18/07/2021
NEWS STORY
Let's face it the Sprint is here to stay.
After all, it's got its own logo and even a theme tune, so who are we to argue. And if that doesn't convince you, the drivers and teams all appeared to love it while much of the media thinks it to be the best thing since... well, sliced bread.
So enthused was Ross Brawn that he said he would have been willing to pay the price of admission to see Fernando Alonso's opening lap alone.
It was indeed a great start from the Spaniard, but Ross has been around the sport long enough to have witnessed dozens of other great starts, we've even had a few this season.
Then there was that "sensational nail-biting" first lap... hopefully, just to shut the F1 MD up once and for all we can see Sergio Perez start from the pitlane, overtake a whole load of cars on the opening lap and ultimately barge his way past his teammate, all whilst giving a helpful tow to Lewis Hamilton and they cross the line in the sport's first ever dead heat.
To make it even more of a "sensational nail-biting" race how about a Jody Scheckter Silverstone '73-style incident that eliminates the main contenders - not Lewis, natch! - leaving just the seven time champ, Lando and George to fight it out, as F1, unlike football, finally comes home.
Jeez we're already writing Ross' debrief for him.
If nothing else, yesterday's Sprint has given Hamilton advance warning of the cards Max previously held up his sleeve, and the Mercedes driver will be determined not to lose out to the Dutchman twice on successive days.
Then again, that will go for Valtteri also, who made a great start but found his teammate blocking his path, thereby negating any advantage the Finn might have had courtesy of those red-banded tyres his car sported.
Whether 'Nando can repeat yesterday's "sensational nail-biting" start remains to be seen, however, once again the drivers have a free choice in terms of the tyres they start on.
The big problem facing Max is that his teammate will start from the pitlane after Red Bull changed his rear wing assembly, made changes to the setup of the suspension and to the cooling of the front brakes, all of which means that once again the championship leader will be under attack from two Mercedes and with no support. Then again, that was the scenario yesterday, and young Max didn't appear to suffer.
As ever, the midfield battle is where it will be happening, and in the opening stages it will be about the McLarens seeking to deal with Leclerc, whose teammate starts from further back following his tussle with George.
Like Lewis, Lando is clearly buoyed by the home support, while Daniel is looking a lot more comfortable this weekend. Charles has looked strong all weekend, but whether he can hold off the two Woking chargers remains to be seen.
Sadly, his penalty moves George from 9th to 12th, but he should still be able to mix it with the likes of Fernando, Seb, Esteban, Carlos and Pierre, certainly in the early stages.
Lance and Yuki both start comparatively out-of-position so it remains to be seen how quickly - or even if - they can make progress, while the main source of interest, at least as far as the rear end of the field is concerned will be Sergio.
It's highly likely to be a one-stopper, however it remains to be seen whether drivers will start on the medium then move to hard, or softs and then switch to the hards earlier, though starting on the medium offers more flexibility in terms of pit stop timing and requires less tyre management.
With more freedom in the tyre choice, the opposite could come into play also, starting on a harder tyre before switching to a softer compound.
In yesterday's heat - and it is even hotter today - drivers complained of blistering, so we can expect that to be an issue again today. Ferrari suffered the worst of it, but so too did Lewis and Max... and that was on the mediums.
With the Weather Gods sitting this weekend out, barring the divine intervention of a former priest or disgruntled employee, today's race is likely to be decided by three factors; the start, strategy and tyre wear and despite all the hoo-ha, all that "sensational nail-biting" stuff yesterday, today is likely to end with the same three drivers on the podium.
The pitlane opens and the drivers head out, Norris leading the way.
On the grid, Michael Douglas - of whom we need a Covid, 2021 version of Falling Down - greets Tom Cruise, who appears to be attending just about everything these days.
Ahead of the formation lap, the air temperature is 29 degrees C, while the track temperature is 52 degrees.
All are starting on mediums bar Perez who is on hards. Verstappen, Leclerc, Norris, Ricciardo and Alonso are on fresh mediums, while the Mercedes pair are on used mediums.
