Lewis took his eighth British Grand Prix win with a courageous drive in front of a full-capacity crowd at Silverstone. Lewis and Verstappen collided on the opening lap when fighting for the lead into Copse Corner, with Verstappen hitting the barriers and Lewis suffering damage to his wheel rim.
The race was red-flagged as a result and Lewis received a 10 second penalty from the stewards when the race restarted 20 minutes later.
Valtteri lost a position at the start of the race but completed an undercut on Norris on lap 23 after the McLaren driver suffered a slow pit-stop, and the team reacting with a call to box.
Valtteri then drove faultlessly on a longer-than-intended stint on the Hard tyre, reaching P2 before being asked to let a surging Lewis past to fight with Leclerc up ahead. Lewis completed a fine overtake on Leclerc up the inside of Copse with two laps to go, in a repeat of his lap one move on Verstappen, and took the chequered flag in P1.
Max Verstappen (185 points) leads the Drivers' Championship by 8 points from Lewis (177) and Lando (113), with Valtteri (108) moving up to in P4. Red Bull (289 points) lead the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team (285 points) by 4 points in the Constructors' Championship.
Toto Wolff: We have seen a dramatic and exciting race today with Lewis winning the British Grand Prix again and catching Charles at the end - I think that was something for everybody. As for the incident between Lewis and Max, it always takes two to Tango and these two competitors were not giving each other an inch. It's a high speed corner and that's why these things are nasty to look at, but there is a clear regulation that is black and white on paper - if the front axle is over the middle of the car on the outside, it is your corner.
This is a championship where the greatest driver of all time, a seven-time world champion is fighting with a tool that is maybe not as good as the other car, driven by an up and coming star who is trying to make his mark. And they collided and crashed. We have seen that in days before and with all the great rivalries in history, and this is what happened today. The most important thing is that Max is fine, and the rest of the race was great.
Andrew Shovlin: A great result for the team, we've had a few tough races but the team has worked so hard over the last few weeks and this is a great reward for everyone. The first half of the race was pretty tough for both drivers on the Medium tyres; in traffic we were limited by tyre overheating and it was impossible to close up sufficiently to attack. We'd planned to go long with both but when Lando had a poor stop, we called Valtteri in early to bank that position.
With Lewis we struggled with a bit too much understeer in the first stint and eventually came in due to the front tyres dropping. On the Hard tyre we could start to push the car to its potential and it was great to see Valtteri able to pull away and Lewis able to close the gap to Charles. We'd expected to catch with a couple of laps to go but Lewis's pace didn't drop and in the end it was a comfortable win despite having to drop the ten seconds with the penalty. We came here to win and to close the gap in the championships so we should be very satisfied with our work this weekend. We're nearly half-way through and there's hardly anything in it, we know that Red Bull are going to bounce back strong so from first thing tomorrow morning we'll be putting all our efforts into the next race in Budapest.
Christian Horner: "This is an incredibly difficult way to end the British Grand Prix weekend and it goes without saying that we are all just thankful Max was able to walk away from the car, despite later being taken to hospital for precautionary checks, where he currently remains for observation. I have reviewed the footage many times and still cannot help but feel that putting a wheel up the inside at Copse, one of the fastest corners in this World Championship, was ill-judged and a huge risk by Lewis to both drivers. He was not significantly alongside Max as you can see from the point of contact, Lewis' front left to Max's right rear. The move was never on and resulted in a 51G impact for Max. We are in contact with Max and Jos and will provide an update later today. For Checo, it was also not an easy afternoon and after starting from the pit lane and making early progress through the field he was stuck in a mid-field DRS train creating high tyre degradation. We therefore opted to pit him towards the end of the race in order to secure fastest lap. We come away with a slim lead in both Championships and you can be sure that once we have had time to reflect on today, all this weekend will do is add fire to our Championship fight."
