Great Britain – Race: English stroll for Lewis Hamilton

Contrary to yesterday during qualifying, the race at Silverstone took place in good weather, with 22°C in the air and 31°C on the track.

There were two formation laps as Jolyon Palmer’s Renault, which qualified 11th, was forced to retire during the first formation lap.

OUT: Heartbreak for @JolyonPalmer 💔

Looks like hydraulic problems ahead of the start of the #BritishGP 🇬🇧 pic.twitter.com/iMEzeQci53

— Formula 1 (@F1) 16 juillet 2017

When the actual race finally took place, Sebastian Vettel’s car was emitting smoke and the German did not have a perfect start. This allowed Max Verstappen to overtake him immediately, but the Dutchman was passed again at the second corner due to his battle with the second Ferrari, driven by Kimi Räikkönen. However, the Red Bull driver managed to find an opening again and retake third place.

Esteban Ocon also made a very good start, slipping between his teammate’s car and Nico Hülkenberg’s. However, the German was able to retake his fifth place while the Mexican was also overtaken by Valtteri Bottas’ Mercedes.

But behind, the two Toro Rosso drivers eliminated each other when Daniil Kvyat’s car hit that of Carlos Sainz. The Spaniard was forced to retire while Daniil Kvyat was able to continue. The significant debris on the track, however, obliged the safety car to make an appearance while the stewards penalized the Russian driver with a drive-through for rejoining the track unsafely before his collision with his teammate. He also received two penalty points on his Super License, bringing his total to 9.

The race resumed on the 5th lap and Lewis Hamilton had no difficulty in widening the gap over the competition. Three laps later, it was in the Sauber pit that the tension rose when the two cars brushed against each other, but they emerged unscathed from the skirmish.

If Kimi Räikkönen was able to follow Lewis Hamilton, trailing by only three seconds by the 12th lap, Sebastian Vettel was losing a lot of time behind Max Verstappen’s Red Bull, with the gap reaching nearly a second per lap. On the 13th lap, Sebastian Vettel then attempted a maneuver on the inside of turn 15, but the Dutchman did not hesitate to go beyond the track limits to maintain his speed and position.

At the next turn, he also took the Ferrari off the track. This very nice battle allowed Sebastian Vettel to catch up with the duo, after previously being three seconds behind. Due to the lost time, Ferrari decided to anticipate the tire change, which took place as early as the 19th lap, where the soft tires were fitted. Unsurprisingly, Red Bull responded on the following lap but it wasn’t enough as the stop was slower than that of their rival. Sebastian Vettel was thus able to reclaim his third place.

The soft tires were particularly successful for Ferrari as they then clocked the fastest laps in the race, allowing them to catch up and easily overtake Nico Hülkenberg’s Renault, which had not yet stopped. On the other hand, Kimi Räikkönen waited until the 25th lap to stop even though he was running a second slower than the two Mercedes and his teammate. Lewis Hamilton imitated him the following lap, coming out just ahead of Valtteri Bottas, who had not yet stopped.

LAP 26: And that was closer on exit than we might have liked!! 😮

Play nicely boys 👏 #BritishGP #F1

— Mercedes-AMG F1 (@MercedesAMGF1) July 16, 2017

But the difference in tire freshness allowed the race leader to quickly widen the gap. In the strategy game, the two Sahara Force India cars of Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez found themselves stuck behind Kevin Magnussen, who had yet to change his tires.

Valtteri Bottas finally made his pit stop on the 32nd lap: although he was not able to get ahead of Sebastian Vettel, he still gained a place in the process by rejoining the track ahead of Max Verstappen. Daniel Ricciardo mimicked the Finn a lap later and emerged just behind the two Sahara Force India cars. He made perfect use of his new soft tires to overtake the three drivers who were ahead of him, before setting off in pursuit of Nico Hülkenberg.

Meanwhile, Fernando Alonso, despite having a brand new engine, was once again forced to retire after announcing on the radio: “No power!”

With nine laps remaining in the race, the distant battle between Valtteri Bottas and Sebastian Vettel could be seen, as the Finn was closing in at nearly a second per lap. When contact was made, it was the Ferrari driver’s turn to defend firmly in the circuit’s final section. But the second attempt by the Mercedes driver was successful. Driver 77 was then 8 seconds behind the second Ferrari with only eight laps to go. He instructed his team to speak as little as possible to let him concentrate on his mission. This resulted in a series of fastest laps in the race.

With just two laps to go, Kimi Räikkönen’s left front tire shreds to pieces!

LAP 50/51

📻 RAI: “My left front tyre broke…”

Heartbreak for Kimi, who was running in P2#BritishGP 🇬🇧 pic.twitter.com/NI7ycXupnh

— Formula 1 (@F1) July 16, 2017

But if the Finn is able to return to the pits to change tires, that’s not the case for his teammate! He experiences the same problem and drags himself to his pit almost on three wheels! However, he had enough of a lead to still finish 7th.

Kimi Räikkönen is able to save the third step of the podium because Red Bull also pits Max Verstappen to avoid ending up in the same situation!

Daniel Ricciardo will also be able to overtake Nico Hülkenberg, whom his team had indicated had a problem. The two Force India cars therefore finish 8th and 9th while Felipe Massa brings back the point for 10th place.

In the championship, Lewis Hamilton is making a very good move as he is now only one point behind Sebastian Vettel!

From our special correspondent in Silverstone