Originally posted on my old blog 08/08/2020
The 2020 British Grand Prix was for the most part a relatively calm race, bookended by drama. The trend of chaotic and intense final laps continued, the race culminating with one of the craziest endings to a Grand Prix I’ve ever seen. Nico Hulkenberg unfortunately was not to be part of it though. Having been called in to replace Sergio Perez at Racing Point following the Mexican’s positive Covid-19 test, his whirlwind weekend ended in disappointment as he failed to make it onto the starting grid, his race over before it even began. Lewis Hamilton led into the first corner and held his position at the front of the pack for the race’s duration. Leclerc almost got the better of Verstappen, but Max managed to hold onto third. Unfortunately that was as much wheel-to-wheel action between the pair we’d be treated to, with Max escaping Charles to run a very lonely race. Behind them Norris and Stroll swapped places with Sainz and Danny Ric. After a promising start Kevin Magnussen’s race came to an abrupt end after he clashed with Alex Albon, bringing out the first safety car of the afternoon. After clipping a kerb Magnussen wobbled a little and Albon went for an overtake into the final corner. The gap wasn’t quite there though, and Magnussen ended up in the gravel, missing a tyre. For me it was a racing incident, but if blame was going to be placed anywhere, it was Albon who was more at fault, and the 5-second time penalty he was handed was justified. His car appeared to be in OK form but after the safety car came in complaints of vibrations resulted in an early pit stop for hard tyres, placing him firmly at the back of the field.
Pit stops from the other drivers were triggered by the biggest crash of the season so far. Daniil Kvyat collided dramatically with the barriers at Maggots-Becketts, fortunately getting out of the car unharmed. The Russian was quick to blame himself for the incident, but it appears he may have suffered a right-rear tyre puncture. In the wake of the crash the majority of cars from Ricciardo in P6 filed into the pits, with the top five plus Stroll joining them in switching to the hard tyre. Haas seem to be gambling with every strategy call they make this season, and while it paid off in Budapest, leaving Grosjean out until lap 36 didn’t prove to be the smartest choice. Whilst he did manage to hold onto his position at the front of the midfield for a while, he was on faster tyres and pulled off several classic ‘sketchy’ Grosjean moves, much to the displeasure of Ricciardo and Sainz, and received a slap on the wrist from race control as a result. He eventually pitted and returned to the track in last position.
Pierre Gasly had a great race that featured a brilliant battle with the Ferrari of Vettel, the other Scuderia of Leclerc having much more success, running steadily in 4th. The Renault car took a shine to Silverstone and injected excitement into the midfield, both through Ocon’s fight with Stroll and Ricciardo’s battles with the Mclarens. The greatest excitement though came on lap 50, when the tyres that had been troublesome for the majority of the race finally gave up on a handful of cars, in spectacular fashion. The gaps between Hamilton, Bottas and Verstappen that had stayed consistent throughout the race started to change, with Bottas sliding away from his teammate and into the reach of the Red Bull. He dramatically slowed down when his front left tyre completely delaminated and Verstappen snuck past. Unfortunately for the Finn he had just past the pit entrance and hence had to nurse his car round and entire lap, eventually re-joining with fresh rubber in 11th. Next to be betrayed by his tyres was Carlos Sainz, whose puncture promoted Ricciardo into 4th and his teammate into 5th. In the wake of Bottas’ disaster, Red Bull decided to make the most of a free pit stop, protecting against a potential puncture of their own and giving Verstappen new tyres to set fastest lap with. What they couldn’t have predicted was that Hamilton too would get a puncture! In scenes that had many a fan (myself included) screaming at their television, Hamilton achieved the impossible, bringing home his three wheeled Mercedes to win his 7th home Grand Prix, with Verstappen all the time gaining on him but ultimately finishing a good 5 seconds behind. In the midst of all this madness, Albon managed to move his car up to 8th and Leclerc inherited 3rd.
It was race that will go down in history as one of Hamilton’s finest, and footage of him dragging his car across the finish line will be seen on highlight reels for years to come. Any fear that this weekend’s race will be a carbon copy of its predecessor has been strongly dispelled by the tyre drama, the hotter conditions and softer compounds for the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix necessitating a two stop strategy in what is sure to be super race.
