Martin Brundle: Silverstone delivers gloriously with unforgettable British GP



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Silverstone was hot in every way and what a great race and what a show we saw.

I was so proud of Silverstone, he survived many storms of all kinds over the decades, and while the huge crowd applauded the Red Arrows at Brize Norton, and the Household Cavalry Music played at (19659003) Only 17 of the 20 runners were on the grid while the two Williams had changed their awkward rear wings for a different specification in the parc fermé, and the practice accident of Brendan Hartley due to a spectacularly missed front suspension meant a chbadis change ensuring the start of a pit lane according to the rules.

Even though half of the remaining grid seemed to collide in the first turns, and oddly even the two Williams were leaving the pitlane to avoid a whirling India force from Sergio Perez. The two very fast Haas of Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen were able to connect what was just crazy when such a good result beckoned.

This series of first-round crashes is, in my opinion, the competition of categories A and B (The best score of the rest after Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari) is so intensely competitive right now.

Then, of course, we had the BIG moment when Kimi Raikkonen joined Lewis Hamilton in the third corner. "My bad" is how Raikkonen explained it while admitting that he deserved the penalty.

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Watch the first-round action at the British GP where Lewis Hamilton was hit by Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen.

First round at British GP where Lewis Hamilton was hit by Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen.

It was clear immediately after the race that Lewis in particular and Mercedes in general felt that the contact of Seb Vettel in France and Raikkonen at Silverstone was intentional. I think that they watched too much of the World Cup and that they tried to influence the referee. Perhaps a psychological head shot for the inevitable future battles, but Mercedes' main challenge is to finalize more lockouts with better starting protocol and more advanced Safety Car tactics.

Vettel may annihilate Valtteri Bottas at Paul Ricard and leaving Hamilton free before hardly resembles a winning championship strategy, and does anyone really believe that Kimi would do such a thing? Certainly a little later Lewis did not do as he took for antisocial media.

The two Ferrari encounter Mercedes were at the first braking zone after the start, with a Ferrari pinned tight at the apex and with front tires fresh and full. the fuel charge, and then with the appearance of the steering angle the front tires locked.

Räikkönen's 10-second penalty was about strong enough and he finished behind a Hamilton Mercedes that seemed to have not been damaged by his pace. And this highlights that Vettel's five-second penalty for taking a big bite out of Bottas's car and scattering the pack in France was too indulgent – what many of us thought about at the time .


Vettel fought like a lion & # 39;
What was Räikkönen's penalty 10 seconds?

This was a Lewis comeback, helped to some extent by the Safety Cars but largely designed by big overtaking and fast lap times. Would he have won without contact, or if the team had stung for fresh tires under the safety car? We will never know, but one or the other might have given him a better chance.

It was not great to see two powerful teams fighting for the last eleven rounds, with Red Bull, on a circuit that did not play? to their strengths, hanging gamely? And with the brutality of the rest of the pack either in the barriers of Copse, or in the last laps. A bloody and brilliant action.

The nature of the track and the design of the cars and tires make the circuit is now at 80% and the sections previously known as iconic corners have become straight lines, like the Eau Rouge à Spa. I'm generally disappointed with this, and it also means that when everything goes wrong, like in a first round, it tends to be a pretty big shunt as you've discovered Grosjean and Marcus Ericsson

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In the end, it was a race decided at an extreme pace and aggression and not just safety cars, reliability or blistering tires, that is why many were captivated.

and even me by not speaking in the Parc Fermé area. It's just absolute nonsense. We demand and widely receive almost total access to the 20 pilots, in a way that no other athlete should tolerate.

A camera looking from all angles, thousands of data channels collected and then often transmitted to the world. Each flex of their muscles, each action and reaction of their nervous system recorded and badyzed in several places. Every word, action and facial expression are recorded and interpreted.

I had the privilege of interviewing Lewis post qualy and ultimately the race. After his pole position lap, he jumped out of the car, recognized the crowd, and in fact, before he had completely removed his helmet and hood, I was there with a microphone and a camera. The whole body of the guy was trembling with emotion, exaltation and adrenaline. He has conscientiously shared his powerful experience with us and I will never forget it.

Given his incredible success, I was impressed by the length of his turn. He had given everything to beat the power of Ferrari and his two world champions by less than a tenth of a second.

After the race, I was in a different area waiting for them. Kimi came around the corner and nearly knocked me over, recovering a penalty from a post-race pitlane en route. Some time later, Seb and Lewis arrived. I must say that as an interviewer, you feel like entering a personal moment between the driver and his team, his family and his friends.

But this moment full of emotions and adrenaline is sporty while the stands and viewers engaged. The drivers are very courteous and generous in this regard, we should consider it a bonus and an honor to share this personal moment with them.

So, Lewis is clearly disappointed not to have won the British Grand Prix. World champion, is jostled by a Ferrari, and his team did not place him behind the Safety Car. At that moment, he decided to leave the area, to stay in the shadow for a moment with his helmet, then to head for the rest room early, a name appropriate at that time.

He was not happy and he needed time for reflection. We already knew what it meant to him from many previous experiences, and he was calm and polite when I got on the podium.

Another small podium aside, Seb Vettel really loves this first trophy that he won in 2009, and he showed me that the etching plates had run out of space in 2006 , and I felt that it was sad that his name did not join the other big ones that he also emphasized. Just like when we went hovercraft with Kimi on Thursday, we will quickly remember that the attention to detail and the reminder of these great pilots are immense on many levels.

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