The British Grand Prix certainly had tongues wagging all weekend long. A new Sprint race preceded by qualifying which was moved to Friday. F1 immediately got way out ahead of the narrative saying it was a resounding success based on “social media” response but perhaps I follow different folks as I saw more questions and contemplative consideration than I did wild praise. Regardless, some folks enjoyed the actual qualifying on Friday with only one practice session and felt it made more of an event out of Friday that just trundling around for practices. Yeah, that’s what qualifying is versus practice.
If that wasn’t enough, Saturday’s events saw a sort of reset for the grid based on the overall pace of the cars regardless of who may have got it wrong during qualifying. Sure, a car out of position during qualifying can happen but the Sprint allowed those cars to rise back toward the sharp end of the grid. Lewis Hamilton’s hard work on Friday was unraveled on Saturday by the Sprint Race and that’s a shame but he did show us that Mercedes had straight-line speed to be a match for Red Bull and what the Sprint race showed us was that in order to make that work, Lewis had to get the lead at the start. That, my friends, led us into the other main tongue-wagging topic of the weekend…the Hamilton and Verstappen clash.
The race was won by Lewis Hamilton, his 8th British GP win, followed by a terrific drive from Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Lewis’s teammate, Valtteri Bottas, in third.
Win
A big win for Ferrari who are in a private fight with McLaren in the Constructor’s championship. The team have struggled with heat windows for their tires and in the hot weather of Silverstone, this may have played in to their hands. Charles tried his hardest to hold of a recovering Hamilton but just didn’t have the pace. Even his teammate, Carlos Sainz, had a good race recovering from a difficult starting position.
A win for Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton who needed to turn his championship fight around. Mercedes worked hard to cure their deficit to Red Bull and even if track specific, they did manage to field a car that was there or thereabouts. With Max Verstappen out of the way, the team managed to whittle the championship lead down to just 8 points in the driver’s championship.
A win for Lando Norris and McLaren who finished in 4th, just ahead of teammate Daniel Ricciardo, for a terrific points haul against their main rival, Ferrari. Lando came in this race weekend having been the victim of a mugging earlier in the week and it was good to see him out that behind him to put in a terrific drive while his boss was at home convalescing with COVID.
Also a win for Alpine with Fernando Alonso in 7th and Esteban Ocon in 9th. Both in the points and a feisty drive from Alonso. Perhaps Ocon’s new chassis is helping? Also a win for Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll who, unlike his veteran teammate, kept his nose clean, didn’t spin and ran all the way up to 8th.
Fail
A fail for Red Bull who looked set for a good battle after Friday’s qualifying and it was helped by Max’s Sprint race win but the Sprint race also saw their other driver, Sergio Perez, go to the back of the grid and that, ultimately, would hurt the team during the race.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was involved in a clash with Lewis Hamilton on the first lap going in to Copse. Opinions are split but the team are very upset with Lewis Hamilton as is Max himself via Twitter. This did serious damage to their title fight and hopefully, after a 51g impact, it hasn’t done any damage to Max himself because that would be a disaster for their 2021 campaign.
A fail for Sebastian Vettel who looked competitive all weekend but a spin on the race restart left him at the back, out of the points and eventually retired from the race.
A fail for Pierre Gasly who was beaten by his teammate, rookie Yuki Tsunoda, and finished out of the points. Also difficult was Mick Schumacher how as also beaten by his teammate, Nikita Mazepin.
WTH
The clash! So who’s fault was it? Just two aggressive drivers unyielding? Lewis punting Max? Max being too aggressive?
I do find the British press interesting when just a few days ago they were saying that making high-risk moves often ends in tears when discussing Lando Norris and Sergio Perez at Austria. That narrative seems to have gone with regards to diving inside on Copse and missing the apex.
They made much about Lewis passing Leclerc in the same manner but I watched both of those back again…Lewis hit the inside apex and took a different line than when he tried with Max. Ignore where Charles went way out wide, just look at Lewis’s line through Copse versus the line on lap one.
