FORMULA 1

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McLaren trials new aero updates at Silverstone

McLaren has brought a series of new upgrades to Silverstone to address the MCL35's "weaknesses", testing a new front wing, floor and rear wing arrangement for the British Grand Prix.
Team principal Andreas Seidl explained that the team had "specific issues that we want addressed" with the new package, particularly with its performance in lower-speed sections.

While low-speed performance is less of a consideration at Silverstone, which contains a plethora of high-speed areas, the team has also tried to boost the overall downforce output of the car to maximise the speed at which it can attack the high-speed corners.

"Overall, if you compare our car with a Mercedes car, there's weaknesses everywhere," said Seidl.

"But of course, we have some specific topics that we want addressed with this aero update that we bring here.

"As we have seen also in Hungary compared to our competitors I still think we have some weaknesses, especially in low speed, but of course as always we simply try to add overall downforce as well to the car.

"And that's what we try to address for here with the updates we bring, which is mainly around the front wing and the floor area."

The team was spotted with an array of aero probes at the front end to understand the new pressure map behind the front tyres, and an extensive slathering of flow-vis paint was also sprayed onto Norris' car to help the team check that it correlates with the airflow characteristics seen in the factory.

For Silverstone, McLaren has bolstered its package with a new rear wing (above) to trim out some of the drag, having run in Hungary with a high-downforce specification.

The wing mainplane bends upwards towards the point at which it attaches to the endplate, a conventional approach to taking drag out of the wing.

The outboard section of a wing generally produces the least amount of downforce compared to the centre, and so trimming them is a oft-used compromise in taking drag out of the wing without stripping it of too much downforce.

In addition, the top wing plane reverts to a specification similar to that seen in Austria, where the top corners are trimmed back - once more relieving the wing of a little drag and changing the way vortices shed from the top of the endplates.

McLaren has also dropped the T-wing it used in Hungary, presumably providing surplus downforce, along with the winglets at the rear of the bodywork.

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Hamilton takes upgraded MGU-K after reliability concerns

Lewis Hamilton has taken a new MGU-K for the start of the British GP weekend as his Mercedes Formula 1 team continues to hone reliability.
All Mercedes-powered cars were originally due to take a new spec of MGU-K for next weekend's second Silverstone race, which will be the fifth round of the 2020 world championship.

The new spec has been developed specifically to address potential reliability concerns after running on track and the Brixworth dyno this year.

However, the team has decided to give Hamilton his new unit one race early, after some potential "anomalies" emerged following the Hungarian GP.

His teammate Valtteri Bottas and the cars of Racing Point and Williams will take theirs at the 70th Anniversary race.

Drivers are allowed three for the season, although deciding when to allocate them has been complicated in 2020 by the uncertainty of how many races will ultimately take place.

A team spokesman told Motorsport.com: "It's a precautionary change one race earlier than planned due to some data anomalies after Hungary. It's an updated spec of MGU-K for reliability reasons, which will be on all cars from next weekend."

Mercedes technical chief James Allison warned after the Hungarian GP that the team cannot take reliability for granted as it chases a seventh consecutive championship.

"I think anyone who had sat with us through the first weekend of the year wouldn't have entertained the idea of a Mercedes procession at that stage," he said. "They would have seen us all desperately worried about the car, and its ability to finish a single race.

"Every car on the grid has a sword of Damocles hanging over it pretty much every lap, because they are all experimental vehicles with any number of ways that they can catch you out, or actually, you disappoint yourself for not having seen it coming.

“We're only too well aware of the billion frailties that are there, even in a product that is pretty strong, like our car and driver combo that we've got this year.”

Hamilton becomes only the fifth driver to take extra PU elements during the 2020 season, following Pierre Gasly (V6, turbo, MGU-H, MGU-K, electronics), George Russell (V6, turbo, MGU-H), Kevin Magnussen (energy store, electronics), Alex Albon (electronics) and Antonio Giovinazzi (electronics).

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F1 to live stream Nurburgring race on YouTube

Formula 1 will break new ground in its broadcasting history when it streams October’s Eifel GP for free on YouTube in seven European countries – signalling a possible future direction for the sport.

The Nurburgring race will be available only in Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Norway, Sweden and Denmark. F1 says the deal includes coverage of the whole weekend, plus race previews, highlights and analysis.

F1 has been exploring new ways of distributing content under Liberty Media, and its YouTube channel has proved successful, with nearly 4m subscribers gaining access to features and highlights packages.

At the same time the F1 TV live streaming service hasn’t had the take-up that was anticipated. It is not available in some major markets, such as the UK, and fans have been frustrated by technical issues.

Although the YouTube stream is free to viewers, F1 also made it clear that there is a commercial element to the deal, as it plans to sell advertising, either by individual country or across multiple markets.

“We are thrilled to be working with YouTube on such an exciting project,” said Adam Crothers, Head of Digital Media Rights.

“As we continue to diversify our media distribution strategy and expand our digital offering, it is imperative that we engage fans who consume mediums differently and YouTube offers us the platform to achieve that.

“Partnering with YouTube also ensures we continue our pursuit of engaging new audiences in new ways to grow the F1 fanbase whilst continuing to innovate our media offering for new and existing fans.

YouTube’s head of sport for Europe, Tomos Grace, stressed that the deal would attract younger viewers.

“YouTube helps sport reach the fans of tomorrow,” he said. “70% of F1’s YouTube audience is under the age of 35. Sports broadcasters and organisers increasingly recognise YouTube’s ability to reach these new audiences and generate incremental revenue.

“F1 has always been one of the most innovative brands in sport, as dynamic in their video creation as they are on the track. F1’s decision to live stream their most premium content on YouTube is further evidence of YouTube’s role as a trusted partner to the industry.”

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British GP: Hamilton wins on three wheels after late drama

Lewis Hamilton took his third win in a row and his seventh in the British Grand Prix despite crossing the finish line on three wheels.
The Mercedes drivers had looked completely at ease for the majority of the race at Silverstone, which was disrupted twice early on after separate heavy crashes for Kevin Magnussen and Daniil Kvyat, but their fortunes were turned around sensationally with just over two laps to go.

Both Hamilton and teammate Valtteri Bottas had appeared to pick up blisters despite their commanding lead over Max Verstappen, and Bottas’s left-front tyre failed at the start of lap 50 of 52, which meant he had to tour slowly to the pits and went from second to scoring no points.

Mercedes warned Hamilton not to risk trying to get the fastest lap on the final tour, but as he ran into Luffield for the final time his own left-front gave away and he was forced to limp home and take the flag with the tyre barely still attached to his car.

