Frightening first lap incident sends Verstappen into the barriers while Hamilton hunts down Leclerc for hometown victory.
P1 – HAM
P2 – LEC
P3 – BOT
Contact at Copse Ends Verstappen’s Race
After securing victory in the first Sprint race of Formula 1, title rival Lewis Hamilton shot off the line from P2 to make it a fierce battle from lights out.
As the championship contenders raced into Copse, one of the fastest corners of the race calendar, contact was made and the damage was done for Verstappen who sped into the wall. What was later determined to be a 51G crash, all were thankful to see him walk away from the incident.
A race-ending crash for Verstappen, Toto Wolff emailing race director Michael Masi, and red flag conditions after only half a lap of racing were surely signs of an intense battle to come.
Podium Finishers
Charles Leclerc took the lead of the race following Hamilton and Verstappen’s collision. The Monegasque aced the restart as well. He managed to keep the tenacious Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton behind despite being heard on the radio that the engine kept cutting out.
Despite leading 49 laps and Hamilton serving a ten-second penalty for his crash with Verstappen, Hamilton overtook Leclerc with three laps remaining. Ouch. Leclerc’s impeccable drive earned him Driver of the Day, although all bets are on him gladly taking a win instead.
Bottas finished P3: a valuable gain for the constructors’ standings as Mercedes closed the gap to Red Bull by a mere four points.
Best of the Rest
McLaren teammates Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo finished P4 and P5. Silverstone was a great day for the papaya duo, with a special nod to the honey badger for holding off a very quick Carlos Sainz who finished only 0.8 seconds behind.
The feisty Alpine of Fernando Alonso started and ended P7 thanks to an excellent race at the Sprint Qualifying. Rounding out the points were Stroll, Ocon, and Tsunoda.
No Respite for Red Bull
Despite high hopes coming off of the victorious triple-header, Red Bull will likely want to put Silverstone behind them. With their lead driver out of the race early on, all eyes were on Sergio Perez to charge for a podium finish.
Unluckily, Perez finished 16th after a late pit stop for stops, only to be trailed by the Haas cars of Nikita Mazepin and Mick Schumacher. Yikes.
Looking Ahead
One thing is certain: this race will surely be a controversial and polarizing one for fans and teams alike. It’s lights out in Hungary in two weeks – Will Lewis Hamilton continue the momentum at his stronghold Hungaroring?