Andreas Seidl, Team Principal: "Today, in front of a phenomenal crowd at Silverstone, containing a lot of our fans and many of our staff from the MTC, we come away having scored a lot of points in our battle in the Constructors' Championship. The entire team, our colleagues from Mercedes HPP and both drivers did an outstanding job this weekend to prepare and adapt to the demands of the new sprint format. We improved session by session and leave the circuit having had a very good day.
"We have to say sorry to Lando for the issue with a wheel nut at his pit-stop that took away his chance of fighting for a podium. He drove extremely well for P4, as did Daniel, who took a good step forward for P5, and withstood relentless pressure from Carlos for more than half the race.
"We hope Max is okay after his high-speed crash and send him our best wishes. It's the one thing that mars a special weekend. F1 and the teams did a great job to put on this new format, which provided a great show for everyone, both in the packed grandstands and back at home. We had a lot of our own people with us in the grandstands this weekend and we really felt the support of the many McLaren fans.
"There's a lot to learn from this weekend – we'll go away and analyse it thoroughly to see how we can improve the next time we try sprint quali. But first, a weekend off, some much-needed rest for the team and then on to Hungary."
Otmar Szafnauer, CEO & Team Principal: "We had hoped to be coming away from our home Grand Prix with more than the four points we eventually scored, but those four points came our way as a result of a superb drive by Lance, who made up six places this afternoon to convert a P14 grid slot to a P8 finish. No driver made up more places. As for Sebastian, he made a good start when the race recommenced after the coming-together between (Lewis) Hamilton and (Max) Verstappen, and he was dicing with (Fernando) Alonso when he spun at the exit of Turn Seven. He got going again but his race was ended on lap 40 with an engine overheating issue."
Alpine F1 Team claimed double points in the British Grand Prix after Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon battled to seventh and ninth place respectively in a thrilling race at a packed-out Silverstone.
The result means Fernando stretches his points-scoring streak to five races with Esteban returning to the points for the first time since Monaco.
Despite finishing in their starting positions, it was far from plain sailing to the chequered flag.
Off the line, Esteban enjoyed the stronger start and was unfortunate to be caught in a tight gap between Fernando and Sebastian Vettel. Both drivers were able to escape without major damage with Fernando holding seventh and Esteban tenth at the end of lap one.
The race was red flagged after an incident between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton at Copse, with barrier repairs bringing a 30-minute delay to the race.
At the second standing start, Fernando gained a position to sixth with Esteban maintaining tenth. Esteban then progressed to ninth on lap five after passing Kimi Raikkonen with Fernando dropping a place to Carlos Sainz.
Esteban pitted for new Hards on lap 19, with a slow-stop for Fernando for Hards on lap 24 momentarily costing him a place to Lance Stroll, which he soon recovered with a dive into Brooklands.
Esteban dipped outside the points after Pierre Gasly's overtake on lap 29, but with Sergio Perez pitting on lap 38 and Gasly on lap 48 for a puncture, Esteban was able to progress his way to ninth, which he held at the chequered flag. Fernando comfortably held Stroll at bay for seventh place.
Thanks to the double points finish Alpine F1 Team regains some ground in the Constructors' Championship compared to its rivals and now heads to the Hungarian Grand Prix hoping to make further in-roads.
Marcin Budkowski, Executive Director: "Overall it's been a positive weekend for us; a great Sprint, double points and nice to see Esteban back to form. The race didn't start the best way with Fernando having an off on his way to the grid and damaging his diffuser. We made all the repairs we could on the grid but had to start the race with a slightly damaged car and a performance deficit. Both drivers lost some positions at the start, but it went a lot better on the restart after the red flag. From that point on, it was a very well-managed race from a strategy and pace point of view. Fernando actually managed the pace in a very strategic way by creating a DRS train to protect his position. It was a while since we placed both cars in the points and it allowed us to outscore our nearest competitors in the Constructors' Championship. We also send our best wishes to Max and hope he is OK."
