The British Grand Prix was definitely the best race of the season so far. David Croft said before qualifying that Silverstone is the best track in the world. While it comes fourth behind Spa-Francorchamps, Suzuka and Monaco for excitement to watch a qualifying lap in my opinion, none of those three tracks provide particularly great racing, while Silverstone provides the best racing of any track on the calendar, and for me, that elevates it above the aforementioned three to the position of greatest track in the world, at least for modern F1 cars.
It was already shaping up to be an outstanding race with Lewis Hamilton closing down Sainz and Leclerc at the end, but the late safety car caused yet more fantastic action, and huge congratulations to Carlos Sainz for his first victory, although I thought Charles Leclerc was particularly outstanding in his defence on old tyres, with front wing damage, and he was my Driver of the Weekend. The other big story of the race was a huge crash on the first lap for Zhou Guanyu, in which he flipped upside down, dug into the gravel and was launched over the barrier into the fence, which did its job in protecting the spectators. It is testament to the safety improvements of Formula 1 that Zhou was unharmed, although Alex Albon had to be taken to hospital after his accident. Another shout-out should go to Mick Schumacher, who finally scored his first points in Formula 1 with eighth, while Nicholas Latifi had the best weekend of his career.
Qualifying was particularly exciting as unexpected rain hit the circuit just before the session started, and all the drivers had to use intermediates throughout. Max Verstappen looked dominant all through the session, as he did in Canada, and was looking a sure bet for pole position before it went wrong in Q3, as he spun on his first lap and then had his final lap delayed by a Leclerc spin. The result was Carlos Sainz taking his first pole position, despite feeling his lap had not been great. Verstappen was second from Leclerc and Perez, while Hamilton was disappointed with fifth and Russell with eighth as the Mercedes was more competitive.
Lando Norris was sixth, from Fernando Alonso, who could have been higher had he been able to go for one more lap at the end. Zhou Guanyu was ninth, again outperforming teammate Bottas, while Nicholas Latifi made Q3 for the first time in his career despite running the older Williams. Pierre Gasly, Valtteri Bottas, Yuki Tsunoda, Daniel Ricciardo and Esteban Ocon all missed out in Q2, failing to get a good lap in early when the conditions were at their best. Carlos Sainz had also struggled at the start of Q2, so the lap that got him into Q3 perhaps turned out to be the most important of his life.
Out in Q1 were Alex Albon for Williams, the team’s updated car which they claimed to be worth a full second impossible to test due to the rain. Also out were both Haases and both Aston Martins, in the order of Magnussen, Vettel, Schumacher and Stroll. It was one of the most entertaining qualifying sessions for some time, as is always the case when it rains.
On the first lap of the race, Max Verstappen with soft tyres blasted past Carlos Sainz and into the lead, while Hamilton slipped between Leclerc and Perez and took third. Behind, Pierre Gasly was squeezed between George Russell and Zhou Guanyu. Russell was moving in and Gasly slowed down, the resulting contact between Gasly’s front right and Russell’s rear left pitching the Mercedes into the Alfa Romeo and flipping Zhou’s car upside down.
Zhou then went through the gravel at high speed, digging in and being flipped over the barrier and into the fence, thankfully floor first. The incident reminded me of this BTCC crash at Donington in 1992 for Kieth O’Dor, and had Zhou’s car gone higher he could have hit the spectators. It was a lucky escape, but of course in reality luck had very little to do with it, and the safety improvements made over the years of F1 should be praised for Zhou being unharmed.
Behind, Alex Albon slowed in avoidance and was hit by Sebastian Vettel. The Williams then spun across the track and was collected by Ocon and Tsunoda. In terms of the original crash, I would consider George Russell predominantly to blame for moving across on Gasly, but full credit should go to the Mercedes driver for immediately getting out of the car to check on Zhou, although it perhaps caused him to be unable to return to the pits and restart the race. The red flag was perhaps also good fortune as it stopped the cars arriving at the scene of some protestors at full speed, attempting to interrupt the race like the priest who ran down the Hangar Straight in 2003.
After an hour-long delay, the race restarted, but back in the original grid positions. This was because the cars had not passed the second safety car line, but seemed a little unfair on the likes of Verstappen and Hamilton who had made good starts. This time, Carlos Sainz executed turn one beautifully, squeezing Verstappen towards the wall before moving out and turning in ahead of him. The action around Village was brilliant, as Verstappen went to Sainz’s outside, and Leclerc sent the Ferrari down the inside of Perez, putting them four-wide briefly. Leclerc pushed Perez into Sainz and gave both himself and the Red Bull front wing damage, but after at the end of the Wellington Straight it was Sainz, Verstappen, Leclerc and Perez the top four.
Sergio Perez appeared to be struggling with front wing damage, while despite having lost an endplate, Leclerc stayed on the pack of the leaders. Perez soon pitted and released Norris and Hamilton, who quickly passed the McLaren and set off after the leaders. Further back, there was a clumsy incident for Yuki Tsunoda who spun into his teammate Gasly and ruined Alpha Tauri’s race. Sainz now led the race until he made a mistake at Chapel and Verstappen passed the Ferrari for the lead.