Verstappen had pitted after Bottas's puncture and that meant he had a 30s gap to close to Hamilton over the second half of the final tour and although he closed in rapidly, Hamilton held to extend his record of British GP wins to seven.

At the start, Bottas had appeared to make a better getaway from P2 and drew alongside Hamilton approaching the first corner, but the world champion swept ahead into the right-hander and moved clear in the lead.

The pack jostled for position behind the Mercedes throughout the first lap, with Daniel Ricciardo putting a bold move on Lando Norris at Copse to take sixth the standout pass, but the race was suspended a few moments later.

Kevin Magnussen had moved up from his P14 grid spot but he clipped the kerb at the first apex of Club hard and lost momentum, which meant Alex Albon moved to his inside and they clashed at the second apex.

The Haas was pitched into a high-speed spin and he hit the barriers at the exit of the final corner, ripping the left-front from his car, and bouncing back into the gravel, with the safety car called into action so it could be recovered.

The race restarted on lap six of 52, with Hamilton immediately leaping clear again out front.

He pulled cleared of DRS range to Bottas over the next few laps, but just as Bottas looked to be stabilising the gap the race was neutralised again when Daniil Kvyat crashed hard into the barriers at Becketts.

The AlphaTauri driver lost control of the rear of his car as he ran through the preceding Maggots ultra-high-speed left, as a result of a possible right-rear puncture, and he then slammed into the outside wall, causing massive damage to his chassis, with debris also strewn over the track.

Once Kvyat's wreckage had been cleared, the race resumed on lap 19, Hamilton again immediately led Bottas and Verstappen clear of the midfield.

The leaders then swiftly dropped the Red Bull and set about exchanging the fastest lap over the next phase of the race, with the Mercedes drivers the only racers able to lap in the 1m30s bracket.

Verstappen continued faded but did manage to get into the 1m29s, still a chunk after the leaders had done so.

The gap between Hamilton and Bottas fluctuated by remained over a second for much of the next 20 laps after the restart, but as the race approached its final 10 laps Hamilton set a string of fastest laps to move over two seconds clear.

Verstappen grabbed the fastest lap accolade on lap 41, but by this point he was over 10s behind Hamilton, despite the tyres on both Mercedes cars looking less than ideal.

But Hamilton continued to extend his lead over Bottas beyond three seconds, and the gap steadily grew as the Mercedes drivers entered the early stages of their tyre dramas.

Bottas was just over seven seconds adrift with five laps to go, with the final tours dominated by the sensational developments for the leaders.

Charles Leclerc finished third after a lonely race well adrift of Verstappen in his Ferrari, with Daniel Ricciardo taking fourth after McLaren's Carlos Sainz suffered the same front-left tyre drama as the Mercedes cars on the penultimate lap.

Lando Norris had run ahead of Ricciardo for much of the race but lost out late-on, and he came home fifth ahead of Esteban Ocon.

Pierre Gasly battled by Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll to take what became seventh for AlphaTauri, while Albon, who was given a five-second penalty for the incident with Magnussen, recovered to eighth after completing a two-stopper.

Stroll was ninth for Racing Point, with Vettel just getting home in 10th ahead of the charging Bottas at the final corner.

Sainz ended up 13th after his late tyre woe, with Romain Grosjean 16th for Haas after a starting and controversial drive for Haas.

Grosjean did not pit under the second safety car, which boosted him up to fifth and although he faded once his strategy shook he held a high place for a long time.

But his defence against Sainz into Stowe earned him a black-and-white warning flag, and he also appeared to move late when battling Ricciardo into Brooklands.

Kimi Raikkonen brought up the rear of the field for Alfa Romeo after his suffered front wing damage shortly before the Mercedes tyre drama occurred in the final laps.

MIKA: Boring race IMHO....

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Hamilton convinced debris caused last-lap tyre failure

Lewis Hamilton is "convinced" debris was to blame for his tyre failure on the last lap of the British Grand Prix that almost cost him the race win.
Hamilton dominated proceedings at Silverstone, leading every lap of the race en route to his seventh victory on home soil, but limped across the line on three wheels after a late issue.

A tyre failure exiting Luffield caused Hamilton to slow, but he was able to hold on for victory after a pitstop two laps earlier from Max Verstappen had allowed his lead to grow to over 30 seconds.

Hamilton crossed the line just five seconds clear of Verstappen to record his third consecutive win, and joked that his "heart stopped" on the final lap.

Mercedes said it would investigate what caused the tyre failure after seeing similar problems for Hamilton's teammate, Valtteri Bottas, and McLaren's Carlos Sainz.

Asked by Motorsport.com about how he managed his tyres through the race, Hamilton said he never felt at any risk and thought there was plenty of life left in the hard compound Pirellis.

"I honestly really, really felt that I drove really well, I managed the tyres to the best of my ability," Hamilton explained.

"Valtteri was putting a lot of pressure on in the early parts of those stints, so in places where I normally manage, I had to manage less in order to keep him out of my DRS.

"He had great pace today. I knew that at some stage, he was going to degrade, because I could see he wasn't managing in areas that he should. Then you started to see the gap open up, and then I felt quite comfortable with where I was.

"I felt certain that I still had plenty of life left on the tyres."

Hamilton felt certain that debris was to blame for the tyre failure, most likely coming from the Alfa Romeo of Kimi Raikkonen.

Raikkonen had lost half of his front wing not long before Hamilton's tyre failed, leaving some debris on the circuit, while there had been earlier on-track incidents involving Kevin Magnussen, Alexander Albon and Daniil Kvyat.

"It will be quite interesting to see what they come back with, because obviously they can see the tread in terms of what caused the failure," Hamilton said.

"But I'm convinced that it probably was debris.

"There was a lot of debris on the track, there was one car ahead of me, it may have been Kimi or someone like that, that lost his wing, came off right in front of me on one of the laps.

"From the Safety Car, there was debris all the way through into Maggots and Becketts. I don't think that was cleaned up.

"The tyre was working totally fine, to the point I think I could have pushed and done some decent laps towards the end pace-wise, but fortunately I didn't.

"Moving forwards, we'll look into how we can do better. But honestly I think as you could see with my pace, my tyre management was spot on."

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Pirelli launches “360 degrees” investigation after failures

Pirelli Formula 1 boss Mario Isola says the Italian company will “analyse everything 360 degrees” after the spectacular series of tyre failures in the closing laps of the British GP.
Lewis Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas and Carlos Sainz all suffered similar-looking front-left tyre failures. Leader Hamilton’s occurred on the last lap, but the Mercedes driver managed to get his car safely home to claim victory, but Sainz and Bottas both tumbled out of the points after being forced to pit.

