British Grand Prix: Hamilton’s great eight!

During the sprint qualifying, Lewis Hamilton lost his pole position acquired on Friday evening. Verstappen will start at the front of a race where the audience is 100% behind their British drivers.

The track temperature is high, everyone has in mind Hamilton’s arrival on three wheels. The pit stop strategy is therefore crucial this afternoon.

For the start, no one is taking any risks, the logical choice is respected: everyone starts on medium tires. Therefore, we should only see one pit stop for a switch to hard tires.

Only Sergio Perez, who started from the pits following his retirement the day before in the sprint qualifying, chose to start on hard tires.

A crucial training session

Each driver takes precautions to heat up their tires properly, and prepare their car for the start. The local of the stage would like to recover their lost property on Saturday, and take the lead at the first corner.

A spectacular start turning into a nightmare for Max Verstappen

It’s very hot on the scorching asphalt of Silverstone. The five red lights go out, everyone is under pressure. Especially Hamilton and Verstappen. The Englishman has vowed to return the favor to Verstappen. They both get off to a very good start, but the Englishman even better. At the first turn, Hamilton is already level with the Dutchman, but the latter resists fiercely and holds onto the lead.

The following sequence is very tight. Max Verstappen keeps the inside line on the right-hand corner leading to Priory. The latter delays his braking as much as possible, Hamilton cannot do anything, but he carefully manages his exit from the corner in order to be in the slipstream of the Red Bull at the beginning of Copse.

Strategy that works they approach this famous fast curve side by side, and inevitably the accident happens… Verstappen is hit on the rear right and loses control of his RB16B, he speeds towards the right rear angle into the tire wall.

The impact is of rare violence. Its right rear wheel comes off the single-seater because the rim has completely shattered. In fact, Max is struggling to get out of his car, he is shocked both physically and mentally. The RB16B has its right side stained with tire marks, it is seriously damaged. The sight of the images proves the violence of the crash!

It’s a stern-looking Christian Horner who is being interrogated just before the restart:

« The impact was violent. The driver underwent 51G. Max Verstappen is doing well and that’s the most important thing. »

During the Grand Prix, we learn that he needs to undergo further examinations at the hospital.

The English driver’s single-seater is very slightly damaged on its front wing, he can continue the race.

Leclerc made a superb start by outpacing Valtteri Bottas, he now takes advantage of this to pass on the inside and becomes the race leader as the FIA deploys the red flag signaling the race is being stopped.

The 19 cars must stop in the pit lane.

Other remarkable facts of the first departure

The two big winners of this first round are Leclerc who will start in first place, and Kimi Räikkönen who has already gained places and is already positioned 9th.

Esteban Ocon was under a lot of pressure. Right from the start, he found himself sandwiched between two world champions: his teammate Alonso and Vettel’s Aston Martin were closing in on him as he tried to slip between them in a very tight space, narrowly avoiding a collision.

A second departure, just as aggressive

It is 3:43 pm when the remaining 19 single-seaters set off from the pit lane to join the starting grid for the second time. Charles Leclerc is in first place ahead of Hamilton.

The two McLarens are following, Norris ahead of Ricciardo, then it’s two world champions Alonso ahead of Vettel.

Red Bull’s only chance of scoring points rests on Sergio Perez’s shoulders, who starts 19th on hard tires.

At the red lights going out, Charles Leclerc takes the lead, and Bottas misses once again. Norris takes advantage and is now in 3rd place.

It’s Vettel’s turn to crack and spin out, then Alonso goes wide at the exit of Stowe. This benefits Ricciardo who finds himself in 5th place.

Perez is quickly moving up and is already in 15th place, at the same time Ocon overtakes Räikkönen’s Alfa Romeo, which is struggling, to take 10th place. Vettel is now at the back of the field.

The first round is not over yet when a new thunderbolt hits Hamilton: he receives a 10-second penalty for his contact with Verstappen.

He is judged guilty of the accident.

Concern for Leclerc

From the 7th lap, the race calms down, only Perez continues to attack cleanly and gradually moves up.

At the front of the race, Leclerc and Hamilton are managing their tires. Each of them increasing the pace in turn, without causing an attack.