Bottas is warned of a tailwind into Turn 9, that's along the straight into Copse.
They head off on the formation lap, all getting away cleanly.
The grid forms.
They're away! Brilliant starts from Verstappen and Hamilton, the Briton getting off the line much quicker than yesterday. Verstappen has the line in Turn 1, but Hamilton almost has him in Village, then getting a better exit from Aintree.
Side by side on the Wellington Straight they touch, and while Hamilton is on the inside at Brooklands, Verstappen holds his line on the outside.
Through Woodcote, Hamilton gets the tow and as they head down the straight towards Copse they are side-by-side. As they turn in for Copse they touch, the left-front of the Mercedes clipping the rear-right of Verstappen's, the Red Bull spins and slides across the gravel backwards and into the barriers.
The safety car is deployed.
Leclerc leads, from Hamilton - who reports damage - Bottas, Norris, Ricciardo, Vettel, Alonso, Sainz, Raikkonen and Ocon.
Verstappen climbs from his car, the youngster clearly winded, and needing time to recover.
Although Mercedes is waiting for Hamilton he doesn't pit.
The race is red-flagged in order that the stricken Red Bull can be cleared from a part of the track notorious for incidents.
First observations are that it was a racing incident, nothing more. Uncompromising stuff from both drivers, but surely this is what we want.
"Is Max okay," asks Hamilton, who now has a golden opportunity to close the title gap.
The stewards are to investigate the incident.
In the meantime, Christian Horner lays the blame squarely at the door of Hamilton, saying the Briton was 100% to blame.
Unnoticed in all the excitement is the fact that before the red flag, Raikkonen had made up four places and was running 9th, while Stroll hade made up three and Sainz two.
As the stricken Red Bull is lifted on to a flat-bed truck, the entire right side of the car is wrecked, especially the rear corner,
The race will resume at 15:42 announces Race Control at 15:31.
Ahead of the re-start, one has to wonder exactly what damage Hamilton picked-up in that clash.
"Thank God he walked away," says Christian Horner, "he's in the Medical Centre but he walked in there himself.
"For me it's very clear, Lewis has stuck a wheel in at one of the fastest corners on this calendar. He knows you don't do that."
Check out our Sunday gallery from Silverstone, here.
Gasly warned of a headwind in Turn 15 (Stowe) which means a tailwind in Turn 3 (Village).
The field heads out of the pitlane to make its way back to the grid. Leclerc unhappy at how slow the safety car is.
The grid forms (again), albeit very, very, very slowly.
They're away (again)! Leclerc and Hamilton both get away well. However, the Briton, possibly in the wake of what happened shortly before, isn't aggressive and appears to ease off allow the Ferrari to lead into Turn 1.
Behind, Norris gets past Bottas, while Ricciardo also closes on the Finn with Alonso in tow. The Australian briefly gets ahead of the Mercedes but coming onto the Wellington straight Bottas is back in front.
Just behind, Alonso gives Ricciardo a little tap, but as Vettel now battles with the Spaniard the German overdoes it at Luffield and spins. Elsewhere a big snap in Abbey for Raikkonen.
Alonso goes around the outside of Ricciardo in Copse but in doing so exceed the track limits and subsequently has to hand the position back.
At the end of lap 3, the first after the restart, Leclerc leads Hamilton, Norris, Bottas, Ricciardo, Alonso, Sainz, Stroll, Ocon, Giovinazzi.
Hamilton is handed a 10s penalty for causing a collision.
Sainz passes Alonso at Brooklands to claim 6th. Perez is up to 15th.
At the end of lap 5, Leclerc leads by 1.5s, while Norris is 2s on the Mercedes with Bottas a further 1.3s down the road.
No reaction from Hamilton when he is told of his penalty. "We need to push," the Briton is urged.
Having disposed of Tsunoda and Russell, Perez is up to 13th.
"Still the same strategy," asks Hamilton, as Gasly and Ricciardo have their times deleted.