Isola says the cause of the failures is not yet clear, although he suggested that debris on track could have played a role. Kimi Raikkonen suffered front wing damage in the closing laps.

Drivers ran much longer stints than expected on the hard tyre, as the safety car for Daniil Kvyat’s accident led most of the field to pit on laps 12-13, with only Romain Grosjean staying out.

“We will obviously investigate what happened in the last few laps,” said Isola. “It's a bit early now to give you any conclusion. It could be high wear, because for sure tyres with 38 laps or more on this circuit are quite worn, but I'm not saying that the wear is the cause of the issue.

“It can be debris, because we had the pieces of the front wing of Kimi that were on track, but also some other debris. So that's why we want to investigate not only the tyres with a failure, but all the tyres used in the last few laps of the race, to understand if we find any other cut or any other possible indication on what happened.

“We don't want to exclude anything, we want to analyse everything 360 degrees and avoid excluding any possibility because it's a big mistake when you make these kinds of investigations. We have to consider all the possibilities.

“What we can do is to analyse the tyres from the race to understand if there is anything in the construction that was subject to excessive stress, or whatever, but this is one of the investigations.”

Isola stressed that high wear makes tyres more vulnerable: “The level of wear is quite high, this is a factor, looking at the tyre from Grosjean the first stint, it was completely worn, and I had a look at some tyres coming also from the second stint, and the level of wear is close to 100%.

“Then we have to understand If this is the cause of the failures or not. What is clear is that when you have a tyre that is completely worn the protection of the tread on the construction is less. So if there is any debris, any small piece of carbon on track, it is easier to damage the tyre, because you don't have any rubber on the tyre that is protecting the cord, and some cords are visible on the tyres. So that's why I'm saying that the level of wear is close to 100%.”

Isola conceded that with another race coming up at Silverstone next week it’s imperative that Pirelli comes up with answers. The initial research will be conducted onsite, with engineers immediately ‘bagging’ Hamilton’s tyre.

“We have the possibility to do some analysis in our laboratory here on track,” he said. “It is clear that we don't have a lot of time to carry on with the investigation, because we have another race in less than one week. So, we have to come to a conclusion as soon as possible. The target is to have something more fully by tomorrow, or Tuesday at the latest. So that is the plan.

“If there is the need to run any tests that are not possible to run here on track we will send the van quickly to Milan where we have our facilities, laboratories, indoor testing, with obviously more possibilities, more testing we can do there. But I'm confident that we can have some good indication from the laboratories that we have here on track.”

Pirelli is bringing softer compounds to next week’s race, but Isola downplayed any suggestion that the choice might have to change.

“There are a number of question marks at the moment and depending on which is the cause of the issue, we have to react appropriately,” he said.

“But the reaction can be different if we are talking about the wear, for example, it doesn't matter if we go with the same compounds we use today, or the softer compounds, each tyre has a maximum number of laps that depends on each car. Each car is different.”

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Clutch bolt failure caused Hulkenberg's DNS at Silverstone

A clutch bolt issue caused Nico Hulkenberg to miss the British GP after it prevented Racing Point from starting his engine.
The team was not able to start the German's Mercedes power unit to allow him to complete the laps to the grid, despite it having fired up successfully earlier in the day.

Investigations revealed that a clutch bolt had failed and come loose within the drivetrain.

"It looks like a bolt sheared within the clutch housing," said team boss Otmar Szafnauer.

"And that bolt got caught and therefore wouldn't allow the internal combustion engine to turn over. So where the bolt fell off, it got jammed, and we couldn't turn the engine over.

"I think it's a bit early to understand why, but it did shear off so it could be a material issue, it could be an over-torque issue, I don't know.

"I'm sure all of those bolts are torqued to a certain specification, say the torque ratio isn't set right and you over-torque it, it could shear it.

"It could be a material issue in manufacturing, but until you look into all of those things - was the bolt brittle for example, I don't know - so we'll have to understand the root cause and make sure we fix it."

Szafnauer said that the bolt was part of the package provided by Mercedes.

"It's not a Racing Point part, that's a part we get from either HPP or MGP."

Szafnauer admitted that Hulkenberg's failure to start was hugely frustrating, especially as he'd got up to speed so well after jumping into the car on Friday.

"It would have been very useful for Nico to get a race in," he said.

"Unfortunately he didn't. I think he did a great job jumping in the deep end, starting from zero really, he didn't do any winter testing, didn't understand the car at all, it's a different car than he drove before, a different powertrain.

"The team is similar to when he was here, but he still had a different engineer as his old engineer is on Lance's car, but the rest of the guys he worked closely with, so he did a remarkable job.

"It was a steep learning curve, he did great to qualify where he did and it's a shame he didn't get to race."

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Vettel: Something "doesn't stack up" over Silverstone struggles

Sebastian Vettel says something "doesn't stack up" over the struggles he faced with his Ferrari throughout the British Grand Prix.
While his teammate Charles Leclerc finished on the podium, Vettel endured a tough afternoon as he failed to make any progress up the order and came home in 10th spot.

Reflecting on his afternoon, Vettel said that he never felt comfortable in the car.

Furthermore his inability to match the pace of those around him suggested that something out of the ordinary had come in to play.

"The car was very difficult to drive," he told TV reporters after the race. "I struggled a lot to find my confidence and I don't know why, so we need to have a good look.

"But certainly you know if I struggled for so many laps in the race, and it was from the beginning to the end, then there's something that probably doesn't stack up.

"It was not a very stressful race. I just didn't have a chance. People around me were faster than me. I got overtaken. It was very difficult to manage myself to stay on track.

"Physically it was not a tough race at all because I could never attack the car. It didn't allow me to do what I like so. Now we need to have a look why and obviously we have the next weekend so we can try and do better."

Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto admitted that getting to the bottom of Vettel's struggles was the priority for the team now during the gap before next week's return to Silverstone.

"If you look at our race today, at least on Sebastian's side, it was a difficult race. On his car, we can do a lot more," Binotto told Channel 4.

"He lost some track time on Friday, which was not helping. But he was never confident with the car this weekend, so there is a lot of data to look at, to try to understand and to address it.

"So while eventually on Charles we will look at the data, and try to optimise and let's see what we can do, there is much to do on Sebastian."

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Verstappen feels "lucky and unlucky" after last-lap dramas

Red Bull Formula 1 driver Max Verstappen called himself "lucky and unlucky" after he picked up second place in the British Grand Prix.
Having run third throughout the race, Verstappen moved into second on lap 50 when Valtteri Bottas slowed with a front-tyre failure.

