Hamilton claims fourth win as on-track collision ends Verstappen race

By Malhaar Khaladkar

Lewis Hamilton achieved his fourth win of the season overcoming a penalty received after a on track collision with title rival Max Verstappen. Charles Leclerc got his first podium of the season after leading the majority of the race ahead of third place man Valtteri Bottas in the Mercedes.

This was the first experimental weekend where Formula 1 trialed the F1 Sprint qualifying. A 100-kilometer race to determine the grid positions for the Grand Prix on Sunday.

New Delhi, 19 July 2021: Lewis Hamilton took his 99^th career victory and first one since the Spanish Grand Prix in May, overcoming a 10-second time penalty for a on track coming together with Max Verstappen which resulted in the Dutchman not finishing the race. Charles Leclerc led the majority of the race bar 3 laps from the end as he got his first podium since the 2020 Formula 1 70^th Anniversary Grand Prix. Valtteri Bottas capitalised on a slow pitstop for Lando Norris to finish P3, with the Briton finishing P4. Norris’ teammate Daniel Ricciardo finished a strong P5, holding of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz for more than half of the race as the Spaniard finished in P6, just 0.8s behind.Alpine’s Fernando Alonso finished P7 and teammate Esteban Ocon crossed the line in P9 helping the Anglo-French squad to achieve a double points finish. Sandwiched between them was Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll in P8. Japanese rookie Yuki Tsunoda rounded of the top 10.

AlphaTauri teammate Pierre Gasly finished P11 ahead of Williams’ George Russell in P12 and Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi in P13. Nicholas Latifi brought home his FW43B in P14 ahead of Kimi Raikkonen in P15 who spun around late on in the race after getting tangled with Red Bull’s Sergio Perez, who could only manage P16. Nikita Mazepin outraced his Haas teammate Mick Schumacher as they finished P17 and P18 respectively. Sebastian Vettel retired late in the race after suffering a spin early on and circulating at the back of the grid.

Title protagonists Verstappen and Hamilton started on the front row for the fourth time this season with both wanting to lead the race and the end of lap 1 to control the rest of the race. As the race got underway, both were wrestling for P1 but keeping it clean. Hamilton tried to overtake through the Wellington straight into Brooklands corner, but Verstappen swept ahead and maintained the lead. Hamilton got a better exit out of Luffield and went on the inside of Verstappen onto the old start-finish straight. As they approached the high-speed turn 9 Copse corner, they made contact and Verstappen hit the outside barriers at high speed. Fortunately, he was able to escape on his own. The damage to the car and the barrier caused a red flag. Behind, Leclerc had got a good start overtaking Bottas in the process. He passed Hamilton for the lead when the Briton lost momentum after making contact with the Red Bull.

With the red flag period over, race was to begin with standing start procedure. This time Leclerc in P1, Hamilton maintaining P2 and so did Bottas in P3. Both front row cars got off well as Hamilton tucked behind Leclerc. Bottas behind had another slow start and lost a position to Norris with unable to find a way past him. Vettel too had made a good start and was running in the top 10, but he got on the throttle too early on the exit of luffield and spun, falling to the back of the grid and ending any hope of points.

Hamilton was unable to find a way past Leclerc who to his credit was matching the Mercedes’ pace. The Monegasque was also managing an engine software issue which was resolved a few laps later. Hamilton who was running in the Ferrari’s hot air decided to back off as he was unable to pass and was circulating around 2s behind the leader. By this time the FIA had issued the Briton a 10-second time penalty for causing a collision with Verstappen as well.

Ricciardo was the first one to pit amongst the front runner on lap 20 for a set of hard tyres. As Bottas had been unable to pass Norris, McLaren brought him in to protect from Bottas’ undercut on lap 21. But, a slow stop for Norris meant he lost crucial time to the Mercedes and Bottas duly pitted on lap 22 to emerge ahead of the McLaren. Sainz was running in P3 but he had not pitted. Hamilton complained on the radio of his tyres having no grip and pitted on lap 27, serving his 10-second time penaltyand emerging behind Norris. Sainz pitted on lap 28 and the Ferrari crew had a miserable pit stop as he was stationary for 12-seconds in the box. He lost positions to Hamilton and Ricciardo. Ferrari brought in race leader Leclerc last of any runners and served an error free pitstop to release him in the lead again.