Scuderia Ferrari leaves Silverstone with its head held high. On a track that, on paper, should not have suited the SF21, the team came away with its biggest points haul of the season courtesy of a second place for Charles and a sixth for Carlos.
Charles' first podium of the year, the 13th of his career, came after he led for nearly the entire race, starting from the opening lap, when he made the most of a collision between Verstappen and Hamilton, who had been ahead of him up until then. Charles' pace was very good, especially in the first stint on the Medium tyres, managing a reasonable gap to Hamilton up until the pit stop. The situation changed once he switched to Hards, with Hamilton upping the pace and, with three laps to go, he managed to pass the Ferrari man. Charles was obviously disappointed that the victory had slipped from his grasp with just a few laps to go, but he can still take satisfaction from a truly great performance. That was also the opinion of the fans who made him their "Driver of the Day" with the on-line vote.
Carlos drove a good race and for the second time in two days, he had a great climb up the order. The Spaniard also looked competitive on the Medium tyres, to the extent that he got ahead of Ricciardo by running a longer and faster first stint than the Australian. Unfortunately, a technical problem at the pit stop cost him a lot of time and he found himself once again behind the number 3 car. The Spaniard soon caught up to Ricciardo again, but lacked the top speed to get past, making for a frustrating final part of the race.
The Formula 1 World Championship resumes in a fortnight's time on 1st August with the Hungarian Grand Prix at the Hungaroring, on the outskirts of Budapest.
Mattia Binotto: This was a positive Grand Prix for us, not just because of the result, but mainly because of the progress the team has made. After the race in France the whole group reacted well. We know we are not yet at the point to be fighting for the top places on a regular basis, as there are two cars that are faster than ours. But it's important that we are working in the right direction.
Charles drove a fantastic race, following on from excellent performances on Friday and Saturday. I can understand his disappointment because it hurts to lose a win in the closing moments of a race, but he should be pleased with what he achieved over these three days. Carlos drove a solid race. It was a shame that a technical problem with a wheel gun at the pit stop cost him at least one place. Now we are looking ahead to the next race in Hungary. It's a very different type of track to this one and we will be looking to confirm the progress seen over the past few races.
Jody Egginton (Technical Director): "The pace of the car hasn't been where we expected it to be leading up to the race. Our Qualifying was below our expectation and then in the Sprint Qualifying there was a lot of traffic, so we couldn't make any progress. Today in the race, we managed to use the strategy to extend our first stint on the Mediums, which worked out quite well and allowed us to jump some competitors with both cars. This allowed us to be in a good position to fight for the points with Pierre and then get close to that with Yuki. Pierre looked quite strong against Alpine and Stroll, however it's difficult to overtake here. Unfortunately, Pierre then picked up a puncture from debris on track and was forced to pit for Softs near the end of the race, taking him out of the points. Yuki was in a position to benefit from this and has managed to score a point here. We could recover some of our losses, but our expectation was that we could've been finishing in P8 today so it's still quite disappointing. We've got to go away and get ourselves organised for the next race, as we've demonstrated today the midfield battle is extremely tight and we need to be scoring points each race."
The first Sprint Grand Prix weekend in the history of Formula One went into the archives with a race that delivered thrills from lights to flag and in which Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN gave a good account of themselves, even though the ultimate reward of points remained just about elusive. Antonio Giovinazzi crossed the line in 13th and Kimi Raikkonen, who had run in the top ten for the whole first stint, was in P15 after a late contact dropped him down the order.
Starting in P13 and P15 after their good work in yesterday's Sprint Qualifying, both Kimi and Antonio opted, as the majority of the field, to start on medium tyres. A good showing in the opening lap saw them running as high as ninth and tenth before the race was stopped because of a high-speed crash, thankfully with no serious consequences, by Max Verstappen. At the restart, our duo defended well, then settled in P10 and P13 as the race got into a rhythm.