Some fans were outraged that there was even a penalty and say drivers should be allowed to race but I reckon the penalty given to George Russell just 24 hours earlier for a similar incident with Sainz was always going to be equaled during the race. Penalize actions, not outcomes.
Here is what the Stewards said:
“The stewards reviewed video and telemetry evidence,” the stewards said. “Cars 33 [Verstappen] and 44 [Hamilton] entered Turn 9 with Car 33 in the lead and Car 44 slightly behind and on the inside.
“Car 44 was on a line that did not reach the apex of the corner, with room available to the inside.
“When Car 33 turned into the corner, Car 44 did not avoid contact and the left front of Car 44 contacted the right rear of Car 33. Car 44 is judged predominantly at fault.”
On the other side, Max turned in knowing Lewis was there and upon review, Lewis was not ahead of him but Max did leave room, you can see his steering action from his onboard camera. Did he leave enough or was his line compromised enough that he should have yielded more space? Lewis said Max is too aggressive and always has been.
Fernando Alonso (ESP) Alpine F1 Team A521. British Grand Prix, Sunday 18th July 2021. Silverstone, England.One might argue that with a 30+ point lead, Max should look at the big picture and not risk a DNF. Better to cede the position and finish 2nd than to not finish at all. For a racer, that’s much easier said than done but still, it is a long-game view that drivers do need to consider.
I was watching the Friday broadcast and when George made it to Q3, the crowd went crazy. When the Sky crew were in commentary, Simon nearly injured himself trying to downplay the crowd enthusiasm for George or Lando and said on two occasions, when it was mentioned, that Lewis can really get a crowd behind him. Go back and watch, it was awkward.
Sky also keeps mentioning that these two are youngsters who will be stars of the future but I have news for Sky, they are here! Now! Why so doggedly entrenched and unwilling to consider that the younger F1 fans in the UK may be cheering for Lando or George more than they are Lewis?
I have to admit, this weekend’s broadcast was so far up Lewis’s backside, he could taste them. I think Lewis is awesome but I’m not inclined to need Sky Sports to ram that message down my throat to the point of fanboy lunacy. Lewis is fantastic! I get it and I have all the respect for him but when you try too hard to big something up, it loses its shine and becomes a turnoff. Sorry Sky, but I have more respect for Lewis than to think he needs a marketing and branding machine in the form of a global broadcaster.
Also, could someone help me understand Nico Rosberg’s job or does he have several? I have no idea what was going on with his 5 minute infomercial. I may have missed the plot about what he was doing at home with his garden and eating fake hamburgers and Sky’s carbon footprint thing.
Pirelli Key Moments:
- Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton was the winner, with two tyre changes, of a dramatic British Grand Prix that was paused by a red flag shortly after the start following contact between Hamilton and Red Bull driver Max Verstappen. Hamilton started on P Zero Yellow medium C2, changed to another set of mediums during the red flag period after lap two, and then finished the race on the P Zero White hard C1. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who finished second, led until the final laps before being overhauled by Hamilton who was fighting back from a 10-second penalty.
- The same basic strategy was used by all the drivers apart from AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly (who made an extra stop following a puncture) and Red Bull’s Sergio Perez.
- Under the red flag rules, teams are allowed to change tyres and repair damage. In total, 13 drivers changed tyres (including Hamilton): but they just swapped the mediums they had originally started the race on for a fresh set of the same compound.
- The sprint qualifying format for the British Grand Prix meant that drivers had a free choice of tyres for the start. They all chose to start on the medium C2 tyre, with Perez – who started from the pit lane – being the only car to start on the hard C1.
- Temperatures remain high throughout the race, with 32 degrees centigrade ambient and 49 degrees on track. Despite these challenging conditions, the tyres performed well.