With no threat from behind, the Red Bull driver immediately pitted for fresh tyres so he could have a shot at the fastest lap point on the 52nd and final lap.

However, on that last lap Lewis Hamilton suffered a similar failure to Bottas, and also slowed.

The Mercedes driver managed to bring his car safely home and Verstappen crossed the line just 5.6 seconds behind.

Had he not pitted for new tyres, the Dutchman would have won the race.

Verstappen initially made his frustration clear on the radio, saying "For f**k's sake," but he quickly calmed down and recognised that it had been a good outcome, telling his team: "We did good, not bad, good points, good podium."

He then added: "We did well. Just, shit! We should be happy with second, and when you have this… Anyway, it's still good."

In the post-race interviews Verstappen repeated that he was happy with second place.

"I mean, it's lucky and unlucky, you know," he said. "They [Mercedes] were of course in the race too quick.

"And yeah, the tyres at one point they didn't look great, with like 10 laps ago, so I was already on the radio, 'Guys, you know, the right front doesn't look very pretty.'

"Then of course Valtteri got a puncture. I came on to the radio like I'm gonna back it out. Then they boxed me to go for the fastest lap.

And then of course, unfortunately Lewis got a puncture himself. But you know, I'm very happy with second. it's a very good result for us again."

Verstappen added: "It was pretty lonely. I was just trying to manage my pace, trying to look after the tyres."

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“Brutally honest” Red Bull has to give Albon better car

Red Bull Racing Formula 1 team chief engineer Paul Monaghan says that the Milton Keynes outfit has to be “brutally honest” and admit that it has to provide Alex Albon with a better balanced car.
The Thai driver has struggled to get up to speed in qualifying this year, and in an effort to address his problems veteran race engineer Simon Rennie returned to track duty with him at Silverstone this weekend.

However a heavy crash on Friday hampered Albon’s progress and he lost more time with PU issues on Saturday morning. In qualifying he had to settle for 12th, while team mate Max Verstappen took third.

Chief engineer Monaghan says Albon will be able to perform if the team can give him better equipment.

“You often find around here when it gets a little bit windy the car is gonna be a little bit tricky to drive,” he said.

“And I think it's fair to say that if you looked at Friday's pace, then it's a little bit disappointing for Alex as much as anybody to not reach Q3. Certainly he's capable and the car's capable, we've just got to actually sort it out for him to allow him to do it.

“I think it's just actually working out how to drive this place in terms of you've got sort of a low-speed corner in Sector One and a low speed corner towards the end of Sector Three, and yet the others demand quite different characteristics in the car.

“And if we could give Alex a better-balanced car, then we all know that he will then stick it straight into Q3 without any bother. So I think that the challenge lies more with us than it does with Alex, to be brutally honest with ourselves.”

Monaghan acknowledged that the lost track time hadn’t helped Albon’s progress over the weekend.

“Banging it in the wall was never going to do his confidence any good. The boys did a stunning job to get it rebuilt last night and then deal with our little hiccup this morning.

“We got him out for a couple of runs, so he got some running this morning as opposed to none before before qualifying, and the gain in terms of running for him is huge. We had a known quantity going into qualifying.”

Albon: "I don't see it as struggling"

Albon himself has hit back at suggestions he is struggling at Red Bull.

Although he is aware that his Saturday form could be better, he says his run of race results are nothing to be concerned about and that there were no worries on his side that Red Bull could look to replace him.

“Firstly, I don't see it as struggling,” said Albon, who came close to winning the season opener in Austria.

“I feel like race one we had a very strong race. Race two we finished fourth and race three we finished fifth. So if that's struggling then I'd be worrying about other things.

“I'm happy personally with the first few races, but things haven't gone our way. And to be honest, I'm not worried in the sense that I feel like it's been tough or it's going badly.

“It's just a tough qualifying and on my side I'm just focused on trying to get more comfortable with the car and extract the performance out of it.”

Albon’s priority at the moment is trying to find a consistent balance with his car over the varied corners on a track, with the RB16’s inconsistent handling putting him on the backfoot.

And with the Red Bull car having a nervous rear end, Albon says that a move towards a more understeery setup is just one way to trying to help improve his situation.

“It's obviously tricky,” he said. “I wouldn't say we put in understeer to make it safe. It's obviously we just want to be as optimal as possible with the car.

“But there's definitely places, especially with tail winds, where when you are on the edge on the rear already, it does make it more difficult when you have a tail wind or anything like that. It's the same for everyone to be honest.

"It's just trying to get the balance a bit more consistent through speed types and corner types through the lap. That's kind of where my focus is on.”

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Leclerc thrilled with British Grand Prix podium, but admits P3 finish was ‘lucky’

After Charles Leclerc called Ferrari’s performance “even worse than expected” at the first race of the season and Team Principal Mattia Binotto admitted they were having to revise the whole concept of this year's car, few would have predicted Leclerc to seal a second podium finish of the year at Silverstone.

And after the race the Monegasque admitted there was more than a touch of good fortune about his third place in Sunday's British Grand Prix.

Starting fourth, he stayed in that position until Lap 50 by keeping a gap of up to five seconds to future team mate Carlos Sainz behind, while nursing his tyres. But then calamity struck for third-placed Valtteri Bottas, whose left-front tyre gave up, forcing the Finn to pit and elevating Leclerc to third.

“Yeah, I’m very happy with P3, even though I obviously know we’ve been lucky to be in P3, but even with P4 I was very happy with how we managed the race,” a beaming Leclerc said after the race.

“It shows that we don’t want to be fighting for fourth for so long but at the moment that’s the way it is,” he continued.

“I’m very happy that we gave it everything and that we maximised what we had in hand, so in terms of strategy, tyre management, it wasn’t easy, and we managed to make it work so I’m very happy,” he added.

The F1 circus will be back in action at Silverstone again next week for the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix, though with a tyre allocation one step softer, and forecasted higher temperatures. And Leclerc is hopeful Ferrari have gathered some valuable data as they try to improve their car.

Team mate Sebastian Vettel didn't fare so well in P10

“We will still be as aggressive as the approach which was taken this weekend in terms of downforce, which makes it even harder for the race and tyre degradation," he said. "But we’ve learned a few things this weekend and I hope we can improve from there for next weekend.”

After the British Grand Prix, Leclerc has 33 points – 14 fewer than he had after four races in 2019 – but sits fifth in the championship, just as he was four races into last season.