However, Verstappen’s lead did not last long, as he slowed with what initially appeared to be a puncture, but was not solved after his stop and was later declared to also be floor damage. Carlos Sainz repassed Verstappen down the Hangar Straight, and it was very disappointing to hear the crowd cheering as Verstappen slowed and pitted, both from the fans cheering and from the TV director or whoever was responsible for turning the volume up and exaggerating the extent of the cheers. Sainz now led the race from Leclerc, who despite the damage was able to keep a constant gap to his teammate.
In the battle for the lead, Sainz and Leclerc were being gradually caught by Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes which seems to come alive on proper (for want of a better word) race tracks, as in Spain. He had got to around two seconds behind when Sainz finally came in, and held third. Lando Norris and Fernando Alonso were next, both running strong races ahead of Verstappen who fell into the clutches of the midfield, and Perez who was carving his way through the pack. Leclerc soon pitted as well, and came out just behind Sainz, before reeling him in and being waved through.
When Hamilton finally stopped, it was slightly slow and he was four seconds behind Sainz when his tyres got up to temperature. He then closed in on Sainz who was struggling with fuel, but was only matching leader Leclerc, starting to pull away before the safety car was deployed as Esteban Ocon stopped on the old start-finish straight. Ferrari opted to leave Leclerc out on old hard tyres, while the entire remainder of the field bar Kevin Magnussen pitted.
The order was now Leclerc, Sainz and Hamilton, then Sergio Perez who had made it up to fourth before being gifted a free stop by the safety car. Fernando Alonso jumped Lando Norris as McLaren were slow to react with the safety car, then Sebastian Vettel came next having been on a similar strategy to Perez. Magnussen on old mediums moved up to eighth from Verstappen and Mick Schumacher, with a chance of his first points. Nicholas Latifi was next having ran in the points almost the entire race, despite using the old Williams, then it was Stroll, while Ricciardo and Tsunoda were cut adrift as they had been lapped.
The final laps of racing were some of the best in a long time, and much of this was because they happened at Silverstone, a track that allows cars to run side-by-side for several corners around the track. Hamilton was slow on the restart and was immediately mugged by Perez, while Sainz aggressively passed Leclerc at Aintree with a great move for the lead, showing Ferrari had been wrong to suggest he should drop back to defend and help his teammate.
What happened in the following laps was the opposite, as Leclerc put up an outstanding defence against Perez and Hamilton, allowing Sainz to make a break, while Alonso and Norris hung on as well. Perez launched the Red Bull up the inside of Leclerc at club, putting both wide and allowing Hamilton back into second, but then Perez repassed Hamilton at Village and Leclerc brilliantly drove around the outside of the Mercedes on old tyres at Copse. Hamilton got back into third on the Hangar Straight, and the order at the front settled down after some fantastic laps of action. The final laps were made entertaining by a great battle for seventh between Max Verstappen and Mick Schumacher, which Verstappen held on to win.
Carlos Sainz then won his first Grand Prix at the 150th attempt, putting him second only to Perez for most races before a maiden win. Sergio Perez finished a shock second, which for a long time had seemed impossible, while Hamilton took his first podium of the season to the delight of the crowd. Charles Leclerc was angry to only finish fourth and felt he should have pitted under the safety car, but he had driven exceptionally well. Fernando Alonso won the midfield with fifth from Lando Norris, and Max Verstappen did well to limit the damage of his problems with seventh, ahead of Mick Schumacher who finally took his first points in Formula 1, and well-deserved were they too.
Sebastian Vettel was only ninth, perhaps regretting choosing mediums rather than softs at the final stop, while Kevin Magnussen made it two Haases in the top ten. Just missing out on points were Lance Stroll and sadly Nicholas Latifi, after the drive of his career in 12th. Daniel Ricciardo had an awful weekend and was 13th from Tsunoda, while the long list of retirements included Ocon, Gasly and Bottas with mechanical problems, although Gasly’s seemed to be as a result of damage, and Albon, Russell and Zhou were eliminated in the first-lap carnage.
Driver Ratings:
Carlos Sainz – 7. Took a first pole position, but this was in no small part due to mistakes from others. Then lost the lead on the first start but drove very well on the second to keep ahead of Verstappen. Lost it again when he made a mistake at Chapel, regained it when Verstappen slowed with a puncture, failed to stay at Leclerc’s pace and lost it as he let his teammate through, before benefitting from new tyres after the safety car to pass Leclerc for a great first victory in Formula 1.
Sergio Perez – 7. Struggled to get near to Verstappen in qualifying, lost positions on the first start and then had to pit after contact with Leclerc. From then on, he fought back brilliantly to fourth, benefitted from the safety car and passed Hamilton twice, and Leclerc to finish a surprise second, with his second pass on Hamilton particularly impressive.
