Silverstone is always an exciting track, and this year’s British Grand Prix lived up to that high expectation.
Lap one of the race was a stark reminder of the dangers of this sport. A big crash involving several cars really helped to highlight what these drivers can go through for our entertainment. It was just after lights out before the first corner when Pierre Gasly got squeezed between George Russell and Zhou Guanyu. Gasly taped Russell’s left rear tyre which sent him straight into Guanyu. It hit at just the wrong angle and sent Guanyu sliding upside down towards the barriers. His Alfa Romeo caught air when it hit the tyre barriers and went straight into the catch fencing. It took some time to extract Guanyu from the car as he was lodged in between the two barriers. However, he was eventually removed and taken by ambulance to the medical center and was eventually cleared.
At the same time, further down the order, an accident involving Sebastian Vettel, Esteban Ocon, Yuki Tsunoda and Alex Albon was also taking place. Albon was breaking to avoid hitting Valtteri Bottas, which caused Vettel to fly into the back of Albon. Albon veered to the right and crashed into the barrier before spinning across the track. While he was spinning across the track he tagged the tyres of Ocon and Tsunoda. This accident saw Albon also taken to the medical center and then to the hospital for precautionary checks but was also eventually cleared.
Guanyu, Russell, Albon, Ocon, and Gasly would all end their race with a DNF due to issues from these or other minor crashes. Valtteri Bottas would also later retire due to technical issues. In total the race only finished with 14 drivers.
For one half of the Ferrari garage it was an exceptional weekend with Carlos Sainz taking his first pole position and his first win in his 150th race. He raced hard an managed to stay ahead of all the chaos behind him. However, Charles Leclerc felt a little bit left out after being put onto different tyres while Sainz stayed out on the track. Some people say Ferrari cost themselves a 1-2 and that they should be thinking about the championship, however, I am not one of those people. I am extremely happy for Carlos and think it was incredibly well deserved.
Red Bull also had a similar weekend. Sergio Perez shone for the team coming home to finish second and claiming Driver of the Day. However, Max Verstappen picked up some floor damage from debris on the track and lost some serious pace because of it. He ended up finishing the race in seventh.
It was a good weekend for Haas with both drivers finishing in the points. It was also Mick Schumacher’s first points in his formula one career. I am glad to see haas scoring some points, and especially Mick, as I would really like to see them both do well.
It was all smiles up on the podium for Carlos Sainz as he hoisted the trophy for his maiden victory. It was Sergio Perez who finished second followed by Lewis Hamilton who has managed to finish on the podium every time he visits this track. Charles Leclerc finished fourth followed by Fernando Alonso in fifth, Lando Norris in sixth, Verstappen in seventh, Mick Schumacher in eighth, Vettel in ninth, and Kevin Magnussen rounding out the points.
This coming weekend we are back at the Red Bull Ring for another round of the sprint race. Extra laps around the high speed track pave the way for what will hopefully be another entertaining weekend.
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