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2020 British Grand Prix: Race Highlights

 

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2020 British Grand Prix: Post-Race Driver Reaction

 

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Ricciardo to raise Grosjean's moves in drivers' briefing

Daniel Ricciardo will raise Romain Grosjean's aggressive defensive moves during the British Grand Prix at the next Formula 1 drivers' briefing on Friday.
The stewards noted two separate incidents during Sunday's race where Grosjean appeared to move under braking while trying to defend position from Carlos Sainz and Renault driver Ricciardo.

Grosjean received a black-and-white flag for the move on Sainz, and was under investigation for his defence against Ricciardo before being given an official warning after the race.

Grosjean said after the race he had no regrets over his defensive moves, saying that while he "pushed the limit", the rules did not specify against such late blocks.

Ricciardo was ultimately able to pass Grosjean en route to a fourth place finish in the British Grand Prix, but discussed the moves with the Haas driver after the race.

"I didn't go in there with guns blazing," Ricciardo said. "Romain has been around long enough, I didn't want to go in and educate him, he should know by now what he's doing.

"It's not only me that is in danger with a late-move and a reaction, but maybe I break my front wing, but likely that you get a puncture, so it's really for both of us in that scenario.

"If you time it and just move a little earlier, then I probably go the outside, you probably actually have a better chance of defence as well. It's all stuff he knew.

"When he saw the video, he realised that it was a little bit late. I didn't feel the need to go back and forth. The stewards were quite good about it."

Ricciardo said he would move to bring the incident up in the next drivers' briefing to canvas opinion from the rest of the field over moves under braking.

"We'll probably bring it up in the next drivers' meeting next week, just to get the other views," Ricciardo said. "But I'm sure everyone is on board, it was just a little too late.

"Back in 2016, Max [Verstappen] was doing it a few times under braking and we addressed it, and I felt like we had moved on from that. Behaviour has been pretty good from memory, for the most part, the last few years.

"I gave Romain my opinion of it, and tried to give him a pretty diplomatic answer. If we bring it up in drivers' briefing on Friday, open a conversation again, he'll realise it a bit more.

"I'm sure if all the drivers see it, they'll say yeah, it was a bit on the edge.The main thing is it's an unnecessary risk for all of us, even for him, he risked getting a puncture or something.

"It's for all of us, and the longevity of our race."

MIKA: The irony in that Grosjean is in the GPDA!

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F1's penalty system "not working right" - Steiner

Haas boss Gunther Steiner says F1's penalty system "is not working right" after Alex Albon received a five-second sanction for his collision with Kevin Magnussen in the British GP.
The incident saw Magnussen retire with a badly damaged car, and Steiner contrasted Albon's penalty with the 10 seconds added to the race times of the two Haas drivers in Hungary.

Magnussen and Romain Grosjean both pitted for dry tyres before the start in Budapest, following a discussion with their engineers.

However, after the race both received penalties having fallen foul of a 2017 technical directive that was designed to stop pre-race radio chatter on the formation lap about clutch bite points and any other form of 'coaching' from the pit wall.

"The penalty system is not working right," said Steiner. "In Hungary, we came into the pits before the race and penalised ourselves, because we decided to start from pitlane, and we get 10 seconds.

"Here we get taken out on the first lap. Obviously it was his [Albon's] fault, because he got a penalty, but it was five seconds, and we were out of the race.

"In Hungary, we didn't damage anybody, and we didn't get an advantage really because we penalised ourselves by starting from pitlane.

"We talked with the drivers, in the circumstances, it's very unclear in the regulations. It's from 2017, I think we need to look into getting that a little more closed up, the punishment doesn't fit the crime all the time.

"It seems always that I complain about it, but I think there are situations where we are just more exposed to these things."

Steiner noted that Budapest penalties were particularly frustrating as the team was given no warning by the FIA during the race.

"Obviously we are speaking with them about it, because I think it was not in the interest of F1 to give a penalty like this, that's the biggest point we have got," he said.

"We were not advised during the race that there could be an investigation, that's what normally happens – if it comes up, 'investigate', you can plan for it. But it was done one and a half hours afterwards.

"So there were a few miss-steps that led to that penalty. At some stage the FIA will clarify this, hopefully, because how I see it there is not a rule in place.

"There is a TD from 2017, which clarifies something you cannot do, giving advice to a driver for the clutch and things like this, but changing tyres isn't in there.

"It's quite a grey area, and in my opinion if it is grey, the first time you shouldn't get a penalty, you should get a reprimand, and then [they should say] we clarify this rule and at the next race you've got a rule, and not a TD.

"It's an ambiguous decision that was taken, and we are waiting for clarification from the FIA."

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F1 reveals format for two-day Imola grand prix

Formula 1 has announced that teams will only have one 90-minute practice to prepare for the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix at Imola as part of the event's condensed timetable.
Imola is returning to the F1 calendar after a 14-year absence as one of four circuits – as well as Mugello, the Nurburgring and the Algarve – so far to get deals to host a race as part of F1's push to reorganise its 2020 calendar following the coronavirus pandemic disruption.

When the Italian track's place on the new schedule was announced last month, it revealed that F1 had decided to give the teams an extra day for travel to complete the approximate 1500-mile distance from the Algarve track, which will host the returning Portuguese GP the weekend before Imola's race on 1 November.

The format for the Emilia-Romagna GP will be a single 90-minute practice session, starting at 10am local time, on Saturday 31 October, followed by the usual qualifying session two-and-a-half hours later at 2pm.

The race will begin at 1.10pm local time, which is two hours earlier than normal for continental European events, which in normal seasons F1 would not be visiting so late in the year.

The topic of Imola's unique condensed schedule was discussed at last weekend's British GP at Silverstone, which is hosting two races in 2020 as part of F1's attempts to organise as many races as possible.

McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl had hoped that additional practice would be allocated on the first day of track action at the event.

"Imola, [being a] two-day event, it's obviously a new challenge for all of us, I think they're still discussions ongoing about the detail of the format," said Seidl, who was speaking after qualifying last weekend.

"I guess mostly likely we will simply end up having more practice time on Saturday morning because I think we should still have these two highlights with the qualifying on Saturday and then the other highlight on Sunday with the race.

"But of course the condensed programme is an additional challenge but it's the same challenge for all and we're actually looking forward to that challenge to see how we can cope with it best."

It remains unclear what the rest of the Imola timetable will contain as the Formula 2 support series has only been confirmed as racing until the Russian GP in September and Formula 3's rearranged calendar so far ends with the Mugello race on 11-13 September.

