British Grand Prix – Race: First victory for Carlos Sainz

Carnage at the start.

Scoring his first career pole position on Saturday, Carlos Sainz lost the lead of the race right at the first corner. Despite having a slower reaction time, the Dutch driver managed to take advantage of his soft tires to overtake the Ferrari on medium tires.

The significant event of this Grand Prix start was the huge accident involving countless single-seaters. Initially, Pierre Gasly was caught between Guanyu Zhou and George Russell. The British driver was spinning on the AlphaTauri, creating a butterfly effect. Russell, drifting, then hit Zhou. The Chinese driver’s car flipped over and crashed behind the tecpro barriers. It was a horrifying and spectacular crash from which the Alfa Romeo driver emerged unscathed. This wreckage at the approach to the first corner caused numerous collateral victims, including Alexander Albon, Esteban Ocon, and Yuki Tsunoda. Unlike other victims of the accident, Tsunoda and Ocon were able to continue the race.

The second departure

After a red flag period lasting nearly 1 hour, the FIA decided that the second start would be stopped. The positions for this second start were reset based on the positions from the first start.

Having lost his mind at the first start, Carlos Sainz didn’t let it happen a second time. The Spanish driver was very assertive when the lights went out. He forced Verstappen to take the inside of turn 1 and went around him on the outside.

Disaster for Red Bull.

Difficult start also for Sergio Perez. The Mexican had a small incident with Charles Leclerc at the third turn. This damaged his front wing. Having to go to the pit on the fifth lap of the race, Perez came back out at the back of the pack.

In the 12th lap of the race, Max Verstappen complained of a puncture. The Dutchman was indeed very slow in the second and third sectors. He was being overtaken by the two Ferraris before heading to the pit. It eventually turned out that the reigning world champion did not have a puncture but a problem with his engine cover. A problem that was causing him to lose a lot of time but did not prevent him from continuing the race.

The little sister of Red Bull, AlphaTauri, also drowned at Silverstone. While Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda were in the points, the Japanese driver attempted an overly ambitious overtaking maneuver on his garage neighbor, resulting in a collision. While Tsunoda was penalized with a 5-second penalty, Gasly retired in his garage 17 laps later, on the 28th lap, due to significant damage to his rear wing.

The battle for victory.

The misfortune of Red Bull left the two Ferraris in the lead of the Grand Prix. However, the red team had to remain alert to what was happening behind them because Lewis Hamilton was very fast. The British driver intended to offer his fans the podium, or even better.

Despite minor damage to his front wing, Charles Leclerc was faster than Carlos Sainz. This caused confusion within Ferrari. The Maranello team took time to decide which car should be the lead. This uncertainty allowed Lewis Hamilton to climb up and position himself as a strong contender for victory.

The race restarted.

On the 40th lap of the race, Esteban Ocon was suffering from an engine problem that forced him to retire. He parked his car between the 14th and 15th corners, and his position on the circuit led the FIA to deploy the safety car.

If many drivers like Carlos Sainz, Lewis Hamilton, and Sergio Perez took this opportunity to come into the pits and put on soft tires, Charles Leclerc missed the chance. The Monégasque driver would have to defend himself with worn hard tires against new soft tires.

Surpassing his teammate quickly to take the lead, Carlos Sainz was never threatened again and managed to win the first race of his Formula 1 career. After securing his first pole position on Saturday, the Ferrari driver successfully converted that effort on Sunday.

Impressive comeback from Sergio Perez, who took advantage of the safety car to get back into the race for the win. Overtaking both Hamilton and Leclerc in quick succession, the Mexican driver managed his pace well to secure another podium this season. He is joined on the podium by Lewis Hamilton, who was able to give his home crowd a podium finish.