"I don't think the normal sporting penalties will apply here," Helmut Marko is reported as having told Sky Germany. "I don't even know what the maximum penalty would be. But such a reckless and dangerous behaviour needs to be penalized with a suspension or something like that."
After laps, Hamilton has fallen 5s behind Leclerc, though in all honesty his main rival is out of contention.
Stroll is all over Alonso, while Gasly is pressurising Raikkonen with Perez closing in.
"Plan B or Plan C," Sainz is advised, as Leclerc is told, "we are going to Plan B".
"Keep doing what you're doing, it will come to you," Bottas is told.
Vettel is up to 17th following that spin at the restart.
"Both axles are running hot," warns Ricciardo, proof that the tyres are not the only aspects of the car affected by these temperatures.
A massive slide for Raikkonen as he is caught out by the tailwind in Turn 15.
"Struggling to get the rears down man, they aren't stabilising," reports Hamilton as Leclerc warns that his power keeps cutting out. "No! No!" he cries, "the engine stopped, it started going again, tell me what is happening!" The Ferrari driver is given some settings to change.
Hamilton is advised of Leclerc's issue, which appears not to be resolved.
"Everything should be fine," Leclerc is assured, as Hamilton closes to within 0.6s, DRS range.
Meanwhile, Norris has upped his pace, and closes to within 4.9s of Hamilton.
"Hamilton has some blisters," Leclerc is advised, as the Briton posts a new fastest lap (32.291).
Black and white flag for Gasly who is still stuck behind Raikkonen.
At the end of lap 18, Raikkonen, Perez, Russell and Vettel all pit.
His issue seemingly resolved, Leclerc wastes no time in building a 1.5s comfort cushion as Hamilton continues to warn about blistering.
Next time around, Ocon and Latifi pit.
"100% pace please, Norris is told, "100%."
Perez is all over Raikkonen but the Finn is having none of it. However, eventually the Red Bull is through, as the Mexican takes 13th.
Ricciardo pits at the end of lap 20, the Australian rejoining in 9th behind Gasly.
Next time around, as Leclerc posts a new fastest lap (31.974), Norris pits. It's a slow stop, due to a problem with the right-rear, and the Briton rejoins in 6th.
Leclerc fears that his engine issue has returned.
Bottas pits at the end of lap 22, 2.2s later he rejoins in 5th, behind Alonso but ahead of Norris.
The Finn wastes no time in passing the Alpine, much to the frustration of the McLaren driver.
Norris nails Alonso in the Vale chicane to take 5th as Stroll and Giovinazzi pit.
"Do not upshift if you hear engine cut," Leclerc is advised, which is not what you want to hear when you are leading a Grand Prix.
Alonso pits at the end of lap 24, rejoining in 10th, behind Stroll. However, the Spaniard makes short work of the Canadian.
"No problem," says Alonso.
Bottas posts a new fastest lap (31.415).
After 25 laps, the leading three - Leclerc, Hamilton and Sainz - have yet to stop.
"How many laps can you do at this pace," Leclerc is asked.
Hamilton reports that his front-left is "dead", at which point he pits. Arriving at his slot he remains stationary for 10s to serve his penalty, rejoining the race in 5th, behind Norris.
Crowd loyalty will be put to the test as one Briton closes on another.
"You are doing a good job," Leclerc is told in a masterpiece of understatement.
Meanwhile, Sainz pits at the end of lap 28, the Spaniard having an issue with his left-front. Gasly also pits as Sainz rejoins in 6th.
Leclerc pits at the end of lap 29, however, unlike his teammate, there are no issues, and the youngster heads out, rejoining still in the lead, albeit 6.7s ahead of Bottas.
Hamilton posts a new fastest lap (30.762) as he seeks to close the 12.74s gap to Leclerc, though first there is the little matter of Norris.
Tsunoda is the last driver to pit.
Hamilton passes Norris with ease, ironically at Copse. His next target is Bottas who is 3.7s up the road.
Perez is up to ninth and hard on the heels of Stroll, while Sainz closes on Ricciardo.
Norris is told that Bottas' front-left is blistering.