British GP Results:
| Pos | Name | Car | Laps | Laps Led | Total Time | Fastest Lap | Pitstops | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 52 | 3 | 1h58m23.284s | 1m29.699s | 2 | 27 |
| 2 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 52 | 49 | +3.871s | 1m30.569s | 2 | 18 |
| 3 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 52 | 0 | +11.125s | 1m30.524s | 2 | 16 |
| 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren-Mercedes | 52 | 0 | +28.573s | 1m31.42s | 2 | 12 |
| 5 | Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren-Mercedes | 52 | 0 | +42.624s | 1m31.284s | 2 | 10 |
| 6 | Carlos Sainz Jr. | Ferrari | 52 | 0 | +43.454s | 1m31.223s | 2 | 8 |
| 7 | Fernando Alonso | Alpine-Renault | 52 | 0 | +1m12.093s | 1m31.698s | 2 | 6 |
| 8 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin-Mercedes | 52 | 0 | +1m14.289s | 1m31.992s | 2 | 4 |
| 9 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine-Renault | 52 | 0 | +1m16.162s | 1m32.21s | 2 | 2 |
| 10 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri-Honda | 52 | 0 | +1m22.065s | 1m30.826s | 2 | 1 |
| 11 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri-Honda | 52 | 0 | +1m25.327s | 1m30.266s | 3 | 0 |
| 12 | George Russell | Williams-Mercedes | 51 | 0 | +1 lap | 1m32.049s | 2 | 0 |
| 13 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo-Ferrari | 51 | 0 | +1 lap | 1m32.346s | 2 | 0 |
| 14 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams-Mercedes | 51 | 0 | +1 lap | 1m32.477s | 2 | 0 |
| 15 | Kimi Räikkönen | Alfa Romeo-Ferrari | 51 | 0 | +1 lap | 1m31.895s | 2 | 0 |
| 16 | Sergio Pérez | Red Bull-Honda | 51 | 0 | +1 lap | 1m28.617s | 4 | 0 |
| 17 | Nikita Mazepin | Haas-Ferrari | 51 | 0 | +1 lap | 1m32.909s | 2 | 0 |
| 18 | Mick Schumacher | Haas-Ferrari | 51 | 0 | +1 lap | 1m32.862s | 2 | 0 |
| Sebastian Vettel | Aston Martin-Mercedes | 40 | 0 | DNF | 1m33.059s | 3 | 0 | |
| Max Verstappen | Red Bull-Honda | 0 | 0 | DNF | 0s | 0 | 3 |
I agree-the SkyTV crew went way over the top with their LH adoration all weekend long. Maybe they’re making up for it over the painful Euro 2020 championship loss(to the Italians no less). I missed Nico’s segment, though I don’t miss Nico all that much during a race weekend. And there were times during the Sprint and Sunday race where Sky(or FOM) cut away from track action for a home crowd reaction. I almost wished for the return of the NBCSN crew again. Almost, I say.
I assume a similar sentiment to my rant occurs when British folks have to listen to an American broadcast about one of our stars. :)
“Penalize the action, not the outcome.” Honestly, I am ambivalent about this position. The same move may have different consequences in Monaco vs. Paul Ricard, true. Why should a driver be punished differently just because a wall happens to be closer this week than last. On the other hand, in my life, if I act recklessly and leave you with only a bruise, the consequences to me are far different than if that reckless action caused you to lose an eye. Same action, different penalties, and we all accept that as proper. Given that LH was found at fault, why… Read more »
Yeah, my point is that a penalty should be based on the action. It either is or isn’t an infraction. Now, if someone wanted to argue the severity of the punishment based on outcome, that’s a debate worth having. Gary Anderson thought the penalty was too light. Others thought it too harsh but taking your main rival out could be considered when assessing punitive actions.