Lewis Hamilton – 8. Qualifying was disappointing for Hamilton as he was only fifth, but after a great initial start was negated by the red flag, he found himself in third after Perez and Verstappen had stopped, and closing on the Ferraris. After pitting later than them, he was closing down the leaders and would probably have been second without the safety car. He could maybe have done better in the late action, but an opportunistic pass on both Perez and Leclerc at Club was impressive.
Charles Leclerc – 8. Loses marks for the qualifying spin and the contact with Perez, but from then on Leclerc was outstanding, outpacing Sainz and taking the lead despite front wing damage. Then being left out on hards after the safety car was a mistake, but Leclerc defending brilliantly against Perez and Hamilton with newer tyres, including a great pass around the outside of Hamilton at Copse, and was unlucky to finish fourth.
Fernando Alonso – 8. Looked like he might have gone better than seventh in qualifying, but in the race his only concern was Lando Norris who he shadowed for a long time and then jumped after McLaren were slow to react to the safety car. He challenged the leaders at the end, with David Croft exclaiming ‘of course he is!’
Lando Norris – 8. Top of the midfield with sixth on the grid and held that position ahead of Alonso for most of the race and looked like he might finish fourth before McLaren were slow to react to the safety car and he dropped to sixth. Challenged Alonso and the leaders after that but couldn’t get by.
Max Verstappen – 7. After dominating qualifying until a messy Q3, combined with bad luck, left him second on the grid, Verstappen took the lead at the start before that was negated. He then took it again after a Sainz mistake but damage due to debris forced him to pit and ruined his race, making him difficult to rate. Seventh was impressive given the circumstances, and he defended well against Schumacher.
Mick Schumacher – 7. After an awful qualifying session, he finally took the maiden points he so deserved after overtaking Kevin Magnussen, Nicholas Latifi and Sebastian Vettel, benefitting from a lot of retirements and challenging Verstappen at the end on his way to a career-best eighth.
Sebastian Vettel – 7. Also had an awful qualifying and hit Albon in the first start, but after an early stop he made solid progress in the race, including a beautiful pass on Verstappen at Village, and was set for seventh before choosing mediums in his final stop dropped him to ninth.
Kevin Magnussen – 6. Just beat his teammate in qualifying but failed to match him in the race as he was overtaken by Schumacher and dropped a few cars behind him before moving up to eighth by not pitting at the end, and slipping back to tenth but still in the points.
Lance Stroll – 5. Qualified last and was making little progress in a disappointing race while his teammate made it into the points, but the final safety car gave him a chance and he passed Latifi but couldn’t make it into the points.
Nicholas Latifi – 8. An admittedly generous rating, but he made Q3 in the slowest car, and on merit, then ran solidly in the top ten for much of the race, as high as eighth for a time, and might have nabbed a point without the final safety car. He was passed by Stroll and finished 12th.
Daniel Ricciardo – 4. What is going wrong with Ricciardo at McLaren? Once again he was utterly dominated by Lando Norris and started 14th, falling behind the Haas and Aston Martin drivers in the race and being unable to pass Latifi as he finished outside the points. This rating is generous.
Yuki Tsunoda – 3. Not far behind Gasly in qualifying but messed up the first start and dropped back, before the red flag threw him a lifeline. He was running strongly behind Gasly but then spun and violated the first rule of motor racing by taking out his teammate and ruining the race for Alpha Tauri.
Esteban Ocon – 6. His poor qualifying was in part due to a battery problem, but he recovered well in the race to pass Verstappen for seventh before retiring with a fuel problem and causing the final safety car. He was lucky to be in the race after what looked like a broken suspension from the incident with Albon.
Pierre Gasly – 6. Had a decent qualifying but could have done better in the Zhou incident, where he backed off slightly erratically but was not really to blame as the gap he went for was closed. Then was running well before teammate Tsunoda took him off, and he appeared to have damage after that.
Valtteri Bottas – 5. For the third consecutive race weekend he was outperformed by Zhou Guanyu, slower than him in qualifying. Was doing okay in the race before a mechanical failure put him out while he was running in the points.
George Russell – 3. A mistake in qualifying and a poor start left him fighting for ninth as he moved across on Pierre Gasly, causing the Alpha Tauri to clip his rear wheel as it backed off and Russell spun into Zhou, ending his race. It was good that he went to check on Zhou but he was to blame for the accident.
Zhou Guanyu – 7. Outqualified Bottas for the third weekend running, then after a slow start was lucky to escape from a major accident as his car flipped over the barrier after going through the gravel upside down. He was the innocent victim in the incident.
Alexander Albon – 5. Looked very fast in qualifying so it was surprising to see him eliminated in Q1, slower than Latifi. He couldn’t really have done anything differently in the first corner incident that took him out of the race.
Team of the Grand Prix – Haas. No obvious candidates, so I will choose the team that scored a double points finish from the back of the grid, and gave Mick Schumacher his first points in Formula 1.
It was a thrilling British Grand Prix, probably the best since last year’s Russian Grand Prix, or if not the Hungarian Grand Prix, and on a great track too.
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