United Kingdom – Race: a story of punctures and the jackpot for Hamilton, ahead of Verstappen and Leclerc!
Lewis Hamilton had a puncture on the very last lap but won the fourth Grand Prix of the 2020 season! On his home turf, the British driver achieved the 87th victory of his career, the 7th at Silverstone. Second, Max Verstappen benefited from another puncture two laps from the end, that of Valtteri Bottas. Charles Leclerc took third place in a race also marked by two major crashes involving Kevin Magnussen and Daniil Kvyat.

If Lewis Hamilton dominated the entire race, his race finish was epic at Silverstone this Sunday afternoon: he blew his front left tire on the final lap!
Fortunately for him, his lead was enough to reach the finish, just ahead of Max Verstappen, who came back like a bullet at the end. Incredible success for Hamilton: the Red Bull driver had pitted two laps from the end to change his tires and attempt to secure the fastest lap!
WHAT THE… ????
Lewis Hamilton wins the British Grand Prix with a puncture
Valtteri Bottas drops from P2 to P11 with two laps to go
Sainz drops from P4 to P13 on the final lap#BritishGP ???????? #F1 pic.twitter.com/Pb4oXxLEmx
— Formula 1 (@F1) August 2, 2020
Bottas lost everything!
Star at home, in front of empty stands, Lewis Hamilton finally clinched the 7th victory of his career at Silverstone. The six-time world champion secured the 87th win of his career, bringing him within 4 wins of Michael Schumacher’s all-time record.
Behind Hamilton and Verstappen, Leclerc took third place. Like Verstappen, the Ferrari driver benefited from the puncture of the other Mercedes, that of Valtteri Bottas, just before Hamilton’s. But the Finn lost his tires on the 50th lap, two laps from the finish. Dropping to 12th place, he covered half the circuit at low speed before finally pitting to change his tires. 11th under the checkered flag, Bottas did not score any points at the finish!
Very close to taking the lead at the start of the Grand Prix from the inside, Valtteri Bottas initially eased off in the first corner to avoid a collision with Lewis Hamilton. However, the driver #77 did not have the opportunity to challenge his teammate throughout the Grand Prix. He eventually takes a 25-0 hit that will be significant in the 2020 world championship. In the overall standings, Hamilton now has 88 points… 30 points ahead of Bottas!
LAP 50/52
Disaster for Bottas as he’s forced to limp back to the pits from P2 with damage to his wheel
He emerges all the way down in P12! #BritishGP 🇬🇧 #F1 pic.twitter.com/PwgYFUfVxR
— Formula 1 (@F1) August 2, 2020
6th and 7th, Ocon and Gasly celebrate!
The end of the Grand Prix was definitely a story of punctures: Carlos Sainz also dropped out of the top 10 due to a tire failure!
Great beneficiaries of Bottas and Sainz’s misfortunes, the Renault drivers had an impressive team race with Ricciardo finishing 4th… and Ocon, the Frenchman, finishing 6th, especially showcasing a great battle with Lance Stroll. The Racing Point driver took the 9th place but is one of the disappointments of this Grand Prix. His garage neighbor couldn’t even defend his chances: standing in at the last minute for Pérez (who contracted the coronavirus), Nico Hülkenberg was stuck in the pits before the start due to a technical issue with his car.
Surviving for McLaren, the Briton Lando Norris went on to secure fifth place. Another great satisfaction on the French side, Pierre Gasly had a very solid race: the AlphaTauri driver overtook Vettel and then Stroll at the end of the race, to claim the six points of the 7th place.
Once again far from Verstappen, Albon clinched 8th position, ahead of Stroll and a Vettel who held off Bottas to keep the last point of the top 10.
Before that, two major accidents marked this Grand Prix: Daniil Kvyat crashed violently on the 12th lap, in the Becketts-Maggots-Chapel sequence. The Russian driver hit the wall at high speed but was able to get out of his car by himself. Although his team’s cause for the crash has not yet been revealed, the most likely cause would be a suspension failure… or also a puncture!
After 12 laps, the Safety Car was deployed: almost the entire field rushed into the pits to switch to hard tires… with the notable exception of Romain Grosjean who stayed on track with his starting medium tires. The Frenchman was propelled to fifth position but then progressively fell back in the hierarchy before pitting. Grosjean ultimately finished the race in 16th position.
Before that, the first major incident of this race took place at the end of the first lap: a collision in the last corner between Kevin Magnussen’s Haas and Alex Albon’s Red Bull. Both were battling in the middle of the pack, and Albon pushed a bit on the inside: the Thai driver hit the right side of the Haas, sending Magnussen off the track, who tore off his right front wheel by hitting the wall.
Here is the complete ranking for the 2020 British Grand Prix:
N°
|
Driver | Team | Times | Gap | Laps |
1
|
Hamilton | Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport |
52
|
||
2
|
Verstappen | Aston Martin Red Bull Racing | ++5.856 |
52
|
|
3
|
Leclerc | Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow | ++18.474 |
52
|
|
4
|
Ricciardo | Renault F1 Team | ++19.650 |
52
|
|
5
|
Norris | McLaren F1 Team | ++22.277 |
52
|
|
6
|
Ocon | Renault F1 Team | ++26.937 |
52
|
|
7
|
Gasly | Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda | ++31.188 |
52
|
|
8
|
Albon | Aston Martin Red Bull Racing | ++32.670 |
52
|
|
9
|
Stroll | SportPesa Racing Point F1 Team | ++37.311 |
52
|
|
10
|
Vettel | Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow | ++41.857 |
52
|
|
11
|
Bottas | Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport | ++42.167 |
52
|
|
12
|
Russell | Williams Racing | ++52.004 |
52
|
|
13
|
Sainz Jr. | McLaren F1 Team | ++53.370 |
52
|
|
14
|
Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo Racing | ++54.285 |
52
|
|
15
|
Latifi | Williams Racing | ++54.549 |
52
|
|
16
|
Grosjean | Haas F1 Team | ++55.050 |
52
|
|
17
|
Räikkönen | Alfa Romeo Racing | ++ 1 Lap |
51
|
|
18
|
Kvyat | Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda | DNF | ||
19
|
Magnussen | Haas F1 Team | DNF | ||
20
|
Hülkenberg | SportPesa Racing Point F1 Team | DNF |