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What is the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix? F1’s second Silverstone race explained

Formula 1 will return to Silverstone on August 7-9 for the fifth round of the coronavirus-disrupted 2020 season. Here’s all you need to know about the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix.
Following the British Grand Prix last weekend, F1 is making a second stop at the famous Silverstone Circuit this weekend for the 70th Anniversary GP. The two Silverstone races form part of a triple header - the second of the season - along with the Spanish Grand Prix on August 14-16.

Why is Formula 1 racing at Silverstone again?
Due to COVID-19 playing havoc with the schedule and severely limiting the teams’ ability to travel around the world, F1 has been forced to run as many races as possible in Europe in 2020.

One idea that gained approval of the stakeholders was circuits hosting multiple rounds on back-to-back weekends, limiting costs and reducing exposure to the virus. 

As such, F1 started its season with two consecutive races at the Red Bull Ring in Austria, while a similar double header is now taking place in the UK.

Why is it called the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix?
2020 marks the 70th anniversary of Formula 1’s first championship season in 1950. The seven-round campaign, won by Alfa Romeo’s Guiseppe Farina, began at the Silverstone circuit on May 13 and concluded at Monza in Italy on September 3.

Hence, as part of F1’s 2020 celebrations, the second race at Silverstone has been appropriately christened as the 70th Anniversary GP.

Is this the last time F1 will be racing at the same track twice?
Yes and no. The initial eight-round calendar issued by F1 included only two double headers at the same venue - Red Bull Ring and Silverstone. Since then, F1 has added Mugello, Nurburgring, Sochi Imola and Portimao to the schedule, but all these European circuits will host only a single round each.

However, there remains a possibility that Bahrain could hold two rounds in November/December as part of F1’s plans to end the season in the Middle East. This would depend on whether or not F1 will be able to add more races in Asia other than Bahrain and Abu Dhabi, which have not officially been confirmed but are likely to be announced in coming months.

Should Bahrain get the approval to host two races, the second of the two events could take place at the shorter but 3.5343km oval circuit that uses parts of the original circuit layout.

Will F1 be doing anything differently to the British Grand Prix?
No, the 70th Anniversary GP will run to the same format as the British Grand Prix, with Sunday’s race taking place over 52 laps of the 5.891km Silverstone circuit.

However, Pirelli is bringing softer tyres from its range for this race. The Italian manufacturer will make the C2, C3 and C4 compounds available to the teams, having brought a batch of C1, C2 and C3 tyres for the British GP.

This could add another element to the race, as several drivers - including Mercedes pair Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas - suffered late punctures in the first Silverstone race.

Has Silverstone been on the F1 calendar for 70 years?
The British Grand Prix has been held every single year since the F1 championship began in 1950. While Silverstone has been the home of the British GP for the majority of its history, both Brands Hatch and Aintree have hosted the race in the past.

As such, Silverstone has been on the F1 calendar for only 54 seasons, counting last weekend’s British GP.

From 1987, Silverstone has been the sole host of the British Grand Prix, although Donington Park in the UK has also hosted an F1 race in 1993 under the European Grand Prix banner.

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Pirelli says ‘biggest forces ever seen’ contributed to British GP failures

Formula 1 tyre supplier Pirelli has revealed its findings into the failures that affected three drivers during the closing laps of the British Grand Prix.

Mercedes duo Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas, along with McLaren driver Carlos Sainz Jr., suffered front-left failures in the final minutes of the race at Silverstone.

Hamilton hung on to secure victory, completing half of the final lap on three operational tyres, but Bottas – who had been second – and Sainz Jr. – previously fifth – dropped out of the points.

All three, along with the majority of the field, had fitted Hard tyres on lap 13 of 52, following Daniil Kvyat’s high-speed off at Maggots, which led to the deployment of the Safety Car.

Red Bull revealed after the race that Max Verstappen’s discarded Hard tyre also had cuts while Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel believed his rubber was similarly affected.

Pirelli carried out an investigation after the race and believes the length of stint teams attempted on the tyres, allied to the stress loads applied at the high-speed Silverstone circuit, resulted in the failures.

“Pirelli has concluded its initial analysis on a number of tyres that were run at the British Grand Prix last weekend,” read a statement issued on Tuesday.

“This allowed to identify the cause of the failures followed by deflations that affected both Mercedes and the McLaren of Carlos Sainz.

“The key reason is down to a set of individual race circumstances that led to an extremely long use of the second set of tyres.

“The second Safety Car period prompted nearly all the teams to anticipate their planned pit stop and so carry out a particularly long final stint: around 40 laps, which is more than three-quarters the total race length on one of the most demanding tracks of the calendar.

“Combined with the notably increased pace of the 2020 Formula 1 cars (pole position was 1.2 seconds faster compared to 2019*) this made the final laps of the British Grand Prix especially tough, as a consequence of the biggest forces ever seen on tyres generated by the fastest Formula 1 cars in history.

“The overall result was the most challenging operating conditions for tyres.

“These led to the front-left tyre (which is well-known for working hardest at Silverstone) being placed under maximum stress after a very high number of laps, with the resulting high wear meaning that it was less protected from the extreme forces in play.”

Pirelli confirmed that it will still bring the C2, C3 and C4 compounds to this weekend’s 70th Anniversary Grand Prix at Silverstone, going one step softer than the British Grand Prix choices.

It is nonetheless set to increase the permitted minimum tyre pressures in order to reduce the stress load on the construction.

It did not comment on the failure that prompted Kvyat’s accident.

MIKA: This information, cited by Pirelli, is inaccurate; pole position in 2020 was 0.790s faster compared to 2019.

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Racing Point still seeking clarification on Perez return

Racing Point says it is awaiting clarification on whether Sergio Perez will be able to return to Formula 1 action at this weekend’s 70th Anniversary Grand Prix.

Perez was not permitted entry to the British Grand Prix paddock on Thursday after returning an inconclusive Covid-19 test, and a second test confirmed that he had picked up the virus.

He is currently self-isolating in an apartment, while his PA and trainer – who returned negative tests – are also quarantining as a precaution.

Last Thursday the UK government changed its regulations regarding self-isolating after returning a positive result, increasing the period of time from seven to 10 days.

Perez’s initial inconclusive test was carried out on Wednesday – when the quarantine period was seven days – and thus in theory he could be cleared to return for the second Silverstone event this weekend, so long as he also returns two negative tests.

“The little bit of confusion is because it was on that cusp and the inconclusive test was only inconclusive by FIA standards,” said Racing Point boss Otmar Szafnauer.

