Max Verstappen… and Sebastian Vettel, who had passed Pierre Gasly, thanks to the start’s momentum. Lando Norris had moved up to sixth position, thanks to a nice overtake on Daniel Ricciardo’s Renault, just before the Maggotts-Becketts-Chapel sequence.
At the back of the pack, team Haas lost big, with its two drivers neck and neck: squeezed on the outside in the straight after the fifth turn, Kevin Magnussen was forced to return to the pit, just like Romain Grosjean! Both drivers were already over a minute behind after 3 laps… five laps later, Magnussen retired, and Grosjean faced the same fate a bit further on.
But the beautiful battle was at the front: Hamilton made a first offensive on the fourth lap. On the outside, the Briton forced Bottas to move inside and was ahead for a few seconds at the exit of the seventh corner, Luffield… But the Finn did not give up and took back the lead, faster on the inside of Copse, the ninth corner. Bottas maintained the lead in these early laps of the race: after ten laps, Hamilton remained within a second gap, with the pursuers, led by Leclerc, more than three and a half seconds behind.
LAP 4/52: Brilliant stuff from the Mercedes drivers 👏👏👏
Hamilton gets past Bottas before the Finn fights back to retake the lead through Luffield and Copse #BritishGP 🇬🇧 #F1 pic.twitter.com/qe9WDSDBFz
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 14, 2019
Provisional third, the Monegasque was being challenged by Verstappen, despite his soft tires, unlike the Dutchman, on mediums.
On lap 11, the Red Bull driver pulled alongside the Ferrari: aggressive, Leclerc closed the door on Verstappen, who was immediately under threat from Vettel… and Gasly, who was in the mix! The Frenchman threw himself into the battle and immediately found an opening on the German in the first corner! However, he didn’t benefit much from his fifth place, pitting as early as lap 13 to get rid of his starting soft tires in favor of hard ones.
The next lap saw the arrival of Leclerc and Verstappen at the pits… at the same time! Thanks to his mechanics, Verstappen gained the advantage for a few seconds. But Leclerc was not intimidated and immediately overtook again at the pit exit, in the second corner. As expected, Ferrari’s hopeful was intensifying his game in driving!
The battle was not over between the two men: glued to Verstappen’s slipstream, he was taking big risks, but Leclerc was putting up an admirable defense!
In front of them, Bottas changed his tires on the 17th lap. Hamilton took the lead… and picked up the pace, with a fastest lap right after. The Briton was attempting the overcut strategy. He took advantage of a Safety Car intervention to pit, due to Giovinazzi going off into the gravel trap at the sixteenth corner on the 20th lap.
Naturally, Hamilton emerged at the top of the Grand Prix, equipped with hard tires. It was also a good move for Vettel, who made his own tire change and came out in third. As for Verstappen, he changed his strategy, moving to hard tires! It was a good choice, as Leclerc did the same on the next lap. Inevitably, the Monegasque lost the advantage to Verstappen and dropped to the provisional sixth place. Meanwhile, Pierre Gasly hadn’t pitted yet and moved up to fourth place.
Vettel takes out Verstappen!
At the end of the 23rd lap, the race was reignited by Lewis Hamilton. The midfield was tumultuous: by taking risks, Pérez collided with Hülkenberg and fell to the back of the standings. But certainly, the Leclerc-Verstappen battle was the highlight of the day, with Leclerc making another attempt this time. The Ferrari led the Red Bull but it was the latter that stayed ahead, continuing full throttle in the paved runoff area. Immediately after, Verstappen passed Gasly, on a different strategy.
LAP 25/52: They’re at it again! #BritishGP 🇬🇧 #F1 pic.twitter.com/SZElLMYvoJ
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 14, 2019
On the other hand, Leclerc had much more difficulty passing the Frenchman, finding an opening only on the 36th lap. Meanwhile, Verstappen had caught up with Vettel, who was still in third place. The Dutchman moved ahead, but Vettel wanted to retake the position immediately. The result: a missed braking in the corner and Vettel ejects Verstappen! The injured Ferrari returned to the pits, with Vettel falling to last place. Less damage for Verstappen’s Red Bull, which resumed in fifth place, behind Leclerc and Gasly. This collision worked in favor of the Frenchman, just a second and a half behind the Ferrari with ten laps to go.
Incredible scenes here at Silverstone!
Stewards are looking at the incident between Vettel and Verstappen#BritishGP 🇬🇧 #F1 pic.twitter.com/awraiuT6se
— Formula 1 (@F1) 14 juillet 2019
Behind this top 5, Carlos Sainz benefited from his strategy to take sixth place, just ahead of Daniel Ricciardo. Alexander Albon, Kimi Räikkönen, and Daniil Kvyat occupied the last three places in the top 10 in this order.
On the 46th lap, Mercedes played it safe by pitting Bottas, who rejoined ahead of Leclerc. The Finn naturally secured the fastest lap point in the process. In contrast, Hamilton stayed on track until the end, claiming a solitary victory at Silverstone, marking his sixth career win at this circuit! Now, the driver with number 44 is the sole master on board, surpassing Alain Prost and his five wins in Northamptonshire. Relentless to the end, Hamilton even took the fastest lap on the final lap, leaving the competition definitively disheartened and relegated to the background!
On the podium, therefore, Bottas and Leclerc, who clinches his fourth consecutive podium, a streak ongoing since Canada. Behind them, Gasly equaled the best result of his career by securing fourth place. Unusually, the Frenchman outpaced Verstappen, hampered by his collision with Vettel. Another great performance came from Carlos Sainz, finishing sixth. Tenth until the final laps, Albon lost his position to Hülkenberg.
