What a race! Lets dive right in!!!

Qualifying

What an intense qualifying session. A top 3 British showing was exactly what I wanted to see on the weekend of Silverstone.

RUS put it an absolutely cracking lap however his set up was tuned more toward the dry and high speeds on the straight rather than the downforce for high speed corners and changing track conditions. This would hurt him in the race.

Well chuffed with triple Brits though!

Race

RUS keeps 1st position off the line. HAM kept second securing the Mercedes lock out at the front. Into turn 4 VER steals 3rd off NOR. PIA then was applying pressure to NOR. It is shame NOR lost this position. He went off trying to take 2nd place and it cost him.

Further down the grid ALB made contact with ALO and nearly his teammate SAR. At the end of lap Mercedes maintained their lead with VER hunting HAM and the McLarens ready to pounce. Unfortunately for Alpine, on lap 3 GAS retired with engine problems this ended his streak of recent good performances.

Stint 1

In stint 1 the top 5 started to close up again with NOR pushing against VER. Once they got to lap 15 NOR had close the gap to 3 tenths ready to take back 3rd position. He used DRS on the hangar straight into Stow to finish the overtake. There was no shenanigans this time. VER was helpless against the McLaren at this point however there was more to come with these two.

This marked the beginning of the intermittent weather, as there was a quick 5 minute spell which seemed to only impact sector 3. On lap 17 PIA also managed to overtake the Redbull of VER. The McLaren had far better grip at this point and could keep tyre temperature in the cooling conditions.

On lap 18 RUS began to feel the pressure of HAM. Not a driver you want to see in your mirrors. HAM’s set up for more downforce came into play here, as the cooling condition and the damp track were not working well for RUS. On the Hangar straight into Stow yet again another overtake (FYI: A lot of overtakes here). HAM becomes new race leader.

On the next lap both Mercedes go off significantly damaging their +2 second lead on NOR. RUS quickly then loses 2nd to NOR into Corner 4 on Lap 19. RUS counter attack was then hindered by the DRS being Disabled due to wet conditions.

On lap 20 NOR manages to take 1st position off HAM on the Hamilton straight, and in quick succession RUS loses 3rd to PIA. HAM was instantly under pressure from PIA. Again, Hangar into Stow sees HAM lose 2nd to PIA. The McLarens grip in this first stint was far superior. I think Mercedes duo probably spent quite a bit of their tyres early on trying to pull away which left them a bit more vulnerable.

Stint 2

At this point of the race, some cars were pitting for inters however a lot of the communication from the drivers indicated that it was dry and slicks were still the best tyre. This early call for LEC and PER in the top teams actually ruined there races. It wouldn’t be too long before they were lapped.

SAI managed to also get onto the tail of the Red Bull however he didn’t quite manage to to execute an overtake on VER.

Lap 26 VER pulled the trigger for the Intermediate tyre pressuring the top 4 to Pit. Lap 27 NOR, HAM and RUS pit for Intermediate however PIA stayed out on the Mediums. This was not a good strategic decision by McLaren. PIA lost so much time as conditions worsened. This ruined his race and brought VER back into the picture.

On the Pit exit the position resumed as PIA, NOR, HAM, VER and RUS with SAI less than a second behind. Of course PIA was yet to pit. At the Last pit entry PIA was 26 second ahead of VER on his exit he was 10 seconds behind.

On lap 34 RUS received a message you never want to hear at your home race and was told to retire the car. There was a water leak in the engine and was losing water pressure. This must be heart breaking especially as RUS got pole position. RUS looked quick and was at the very least going to grab 4th position. This handed VER 3rd position. Luckily for Mercedes Hamilton’s car was still looking good.

Stint 3

HAM pulled into the pit on Lap 39 for the Soft tyre. He was followed on the same lap by VER who opted for the Hard. NOR stayed out an extra lap. NOR also went with the soft tyre however he had the Mediums available and should’ve went with those. His teammate PIA proved later in this stint that the Medium was the superior tyre. This really hurt NOR’s race as Mercedes successfully pulled of the undercut and HAM look the lead of the race on NOR’s pit exit.

Rewatching the pit stop I noticed NOR went way too far forward when pitting. This probably lost him 1 second which is the fine margin he needed to come out in front on HAM. HAM just had to be the GOAT of tyre management that we all know he is.

This raised significant issues for NOR as he now is chasing in 2nd but also VER was creeping up behind him taking chunks out of his time as the Hard tyre got more temperature. As the laps went on the inevitable happened and VER took 2nd place off NOR on lap 48, on our old friend, hangar straight into stow. There was nothing more NOR could do.

The fight going between VER and NOR did help HAM as he was able to save his tyre a bit more and charge up his battery. HAM had to stay ahead for 4 laps on a tyre that we all saw fail for NOR. My heart rate though these final laps was raising alarms some where. The image below is the best description.

Those final laps came to an end and Lewis Hamilton crossed the line as a 104 time race winner and 9 time Silverstone grand prix winner. Just another record ticked off the list. The championship level tyre management on the soft was obvious as VER didn’t manage to get any closer. Well done Lewis.

There were several good drives for this race, HUL being one of them. Two weeks in a row getting points finishes in the HAAS shouldn’t go unnoticed. VER had a great race for what was looking bleak for him mid race, turned into a 2nd place finish. Also it is good to see the Aston’s there and ALB in the Williams.

As a Hamilton fan and a Brit, this result has put me on a high. We have got for great racing still to go before the summer break. 6 race winners just need the championship gap to close a bit more and things will be very interesting.

Tyre Analysis

Obviously Pirelli only strategised the dry compound for the race. I am surprised that they estimated a one stop race though. The I think they overestimated the use life of the soft especially if starting on it with a heavier car due to fuel load and traffic. The medium seemed to be the best tyre only being 2 laps less effective than the hard. We also saw it being the fastest tyre before the end with PIA. Let’s now take a look at the actually strategies used.

It is pretty clear from the visuals that most drivers did not want to pit too early. Lap 26 was probably the best time to pit, as VER managed to gain quite a few seconds with the undercut. Track conditions crossed over and the leaders didn’t want to pull the trigger first.

The Inter was pretty short lived as the rain passed through in 15 mins. The British weather did what it does best and was being as unpredictable as possible however the sun came out and a dry line formed very quickly.

The tyre to finish on was for sure the medium, as the soft degraded too quickly and the hard takes too long too warm up, especially in cooler conditions. It was still damp off line so this would take temperature from the tyres. The medium tyre warmed up far quicker and also had nearly the same longevity as the hard on this track. I still don’t understand why NOR didn’t go with the mediums.

The frequent 2 stop races is making the Grand Prix far more interesting as we are now seeing a lot more strategy coming into play.

Watch Highlights Here

Standings

The gap out front is still tremendous in the driver championship and to be honest it is likely still going to be max however the constructors looks like it is going to be all to play for.

News Podium

1 Lando Norris 'fed up' as McLaren admit to errors after missing out on Silverstone victory READ MORE

2 - Hamilton Reveals He Considered Quitting F1 After 2021 READ MORE

3 Horner Says Something Needs To Change With Perez as Teams are Closing in the Constructors READ MORE 

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