Silverstone is a high speed track with the drivers at full throttle for over 70% of a lap. This means that the chances of a high speed crash become much more likely.

We were set for some amazing racing during the first few corners of the first lap, with Verstappen and Hamilton fighting to try and lead the race. However, when they pair got to Copse corner, Hamilton’s left front tyre clipped Verstappen’s right rear tyre which sent the Red Bull crashing into the barrier. It was a 51 G impact and it caused a Red Flag before the first lap had even started. Thankfully Verstappen was winded but otherwise fine.

There are a lot of opinions on the crash, but my personal opinion is that it was a racing incident with both drivers playing a part in the crash. Now I do blame Hamilton a little bit more than I do Verstappen, just because it was not the corner to make that move. In the end though both drivers were never going to back down, and didn’t leave each other enough room.

Charles Leclerc greatly benefited from the crash as he was able to slip past Hamilton and take the lead of the race before the red flag came out. He drove a spectacular race and lead 49 of the 51 laps. Unfortunately, Hamilton eventually overtook him in the same corner as the Verstappen crash. It has to be said though that Ferrari had some serious pace this week.

It was great weekend for McLaren who managed to finish the race in fourth and fifth. It seems that Daniel Ricciardo has found a little bit more confidence in his McLaren, but it has been a difficult season. It seems he takes two steps forward and then one step back. I am hoping to see a little bit more consistency from the Aussie. On the other hand, Lando Norris was looking set to take third place, but he had a six second pitstop that saw him come out just behind Bottas, and he couldn’t take the place back.

The second retirement of the race was Sebastian Vettel. He spun early on in the race, dropping him far down the order. Then, on lap 41 he retired the car and ended his race.

Fernando Alonso had a fantastic race weekend. He qualified in P11 but drove a very good sprint qualifying to finish in seventh, the place he would start and finish the race with. Esteban Ocon, also landed a top ten finish for the race, giving Alpine a good few points.

Hamilton brought home the win at his home circuit. He was joined on the podium by Charles Leclerc and Valtteri Bottas . In fourth place was Lando Norris, followed by Daniel Ricciardo in fifth, Carlos Sainz in sixth, Fernando Alonso in seventh, Lance Stroll in eighth, Esteban Ocon in ninth and Yuki Tsunoda rounding out the points finishers.

This was the first race weekend with the sprint qualifying format, and I was a big fan. I liked having something racey to watch on all three days. It definitely made it feel more like a big event. Our next stop is the Hungaroring, where hopefully the intense Championship battles continue.