"Rear tyres are overheating," warns Russell. "We'll manage," he is told... which can be taken in one of two ways.
Check out our Sunday gallery from Silverstone, here.
Having started on the hards, at his stop Perez switched to mediums, the opposite of what everyone else has done.
Bottas fears that his tyres will not last until the end of the race, and a close up suggests he may have a point.
"Following an assessment by the trackside doctors at Silverstone Circuit Medical Centre, Max Verstappen has been taken to a local hospital for further precautionary tests," reveals Red Bull.
As he reduces the gap to Bottas to 2s, Hamilton goes quickest in the first two sectors, finally crossing the line at 30.594.
At the end of lap 38, Perez pits again. Fitting a set of fresh mediums he rejoins in 17th.
"We invert the cars into Turn 15 (Stowe) this lap," Bottas is told. The Finn duly obliges and Hamilton is through, 8.6s down on the race leader with 11 laps remaining.
"We have a problem," Vettel is told, "we have to retire."
After 41 laps, it's: Leclerc, Hamilton (+ 7.2), Bottas (+ 2.1), Norris (+ 9.5), Ricciardo (+ 17.4), Sainz (+ 0.5), Alonso (+ 21.4), Stroll (+ 0.9), Gasly (+ 0.7) and Ocon (+ 1.2).
Another fastest lap from Hamilton (30.160).
A PB from Leclerc (30.917) as the gap to Hamilton drops to 5.4s.
Perez passes Tsunoda for 12th, as Hamilton goes quickest in the first two sectors, finally crossing the line at 29.801.
Tsunoda is told to "use Perez to pass Raikkonen".
Another fastest lap from Hamilton (29.669), as he is told that the backmarkers could play a part.
"He's picking up the pace," warns Hamilton as his right-front shows clear signs of blistering.
Gasly pits at the end of lap 46, the Frenchman fitting a set of softs following a puncture. He rejoins in 13th.
Meanwhile a spin for Raikkonen, who loses a number of places in the process.
After 48 laps, Leclerc leads Hamilton by just 1.448s.
Latifi almost comes to a standstill as the leaders close on him.
Another stop for Perez as Red Bull's British Grand Prix goes from bad to worse.
Again, Hamilton makes his move at Copse... Leclerc runs wide but rejoins, behind the Mercedes. The crowd erupts.
"Just keep it easy, easy on the kerbs," Hamilton is told. The Briton now 2.19s clear of Leclerc.
The seven-time world champion begins his final lap as Perez posts a new fastest lap (28.617).
Hamilton takes the flag, a record eighth home win.
Leclerc finishes a worthy second, ahead of Bottas, Norris, Ricciardo, Sainz, Alonso, Stroll, Ocon and Tsunoda.
Gasly is eleventh, ahead of Russell, Giovinazzi, Latifi, Raikkonen, Perez, Mazepin and Schumacher.
"It was such a physically difficult race," says Hamilton. "I'm so grateful to the fans, this is a dream for me today to do this in front of you all.
"Amazing effort from the team," he adds. "I've been giving it my all, all week, back in the factory, trying to find performance.
"I always try to be very measured. Max, he's very aggressive. Regardless of whether I agree with the penalty, I just kept working."
"It's difficult," admits Leclerc, "of course it was an incredible race. I gave all of me, but it was not enough in the last few laps.
"Congratulations to Lewis, he did an incredible job. We didn't expect it, not to be as competitive. Overall, it was much stronger than we were used to."
"I think both race starts, I was wheel spinning quite a bit," says Bottas, "which made it a bit more difficult.
"We stopped a bit too early to be competitive towards the end.
"As a team yes, really good points so a strong weekend from that point of view."
Well, if Ross thought the Sprint was "sensational" and "nail-biting", no doubt he's having to lie down in a dark room following the experience of the last couple of hours.
An absolute masterclass in dogged determination and self-belief from Hamilton, in a race that had us on the edge of our seats without the need for gimmicks or PR.
And as for that opening lap... surely that is what racing should be.
Check out our Sunday gallery from Silverstone, here.