Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz has claimed his first Formula 1 victory after a breath-taking contest at the British Grand Prix, the Spaniard finishing ahead of the Red Bull of Sergio Perez and the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton.
A late Safety Car caused by Esteban Ocon retiring his Alpine was Key to Sainz’s victory, Sainz attacked team mate Charles Leclerc on fresh tyres at the restart to claim P1 and check out for his first win on his 150th Grand Prix start.
“I don’t know what to say. It’s amazing. I mean, first race win, 150 races later, with Ferrari, in Silverstone. I cannot ask for more. It’s a very special day, a day that I will never forget, a very special weekend in general, and yes, thank you everyone for your support, for your cheers. Lewis was on it today, I heard. It was one of his days, but we managed to hold on and I’m incredibly happy” – Carlos Sainz, Ferrari.
The action was frenetic in the final laps, however, with Perez – who’d dropped to P16 after a pit stop, having had contact at the early race restart following a red-flag stoppage – coming out on top in a thrilling fight with Hamilton and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc to take an unlikely P2.
“We didn’t give up, we kept pushing. They were epic final laps, a great fight between us!”-said the Mexican.
Hamilton, meanwhile, delighted the crowd with his second straight podium and 13th at Silverstone – an all-time record at a single venue – in P3.
“I gave it everything. Congratulations to Carlos. This is a huge bonus for us to be on the podium. We’ll continue to push as hard as we can”– said seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton during his post-race interview.
The drama that caused that early red flag came at the original race start, with Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu and Williams’ Alex Albon both taken to the medical centre after separate Turn 1 incidents – with Zhou later released, as Albon was transferred to nearby Coventry Hospital for precautionary checks, with those two, plus Mercedes’ George Russell, forced into retirement following the incidents.
Leclerc was forced to take P4, having led for large parts of the race, finishing ahead of the Alpine of Fernando Alonso and the McLaren of Lando Norris.
Championship leader Max Verstappen could only take P7, the early race leader having suffered some form of damage that hobbled his Red Bull, the Dutchman holding off the Haas of Mick Schumacher in the final laps, as the German scored his first points in F1 in P8.
Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel and Haas’s Kevin Magnussen rounded out the top 10, with Lance Stroll 11th in the second Aston Martin, ahead of Williams’ Nicholas Latifi, McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo and AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda – on what was a red-letter day for Carlos Sainz.
Zhou Guanyu’s scary first lap crash caused extend red flag stoppage at the start
It wasn’t raining as it was during qualifying on Saturday, but it wasn’t exactly bright sunshine – menacing clouds looming with intent and a strong wind blowing. Race control had the risk of rain at 20% – but the clouds soon dissipated, leaving us with a dry race.
Verstappen nailed the start from P2, having opted for soft tyres compared to pole-sitter Sainz on the mediums to claim the lead, as Hamilton aced his own getaway to climb from P5 above Leclerc to P3. However, the red flags were soon flying after an incident at Turn 1 involving George Russell, Pierre Gasly and Zhou Guanyu, followed by a separate one down the order involving Sebastian Vettel, Esteban Ocon, Yuki Tsunoda, and Alex Albon.
Zhou and Albon were both taken to the medical centre conscious, after what had been a pair of ugly crashes. The FIA then announced that the race would see a standing restart with the grid reset to its original positions – Zhou, Albon and Russell now ruled out of the proceedings, while those who enjoyed a good getaway first time around had it all to do again.
After a 45-minute stoppage, the cars reformed on the grid. As the five red lights went out for the second time on Sunday afternoon, Sainz moved over to cover the now medium-shod Verstappen, muscling him towards the wall at Turn 1, checking the Dutchman’s momentum enough to retain his lead.
Behind, Perez and Leclerc made contact fighting it out for P3 at Turn 4, causing damage to the Mexican’s front wing, while Norris got ahead of Hamilton to take P5 at The Loop. Leclerc, having muscled past Perez, then tried a move on Verstappen into Brooklands, Verstappen putting in a stout defence that saw Leclerc run off track – Stewards noting the incident but deciding not to issue a punishment.
Perez was clearly hobbled, and was forced to dive into the pits on Lap 5 for a new nose and another set of medium tyres, the Mexican dropping from P4 to P16. Up front, Verstappen had his blood up and was starting to reel in Sainz after the Spaniard’s aggressive restart. “He’s a bit quicker,” Sainz told his team. He was indeed – but Sainz made Verstappen’s extra pace academic when he had a wobble on the exit of Maggots/Becketts and ran off track, allowing Verstappen an easy pass.
Behind, meanwhile, the AlphaTauris performed a neat double pirouette after Tsunoda lost the back end of his car at Turn 3 and hit Gasly, both rotating and then carrying on – with Tsunoda given a five-second penalty for causing a collision. Gasly would later be forced into retirement.