I don’t think the Hamilton bias is limited to the the sky team. I watched on the pitlane channel and they were just as over the top. I don’t want to take anything away from Hamilton he is a fantastic, you don’t win seven championship without being one of the all time greats. I think Liberty Media should be concerned about the perception of the media as a whole jumping to defend Lewis and Mercedes its pretty off putting as an American fan. I think some of that is because all of the coverage you can get as an American viewer… Read more »
Lewis is awesome, I’ve said that a thousand times and still accused of being a hater because I don’t parrot the narrative on command. Lewis shouldn’t feel slighted, I don’t parrot it for any driver. If they’re right, they’re right, if they’re wrong, they’re wrong in my mind. I also understand the notion of leading with your highest profile star but F1 would do well to start creating energy around their young drivers and stars like George, Lando, Charles, Carlos, Max, Pierre, Esteban if they want to build the next generation fanbase. That’ll be difficult to do if everything is… Read more »
Having read some comments about whether or not the penalty was severe enough and if Hamilton should have been further punished because he still won the race despite the penalty, I offer this perspective from NASCAR: NASCAR drivers will periodically violate the rules and be told to get into the longest line. On occasion, they may have to drive back through the pit lane. On rare occasions, they may even be penalized a lap or two. However, it doesn’t always affect them, because they are quite capable of overcoming the penalty and getting back to the front, be it by… Read more »
Probably most British viewers saw the race on Channel 4. Mark Webber and David Coulthard did the commentary. They were both very quick to say that Lewis was at fault – technically. Toto says he presented evidence (complete with diagrams) that there was no infraction. All are ex racing drivers. This can’t be a simple binary right/wrong situation. Feel free to dissect it all you like. The stewards decide. End of… IMHO Max has always been overly aggressive. He usually walks away from the carnage he creates with a self-satisfied smile and some comment about how “I won” – get… Read more »
Surely you’re not taking Toto’s view as some sort of objective evaluation on par with Webber’s and Coulthard’s? Like Toto’s experience as an ‘ex racing driver’ could have led him to publicly blame Lewis (with diagrams)? Puhleez. I’m not sure how I feel about this clash, it was close, but Lewis has a long enough career we know that if he can win from the front he can do a reasonable imitation of a sportsman. If the fight is ever really taken to him the other driver ends up in the wall. Substitute Albon or Rosberg for Verst, it comes… Read more »
Question: Does anyone know if Lewis received penalty points for the incident? There’s a number of drivers close to the ‘race ban’ ceiling I know.
Also, between LEC securing his own pole position due to his own crash, and HAM winning due to his own bumper cars, maybe they go the same fortune cookie “Create your own destiny” XD
This upcoming podcast (when Mr. Charsley takes a breath) is one not to miss!
My answer to the “crash gate 2021?”
Where’s Pastor when you need him?
Look, it’s a racing incident (literally) and both Lewis (this time) and Verstappen (many times before) should know better. The issue resonating –reverberating everywhere — is how the 10 sec was not a stop and go instead. Oh, and Russell makes contact with Sainz and receives a 3 place grid penalty?
My first reaction was that it was a racing incident not worthy of a penalty. Both drivers were pushing hard in a close competition. I can see the argument that LH missed the apex and contributed more to the accident, but I don’t think it was egregious. One aspect that people seem to be passing over is the fact that LH essentially got a free repair without a time cost due to the red flag. Clearly they had to stop the race to handle the situation appropriately, but it resulted in LH gaining an advantage (or having a disadvantage removed)… Read more »
Now that I’ve calmed down a bit, I think actually the FIA handled it well. The media, well, their job is to sensationalize… So here’s how I see it. We’ve been told that F1 wants to promote on-track battles and they want to reduce the amount of ‘policing’, especially on first lap incidents. In this case, however, the race was red-flagged. There’s no way you don’t refer that to the stewards for judgment. Hamilton made up his mind he wasn’t going to yield, and IMO, that’s exactly the correct attitude. Max is a racing bully, for lack of a better… Read more »
Yep. 5 second penalty for crossing the white line when entering the pits. 10 seconds for causing a 51G crash. Makes sense
This video (Released by MB and featuring James Stweart) discusses their interpretation of the incident with Verstappen. It clarifies why they feel the penalty was harsh and the justification using the guidelines given to the stewards. The pertinent discussion occurs about mid-way into the video. I recommend that anyone finding fault with either driver (including the podcast team) listen to the monologue to clarify their position. MB Debrief
Here’s my diagram since everyone seems to be making diagrams and vector graphs etc.
Don’t you wish the FIA would release such documents to the public? Why is there ‘internal guidance’? Why is this not is the published F1 Racing Regulations?
Allison makes a good argument but without the full text of the guidance it’s impossible to know if there is something else in the regs that say Ham was at fault.