HAMILTON WINS THE F1 BRITISH GP AMID TYRE DRAMA
Lewis Hamilton claimed a dramatic 7th British GP win while nursing a front-left tyre failure on the last lap of round 4 of the 2020 Formula 1 Grand Prix.
The big discussion after a dramatic few final laps of the 2020 British GP was around the state of the Pirelli tyres after a series of failures at the end of the race.
It was Mercedes in P1 and P2 at the start of this highly anticipated Grand Prix at Silverstone, and it looked as though that's how it would end too. The Silver Arrows were cruising to the chequered flag as Lewis Hamilton led Valtteri Bottas for 50 of the 52 laps of the circuit. But as the laps ticked along, tyre wear was apparent, with both drivers easing off the gas to preserve the rubber.
Unfortunately, it was not enough and, at turn 3 on lap 50, Bottas suffered a flat on his front-left. He managed to get his car around the remaining three-quarters of the 5.891km circuit and into the pits. By the time he rejoined, he had dropped far down the order, eventually ending 11th and out of the points.
As the Bottas action was unfolding, 3rd placed Max Verstappen who had pitted a couple of laps earlier was pushing for fastest lap on new rubber. Halfway through the final lap, Hamilton suffered the same fate as his teammate. He wrestled his Silver Arrow as fast as he could as Verstappen charged through the circuit, managing to hold on for victory just five seconds ahead of the Red Bull.
Carlos Sainz suffered the same fate in his McLaren too, when his front-left tyre also gave way, tumbling the Spaniard from fourth to 13th. This allowed the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc to cross the line in the final podium position.
The drama of the final laps came after a relatively calm middle section of the race. We saw a few decent passing manoeuvres in the middle of the pack, although Daniil Kvyat suffered a tremendous crash at the entry to Maggots corner, slamming into the barriers at high speed.
This would be the second safety car for the race after one was deployed when Kevin Magnussen'ss Haas came into contact with the Red Bull of Alex Albon, sending the Dane into the gravel and out of the race on lap 1.
Albon, who was forced to pit after the restart due to vibrations in his wheel from the shunt, found himself serving a five-second penalty for the incident. He rejoined the track at the back of the pack but fought hard with a determined drive to finish 8th.
A twist in the tale of Nico Hulkenberg's return saw the German unable to start due to a technical issue on the Racing Point Mercedes. He was called upon late on Thursday afternoon after Sergio Perez was confirmed to have contracted Covid-19, and qualified 13th after an eight-month break from the driver's seat.
These results see Hamilton extend his lead over his teammate in the Drivers Standing by 30 points, with Max Verstappen just six points adrift in third place. Team Mercedes are also significantly out in front of the Constructors Championship, even without Bottas claiming points over the weekend, with Red Bull and McLaren in 2nd and 3rd.
Check out all the hightlights from the 2020 British GP here, and tune in for the next installment of the Silverstone double-header in a weeks time.
2020 British Formula 1 GP results
1 Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 21:28:01.283
2 Max Verstappen | Red Bull | +5.856s
3 Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | +18.474s
4 Daniel Ricciardo | Renault | +19.650s
5 Lando Norris | McLaren | +22.277s
6 Esteban Ocon | Renault | +26.937s
7 Pierre Gasly | Alphatauri | +31.188s
8 Alexander Albon | Red Bull | +32.670s
9 Lance Stroll | Racing Point | +37.311s
10 Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | +41.857s
11 Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | +42.167s
12 George Russell | Williams | +52.004s
13 Carlos Sainz | McLaren | +53.370s
14 Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo | +54.205s
15 Nicholas Latifi | Williams | +54.549s
16 Romain Grosjean | Haas | +55.050s
17 Kimi Räikkönen | Alfa Romeo | +1 lap
18 Daniil Kvyat | Alphatauri | DNF
19 Kevin Magnussen | Haas | DNF
20 Nico Hulkenberg | Racing Point | DNS