“By National Health England standards, that inconclusive test would have been a positive.

“Yyou can look at it and say it’s the National Health England standards and he was positive on Wednesday already, and on Wednesday you had to quarantine for seven days, and it may not be the 10 days that came in the following day may or may not be retroactive, that’s the bit I don’t know.

“We will ask that question of National Health England and whatever they say, that’s what we’ll do, we’ll comply with whatever they deem is right in this situation but the ambiguity comes in because it was just on that transition point.”

Racing Point has Nico Hulkenberg on standby to partner Lance Stroll again if Perez is ruled out.

“We just need to have clear guidance and once we get that, we’ll do what’s right,” said Szafnauer.

“Not to mention if Checo still has virus in his system, we don’t want him in the paddock either.

“We’ve got to protect our team and everyone else in the sport and that’s exactly what we’ll do.

“So even if National Health England say it’s seven days and he can come in on Thursday or Friday, we still will test him for virus in his system and he’s got to have none.”

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Berger would advise Vettel to retire but understands Racing Point interest

Gerhard Berger says he understands why Sebastian Vettel would be interested in joining Racing Point for 2021, but if he were asked for his opinion, he would advise the Ferrari driver to retire.

Vettel will exit Ferrari at the end of the season and some believe he has already mentally done so given his recent performances, but it’s expected he will line up alongside Lance Stroll at Aston Martin Racing – currently known as Racing Point – replacing Sergio Perez.

A deal is rumoured to be done, but nothing can be announced until Racing Point and Perez agree a way forward, given the Mexican has a valid contract for next year.

But Berger thinks Vettel would be wise to retire from the sport given what he has achieved, but reckons the true racer spirit within is pushing the German to hang on to Formula 1.

“Sebastian is a four times world champion and has survived everything with good health,” Berger told German publication Sportbuzzer. “My advice would be to retire.”

Berger was co-owner of the Toro Rosso outfit in 2007 when Sebastian Vettel joined the grid. He spent one and a half seasons with the junior team before he was promoted to Red Bull.

Berger therefore knows Vettel well and understands the passion he has for motorsport, and says he wouldn’t be surprised by a switch to Racing Point.

“I know Sebastian very well. He is a thoroughbred racer, he wants to win races again. Racing Point is best suited for this at the moment. 

“They have a car that Perez or Stroll can take to the podium. I would say that a calibre of driver like Sebastian is clearly worthy of the podium and can maybe beat Mercedes or at least play a role up there. 

“It’s a much better situation than he finds himself in at Ferrari. So that’s a realistic alternative – and I would have total understanding if he took this step.”

Speaking of Ferrari, Berger believes they have a difficult road ahead of them to try and claw back the performance they have lost over the winter.

It will take some time before this performance disadvantage can be levelled out. Ferrari lost a second, that’s 50-60hp. Before that, however, they weren’t ahead of Mercedes in terms of performance. So you are looking for 70-80hp [to beat Mercedes]…at the level, it’s an incredibly hard job. It’s will be a year or two of work.”

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Di Resta on standby for McLaren in Silverstone

Paul di Resta will be on standby at McLaren for this weekend’s 70th Anniversary Grand Prix at Silverstone after undergoing a seat fitting for the team on Wednesday.
McLaren has an agreement with Mercedes to share its reserves - Stoffel Vandoorne and Esteban Gutierrez - should regular drivers Carlos Sainz or Lando Norris be ruled out of the race weekend.

But with Vandoorne in Berlin for the Formula E season finale and Gutierrez ineligible to race, McLaren has announced that ex-Force India driver di Resta will be its nominated reserve for this weekend. 

“As we have previously confirmed, we have an arrangement with Mercedes to use their reserve drivers in the event either Carlos or Lando are unable to race,” a statement from McLaren reads.

“With Stoffel Vandoorne unavailable due to his Formula E commitments and Esteban Gutierrez currently not eligible for a superlicence, Paul di Resta will be our standby driver this weekend.

"Paul carried out a seat fit at the MTC this morning in compliance with the FIA COVID-19 protocols but will not be in close contact with the McLaren race team unless needed.

“Paul will continue his duties with Sky Sports F1 this weekend as planned.”

Di Resta spent three seasons racing in F1 with Force India between 2011 and 2013, but made a surprise appearance at the 2017 Hungarian Grand Prix for Williams after Felipe Massa came down ill on Saturday morning.

The 34-year-old raced in DTM after losing his full-time F1 drive before moving into sports car racing, and is currently part of United Autosports’ LMP2 line-up in the FIA World Endurance Championship.

It emerged on Sunday that Gutierrez was ineligible to race in F1 after Racing Point was forced to call on Nico Hulkenberg to replace Sergio Perez following his positive test for COVID-19.

Racing Point has a similar agreement in place with Mercedes, and was considering Gutierrez for the drive in parallel with Hulkenberg.

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff confirmed on Sunday that Gutierrez must complete 300 km of running in order to earn his race licence as he has not raced in F1 for the past three seasons, under an updated rule for 2020.

Di Resta fulfils this criteria by virtue of his one-off appearance for Williams, where he retired from the race.

MIKA: Neither driver are suitable IMHO. Paul and Estaban are average at best.

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Silverstone installs new kerb to help avoid tyre damage

Silverstone has installed a new kerb ahead of the Formula 1 70th Anniversary Grand Prix at the exit of Becketts after fears over damage being caused to tyres.
Throughout the British Grand Prix weekend, drivers were seen running close to the edge of the track while exiting Becketts and going into Chapel corner, with many dipping a wheel into the grass.

The drivers would then go from the grass onto the kerb at Chapel, putting added forces on the tyres before going onto the Hangar Straight.

The closing stages of the Silverstone race saw three drivers suffer tyre failures, including race winner Lewis Hamilton, while others reported heavily-cut tyres after late pit stops.

Following the race, the FIA requested the installation of a new kerb at the exit of Becketts ahead of this weekend’s second event at Silverstone.

“To help the drivers adhere to track limits this weekend, at the request of the FIA, a 23 metre section of kerb with taper has been installed at the exit of turn 13 ahead of this weekend’s 70th Anniversary Grand Prix,” a Silverstone spokeswoman confirmed.

A number of drivers also reported cuts in their tyres following Friday’s practice running, which Pirelli F1 boss Mario Isola said could have been caused by debris getting caught at the Chapel kerb.

“Probably some of the cuts we found on Friday were caused by the fact that some debris was trapped in the kerb, causing some cuts in the tyres,” Isola said.

“They are working around that and it's a good action, it's a good idea to have this small modification that is helping this situation.”