Pierre Gasly is stuck behind Räikkönen’s Alfa Romeo. He can’t find a solution to get closer and attempt an attack. This is favoring Sergio Perez’s comeback.

We are at a stage of the race where it is the engineers who are competing to find the best possible strategy.

On the 16th lap, the Monegasque driver experienced engine cuts. In the Ferrari pit, the engineers guide their driver in an attempt to stop his issues but it doesn’t seem to be working.

Hamilton is immediately warned and takes the opportunity to increase his pace. He gets closer to his rival, but notices that his front tires are degrading. He had warned of degradation at the rear a few laps earlier. It is now the right front that is blistering.

Norris remains under observation. Between the Ferrari’s troubles and his compatriot’s penalty, a first victory could be on the horizon.

Räikkönen launches the wave of pit stops.

We are in the window indicated by Pirelli. On the 19th lap, the Finn launches his car into the pit lane, Perez follows suit to try the undercut on Gasly. Russell and Vettel follow to put on hard tires.

At the pit exit, a beautiful battle is playing out between Räikkönen and Perez. The most experienced driver on the grid defends himself bravely, but has to give in as he no longer has any weapons against the Red Bull’s DRS.

Unfortunately for Lando Norris, his pit stop is dragging on. He comes back out behind Bottas and Alonso, who has not yet stopped. Quickly, he measures up Alonso. The battle is on with the Finnish driver from Mercedes.

In turn, Alonso undergoes a slightly long pit stop (5.4sec) and sets off side by side with Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin. He cleanly overtakes the Canadian driver and sets off in pursuit of the Australian Ricciardo. Thanks to his shifted strategy, Tsunoda in 8th place is currently sandwiched between them.

Hamilton is waiting for the 28th lap to change tires. He serves his 10-second penalty, the pit stop seems to be taking forever. He comes out in 5th place behind Norris. At this point in the race, the two Ferraris are in the lead.

Sainz decides to go through the pitstop the next lap. The stop is also very long. A problem with tightening the front left wheel immobilizes him longer than expected. For Ferrari, it’s a warm-up for Leclerc’s pit stop. Fortunately for the latter, his stop is done in 2.6 sec. He restarts as the leader with a comfortable lead of 7 seconds over Bottas and 11 over Norris.

A sprint race is underway for Hamilton.

On the 31st lap, Hamilton finds the opening on Lando Norris and starts his race against the clock to catch up with Charles Leclerc. His teammate Bottas is 4 seconds behind. Passing him will be a mere formality. The gap with the Ferrari is 13 seconds. He has 20 laps to complete his mission.

Perez has to pit for a second time to change tires. Once again, he switches to soft tires. He comes out in 15th place. Scoring points will be difficult.

On the 41st lap, Mercedes orders Bottas to let its lead driver pass. Hamilton is in second place, 8 seconds behind the leader, with 11 laps to go.

A race to catch the train behind the Leclerc-Hamilton duel

Like Hamilton, Sergio Perez equipped with new tires is gradually making his way up. They are the only ones to animate the end of the race.

In front, Hamilton is coming back to within a second per lap on the Ferrari. The suspense is high, especially as Ferrari allows its driver to finish the race in « Race mode. No more economizing, Scuderia now believes in its chances of victory. The Monegasque driver has preserved his tires unlike Hamilton, but nothing seems to be able to stop the Brit in his backyard.

He is breaking sector records and lap records. With 8 laps to go, there is only a 4.5-second gap to Leclerc, who is still setting his best laps.

Hammer time, a splendid victory

The Englishman is electrified, nothing stops him. The crowd is standing in the stands and supports their favorite driver who literally transcends himself to regain the taste of victory.

Three laps before the goal, he is three tenths away from being able to use the DRS. The connection is made a few corners later.

On the 50th lap, at Copse, we relive the same scenes as the ones with Verstappen. Once again, Hamilton approaches on the inside to surprise Charles Leclerc. The images of the first crash come back quickly… Despite the shock, the Englishman believes in it and puts pressure on the Monegasque driver who makes a mistake on the kerb and has to concede the position.

Everyone is celebrating in the packed stands of Silverstone, their champion has pulled off the feat of winning after a very intense race.

The ranking of the race