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Formula 1 had been hoping for a roller coaster ride since the start of the British Grand Prix sprint qualifying race. Max Verstappen’s victory, however, had all the hallmarks of a leisurely jaunt on the carousel.
After the wait and the hype, when the Dutchman comfortably beat Lewis Hamilton in second place to take pole at Silverstone, it was disappointing and even the usually boiling Verstappen looked disappointed.
The race to decide Sunday’s grid for the grand prix had to be a short, precise, adrenaline-fueled 17-lap race. Everything was done and dusted off in 32 minutes, but the decisive action ended in the opening seconds, on the first corner, on the first lap, where Verstappen passed Hamilton for the lead.
The Red Bull rider followed him with a clear run in the short sprint to the flag, challenged by the world champion in this first lap only and then maintained his lead with ease; Hamilton, as he did in the last Grands Prix, lacked the pace to challenge him. His teammate, Valtteri Bottas, was third and Charles Leclerc fourth for Ferrari. The top four stayed in the order they started the race with the exception of the switch between Hamilton and Verstappen.
F1 is testing the new format with a view to using it again and Verstappen’s victory is worth three points in the championship, with second and third places scoring two and one respectively. This further increased his championship advantage: Verstappen now leads Hamilton by 33 points.
“It was pretty much the same as the last few races in terms of following just behind Max,” said Hamilton. “Yesterday was a more enjoyable day, qualifying was excellent. It is very difficult to follow in these cars. I can’t say that I particularly enjoyed [today] too much but it’s good to have more races.
Many drivers said they enjoyed Friday’s qualifying more and that there was some consensus of approval to have a competition session on a Friday, while Hamilton again expressed his desire to see the weekend. end shortened to two days.
Verstappen in turn was far from the punching fury that leapt from his car taking pole. “When I crossed the line today after this race and they said, ‘Great job, you’re in pole position’, it’s kind of like… yeah… I did a third d ‘a race distance and hearing pole position for the race tomorrow is a bit strange.
Hamilton had a skate on the line despite, he said, being in all the parameters he needed to make a clean jaunt and Verstappen passed him in the first corner. The world champion fired back, they went side by side through Copse as the crowd roared at him but couldn’t regain the place.
There was dynamism from Fernando Alonso, who put in a superb first lap to move up from 11th to fifth, and drama when Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Pérez went to Becketts, losing the full back and streaking. The Mexican then had to retire and will start 20th. Up front, the top four stayed nose to tail and had settled in early with Verstappen widening a two-second gap. Hamilton was asking for whatever his team could give him to shoot the leader but he had nothing.
The intention of the race was to provide a bigger spectacle and potentially mix up the grid for Sunday’s race, and F1 sporting director Ross Brawn had been optimistic the new challenge would be met. Again
some drivers, including Hamilton, had warned that the sprint would likely be a procession, reflecting only the performance gaps displayed in a full grand prix and that the fear of damaging their cars would lead to a cautious approach and his predictions were largely upheld. . There was little overshoot for everything as they were bottoming out on low fuel loads.
Serious things are yet to come and Hamilton was hoping for a boost among the 140,000 fans expected on Sunday. “Tomorrow will be tough, but the support from the fans and the roar from the crowd is magnificent,” he said. “I’m going to recharge tonight and come back stronger and give it my all.”
Lando Norris finished fifth and Daniel Ricciardo sixth for McLaren with Alonso seventh for Alpine with his teammate Esteban Ocon in 10th. Sebastian Vettel was eighth for Aston Martin and George Russell ninth for Williams, but he will take a three grid-place penalty for causing a collision with Carlos Sainz.
Sainz de Ferrari was 11th. Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda were 12th and 16th for AlphaTauri. Kimi Räikkönen and Antonio Giovinazzi were 13th and 15th for Alfa Romeo. Lance Stroll was 14th for Aston Martin and Nicholas Latifi 17th for Williams. Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin were 18th and 19th for Haas.
Previously, Alice Powell had scored an impressive victory in the all-women’s W series as the championship held its first race at Silverstone. The British rider beat Liechtenstein’s Fabienne Wohlwend in second, while defending champion Jamie Chadwick secured third place. Powell now leads the title race, six points ahead of Chadwick.
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