Hamilton was charging through the field as he quickly caught up to Norris and passed him in the Copse corner on lap 31, same place where Verstappen and Hamilton had entangled. Next up was Bottas who was instructed to let his teammate through and dutifully he did so, playing the team game. Behind Sainz was running within a second of Ricciardo but could not find a way past the Australian. The McLaren driver making his car as wide as possible and holding off the Spaniard.

Hamilton was running in P2 with 12 laps to go and 9s behind race leader Leclerc. It seemed difficult for the Briton to achieve a record eighth home victory. Hamilton kept up the pace as on average he lapped 1s faster than his Ferrari rival. The only doubt being would he be able to keep up this pace as everyone’s tyres were suffering from blistering issues. By lap 50 Hamilton was within a second of Leclerc as he had been able to manage the tyre wear and pace. Whole Silverstone erupted in delight as Hamilton once again passed Leclerc into Copse corner where he had touched Verstappen.

Ultimately Hamilton was too quick for the Ferrari and achieved a record eighth British Grand Prix victory as he cruised on the last two laps. Another dramatic chapter concludes as title rival Verstappen failed to score points and Hamilton maximised his. With both Drivers’ and Constructor’s championship very close it is game on!

Mercedes were arguably the faster car in qualifying as shown by Hamilton’s pole position on Friday. Arguably he could have gone even faster had he not made the mistake in the final chicane. Mercedes seemed on par with Red Bull regarding race pace as Saturday’s sprint race showed that whoever had the early advantage was able to maximise their lead. The W12 was kinder to its tyres as well compared to the RB16B as seen in the sprint race. Mercedes brought a significant upgrade package with new bargeboards, side pod endplates and a new floor. All aimed at greater downforce generation to bring them closer to Red Bull’s performance and numbers show the performance has converged, similar to start of the season. Red Bull had a miserable race with Verstappen out on lap 1 and Perez scoring no points. Unlike past races they were not the dominant car but had the pace to win the race as seen in the sprint race on Saturday. Red Bull arrived with a new floor to aid their charge for the championship.

Ferrari have made great strides especially in race pace. Keeping a Mercedes behind for the first stint was a big improvement for the Italian squad. They also did not struggle for tyre wear especially on the fronts as they had in some past races, notably France. One of the major improvements they have made with SF21 is the set-up. Ferrari can optimise their set-up better compared to start of the season which has unlocked race pace. McLaren similarly showed great race and qualifying pace. Slow pitstop for Norris meant they were unable to challenge for the podium. They could have beaten Leclerc and potentially won the race if not for the slow pitstop.

Alpine had their strongest weekend in terms of race pace according to Alonso, as they achieved a double points finish. The Alpine cars were able to hold off the Aston Martin and Alpha Tauri cars. Alpine too brought minute aerodynamic upgrades to optimise their car. Aston Martin once again showed better race pace than qualifying pace. Had Vettel not spun during the start, a double points finish for the Silverstone based team could have been on the cards. AlphaTauri struggled throughout the weekend as they had mediocre qualifying pace compared to their rivals. They were unable to make it to the top 10. Due to a lower starting position, they could not make up positions in sprint race or the grand prix. Admittedly Gasly was running in points position before a late puncture forced him to pit and eventually finish outside the points. Tsunoda scored a solitary point.

Russell made it to Q3 for the second consecutive race but admitted the car outqualified its own performance as they did not have the race pace to fight for the points. Mediocre starts only added to his problem as he lost positions on both the race starts. Alfa Romeo once again had the pace to be on the fringes of top 10 but not threaten them. Raikkonen complaining on the radio about the need for upgrades to make the car faster if points are to be achieved. Haas’ Mazepin had a positive race as he beat his teammate Schumacher who struggled for tyre management at a hot British Grand Prix.

Sprint Qualifying Results were:

Note: Russell was penalised three grid places for causing a collision during sprint qualifying. Perez required to start from the pit lane, as car modified whilst under Parc Ferme conditions.