After the only round of pit-stops in race conditions (both drivers having changed tyres under red flag conditions), both drivers pushed hard to make inroads in the top ten, with Kimi in 12th and Antonio in 15th. Kimi managed to climb back into P10, but the elation was short-lived as there was still some late drama, when a nice battle between the Finn and Sergio Perez ended up in contact, with Kimi spinning and having to recover from 16th. The two Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN cars eventually crossed the line in 13th (Antonio) and 15th (Kimi) - a result that unfortunately doesn't reward a battling effort with points this weekend.
Frederic Vasseur, Team Principal: "Another race in which our good pace put us close to the points, but in which the reward eventually eluded us. We had a good start, we were able to run in the top ten both before the stops and at the time of Kimi's contact with Checo, but in the end we just missed something to stay ahead: we continue to close the gap with the leaders, even on a track where we expected to struggle a bit more, and that should be a good sign ahead of other circuits where we can hope to extract more from our package."
Uralkali Haas F1 Team drivers Nikita Mazepin and Mick Schumacher classified 17th and 18th respectively at the British Grand Prix, Round 10 of the 2021 FIA Formula 1 World Championship, held at Silverstone Circuit on Sunday.
Schumacher lined up from 18th position, with Mazepin 19th, and were equipped with Pirelli's P Zero Yellow medium tires. Both drivers made strong starts on a frenetic opening lap, with Schumacher gaining two spots and Mazepin picking up one position. The race was then red-flagged due to a sizeable accident involving championship leader Max Verstappen.
Race Director Michael Masi opted for a standing restart, from which Schumacher ran 15th, and Mazepin 18th, before settling into a rhythm at the rear of the train. Schumacher came in on lap 25 to change onto White hard tires while one lap later Mazepin also boxed to take on the harder compound. Shortly after the pit stop phase Mazepin passed his teammate and they retained their track order through to the checkered flag - finishing 17th and 18th after 52 laps and taking the ninth successive double finish for Uralkali Haas F1 Team.
Guenther Steiner: "It was a good race today for us. We finished not where we want to finish but both guys were fighting hard and clean - this is a part of the learning and we want to take this forward. We had good starts. There was a lot of drama at the beginning of the race, and we went through that very calmly and they both delivered. At the moment, this is what is possible. They both fought hard but clean and that's the most important thing for me."
George Russell finished 12th and Nicholas Latifi 14th in the British Grand Prix. George started 12th and Nicholas 17th, both on the medium Pirelli tyre.
Both cars swapped to a fresh set of the medium compound under the Red Flag, with George subsequently stopping on lap 18 and Nicholas lap 19 for the hard Pirelli tyre.
Dave Robson, Head of Vehicle Performance: We enjoyed a good fight with the midfield teams today and we raced hard in difficult and hot conditions. The early safety car and race suspension made the one-stop race easier than it might otherwise have been, and the race became one of balancing attack and tyre management. It was a shame that we were unable to beat the Alpha Tauri cars having outperformed them on Friday evening, but that is racing, and they are a strong team.
We can take a lot of positives from this weekend and we enjoyed the different format. Having raced in the heat here in Silverstone, we are well prepared for the next event in Budapest in two weeks' time, which is also likely to be very hot. The nature of the Hungaroring is quite different to Silverstone, but aspects of the tyre behaviour will carry forward.
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.
Mario Isola: "The race strategy was influenced by the new tyre rules in place for sprint qualifying races, which allow all the drivers a free choice of tyres at the start so that they can follow the theoretically fastest run plans. That's exactly what they did today, with the vast majority moving from the medium to hard. We were then treated to a fantastic duel between two of the top drivers in the sport, who managed their tyres perfectly to deliver a thrilling battle to the end. Now we remain at Silverstone to focus on our next task: continuing the 2022 18-inch test programme, which we will be doing on Tuesday and Wednesday with Aston Martin, Haas and Red Bull."