Renault driver Esteban Ocon said the lack of a kerb exiting Becketts meant it was easier to run wide and dip a wheel onto the grass. “We have seen a lot of cuts and stuff that we don’t normally see in practice. It is true Silverstone is probably the toughest circuit for tyres with the high speed and the kerbs,” Ocon said.

“There is a new thing as well out of Turn 13, there is now no kerb anymore which there was before, so now you run in the dirt and then you go on to the kerb and that could also damage the tyres.

“I don’t know if it came from the carbon debris or just the track being very hard with the tyres or the new cars running wider than I was used to in 2018.

“But we’ve seen more damage and more cut to the tyres than we have ever seen.”

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Alfa Romeo hands Kubica Silverstone FP1 outing

Alfa Romeo reserve driver Robert Kubica is set to make his third grand prix outing of the 2020 campaign at this weekend’s 70th Anniversary event at Silverstone.

Kubica joined Alfa Romeo as its reserve driver this year, after spending 2019 in a race seat at Williams, and got behind the wheel of its C39 in pre-season testing, Styria and Hungary.

Kubica made his DTM debut at Spa-Francorchamps last weekend, finishing 14th in both races, in a BMW entered by ART Grand Prix, the squad run by Alfa Romeo’s Team Principal Frederic Vasseur.

Antonio Giovinazzi will step aside for the opening 90-minute practice session.

“I am happy to get back behind the wheel in this busy early part of the season,” said Kubica.

“Driving an F1 car is always special, but even more so in a place like Silverstone.

“The track has so much history and it’s one that tests both driver and machine: it’s one of the great venues of motorsport and driving around here, even without the fans, gives you such a buzz.

“My main focus, however, remains towards helping the team develop the car.”

Alfa Romeo holds eighth position in the Constructors’ Championship courtesy of the two points collected by Giovinazzi in Austria.

Its C39 has been the slowest car in all four qualifying sessions held so far in 2020.

MIKA: Zzzzzzz..... 

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‘We were just falling back with no explanation why’ – Stroll baffled by Racing Point's poor Silverstone pace

Racing Point have been one of the teams to keep an eye on this season but Lance Stroll’s race pace in the British Grand Prix was surprisingly poor - and the Canadian wants answers ahead of the next round.

Stroll was quickest in second practice and managed to reach Q3 on the medium tyre to ensure he started the race on that compound, such was the performance of the Racing Point at Silverstone. But once the race started he struggled in traffic with the likes of Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo before fading in the closing laps to finish ninth, a result that would have seen him fail to score at all but for the late tyre issues for Valtteri Bottas and Carlos Sainz.

“It was quite disappointing, I’m not sure, we have to look into it,” Stroll said. “It’s quite strange. The beginning of the race I felt like we were pretty competitive but we were just falling back throughout the race and no explanation why. We have to look into why that was. It’s not like the balance was too bad, we just weren’t nearly as quick as the others so we need to look into it.”

Given how strong Racing Point have been so far this season, a return of two points from the opening round at Silverstone is a major disappointment, but while Nico Hulkenberg’s DNS was an obvious frustration, Team Principal Otmar Szafnauer believes Stroll was unfortunate from a strategic point of view.

“it was much more promising on Friday and we've got to retrospectively now look at the race, what we could have done differently,” Szafnauer said. “The nice thing is, we've got another one coming up soon and w'll make those changes because I think the pace is there, we just have to learn, adjust and do better next time.

“I thought Lance did a great job making it into Q3 with the option tyre where we should have had an advantage and that advantage should have come in when the qualifying tyre runners pitted or as the qualifying tyre degraded more, that would have been in future laps to come and we would have had an advantage.

“But that never happened with the Safety Car. The Safety Car comes out, we dump the option tyre [medium] which should have been a better tyre in the laps to come, that advantage is gone and now we're all on the same prime [hard] tyre.

“And Lance if you remember, lost out at the start because the option tyre is better at the start, you just get better grip. So we do a good job to get into Q3 on the option, we lose out at the start and then we can never regain that because of the Safety Car. And that kind of stuff you can never predict.”

Despite their speed and promise this season, Racing Point sit fifth in the constructors' standings, behind Mercedes, Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari.

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Verstappen ends Mercedes’ dominance with superb 70th Anniversary GP victory

Max Verstappen claimed a brilliant win in Formula 1’s 70th Anniversary Grand Prix at Silverstone, bringing an end to the dominance of Mercedes which had claimed victory in the opening four races of the 2020 season.

Verstappen started fourth and quickly overhauled Racing Point’s Nico Hulkenberg on the opening lap as polesitter Valtteri Bottas fended off an early challenge from team-mate Lewis Hamilton.

What quickly became apparent was that the race would be a game of tyre management as those around Verstappen who started on the mediums quickly found them blistering, forcing them to make early stops.

Bottas came in on Lap 14 to switch to the hard tyre, swiftly followed by Hamilton, whilst Verstappen was able to run a far longer stint having started on the hard. He would take the lead and only relinquish it briefly to Bottas when he stopped on Lap 33, but dived down the inside at Brooklands to reclaim the position, where he would remain until the checkered flag.

Hamilton’s Late Charge

Bottas looked as though he’d be the top Mercedes on Sunday as Hamilton complained of severe blistering, with his pace reflecting his comments.

But a longer second stint on the hard tyre compared to his team-mate – Bottas stopped again on Lap 33 whilst Hamilton went to Lap 42 – helped the Briton’s strategy come into play and the fresher tyres led to Hamilton charging down Bottas in the closing laps to steal second.

Verstappen though remained out of reach and finished 11 seconds down the road to claim his and Red Bull’s first win of the season.

Over to the Midfield

Charles Leclerc claimed ‘best of the rest’ yet again as he dragged his Ferrari SF1000 to fourth place in a race of one as he finished ten seconds behind Bottas and ten seconds ahead of Alexander Albon, in what was another mixed day for Ferrari again as Sebastian Vettel’s misery continued.

Vettel span on the opening lap as he simply lost the rear under acceleration and although he recovered some positions after falling to the back, he could only muster P12 in what was a poor showing for the four-time World Champion.

Albon enjoyed one of his strongest performances to finish fifth, beating both Racing Point cars, although a late stop for Nico Hulkenberg cost him a better position as he had been running a strong fourth for much of the race – Racing Point later confirmed a vibration forced the late stop and believed he would have retired without it.

Renault’s Esteban Ocon just pipped McLaren’s Lando Norris to eighth, with AlphaTauri’s Daniil Kvyat completing the top ten.