The brightest F1 Grand Prix ever! Ferrari had the lead, Verstappen barely fought off Schumacher, and Ferrari sacrificed Leclerc for Sainz's maiden win with Mercedes already very close to the favourites.
Starting grid
Before the start, there was a lot of talk about possible rain during the race - the chances were about 50 percent. However, by the time of the start of the race the heavens over Silverstone had not opened, so the drivers entered battle on slicks. But even this could not prevent the starting blockage in which five cars were damaged. Pierre Gasly tried to squeeze between the cars of George Russell and Zhou Guanyu, which caused the two to collide, sending the Chinese driver’s car flying. The Alfa Romeo flipped over before hitting the tyre wall and flyingbehind the safety barrier. Injured in the starting mix were also Yuki Tsunoda, Alex Albon and Esteban Ocon. Albon braked sharply due to a collision between Russell and Zhou in front, he was poked by Sebastian Vettel, sending him into a U-turn and the uncontrolled car caused havoc for those around him. Above the track appeared a red flag and a friendly team of marshals successfully extracted the wrecked cars. The Chinese pilot was sent to the medical center, along with Alex Albon, and the rest waited for the restart.
Simultaneously, a very important change occurred up front when Carlos Sainz lost his lead. Having started from pole for the first time in 150 races, the Spaniard had already been easily passed by Verstappen at the first turn, with Hamilton surpassingPerez and Leclerc to reach third. However, these movementswere nullified - the drivers were not able to finish the first lap, so that the restart was given in order of the starting grid. Of the seriously injured cars in the first accident, both Ocon and Tsunoda were able to continue since they had reached the boxes after the incident.
Mirror Scenario Restart
The restart looked very different from the first attempt - this time the first corner was left for Sainz and Hamilton failed to win back position, moreover, he missed out in front of Norris. More drama ensued in the leading group when Perez and Leclerc were damaged on the front wings, forcing the Mexican to return to the pits, and Leclerc remained on the track. Checo was at the end of the peloton, while ahead of him Lewis managed to pass Norris and get to fourth position. Sainz remained the leader for a while but when the car lost traction with the track, the Spaniard came out wide of the turn and let Verstappen ahead.
The wounded bull is no longer a beast
But not for long - Verstappen hit some debris and got a puncture, lost momentum and was forced to pull into the pits, letting five drivers ahead at once. Despite a pit stop, Verstappen continued to complain about the car - it soon became clear that the Dutchman's car had damage on the side pontoon, because of which he lost downforce, but was able to continue the race.Verstappen's pace dropped dramatically, which threw him out of the fight for the victory, and ahead meanwhile Leclerc sat on the back of Sainz. Several times the Monegasque hinted to the team that it would be nice to change their places, but only receive orders for Sainz to attack stronger. All this while, Hamilton was gradually catching up with both Ferraris. Sainz was first of the front pack to head into the pits - on the 20th lap, which was a clear sign that Ferrari would implement team orders.
In the meantime, the race had lost another fighter - Valtteri Bottas due to technical problems. Verstappen, now on the 24th lap went to the second pit stop, allowing Perez and Vettel to overtake. On the next lap the new leader Leclerc dived into the pits - emerging again behind his teammate. Lewis, in turn, remained on the track. Soon occurred another setback - Pierre Gasly, got the black-orange flag and was forced to return to the boxes having been damaged in a collision with his teammate, who, in turn, received a five-second penalty.
Ferrari failed to decide in time who was number one
Up front, however, Leclerc caught up with Sainz and put the old song on the radio again regarding loss of pace. Sainz was given a few laps to regain the pace, but still swapped cars in the end, albeit somewhat late. The key to the battle for the win at this point was Hamilton's pit stop and where Lewis would return to the track relative to the two Ferraris. In the end, the pit stop Hamilton was lost more than won - the pit crew delivering a slow stop of 4.6 seconds, and he returned to the track six seconds behind the two Ferraris. Behind, the wounded "bull" Verstappen continued to lose position, letting Ocon through before dropping to ninth position. As for epochal events, Mick Schumacher was able to get into the top ten, ahead of Nicolas Latifi. Soon Mick won another position as Ocon, trying to overtake Max, apparently bogged down his Alpine and the car broke down on the back straight. The safety car came to the track. Sainz and Hamilton knew what they were doing and went to the pits for fresh tyres along with Perez, Alonso and Vettel. Crucially, Leclerc did not box and instead remained on the hard compound, proving costly in the race’s final stint.
Epic sprint after the safety car
With 10 laps to go, a restart was given. Sainz was able to pass Leclerc almost immediately, despite being asked to leave his teammate some space by the team. Hamilton also lost his position as he was passed by Sergio Perez. Leclerc suddenly lost pace, which played into the hands of Sainz - Perez and Hamilton meanwhile long tried to pass a determined Leclerc. In a momentof brilliance, Lewis managed to get ahead of both, but Perez brilliantly counterattacked and got his position back. However, Checo left the track when he overtook Leclerc, which left him under investigation by the judges. Hamilton let Leclerc slip by, having had a huge scrap with Charles for third place. Driversseveral times changed positions, but in the end the Monegasque on the hard tyres was forced to give up and let the seven-time world champion through. Mick Schumacher was able to break through to eighth position after Vettel and Stroll and was able to follow Max Verstappen, but the son of another seven-times world champion was unable to overtake him. Carlos Sainz confidently led the race to victory, which marked the first in his career. Sergio Perez finished second and Lewis Hamilton was third. Leclerc finished only fourth, with Alonso rounding out the top five. Norris, Verstappen, Schumacher, Vettel and Magnussen were also in the top ten.
The race at Silverstone was one of the most eventful of the season. However, despite the victory Ferrari appeared indecisive, not being able to choose the team leader in time and their strategies suffered as a result. Leclerc was frustrated in a race in which he could win back a huge number of points from Verstappen - finishing only fourth has not greatly increased the Monegasque’s chances for the title this season.
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