BOITUMELO RANTAO
SILVERSTONE circuit provided an atmosphere like no other as North-London born Lewis Hamilton breathed life into the Formula one World Championship fight.
After receiving a 10-second penalty at the start of the race a collision with pole-sitter Max Verstappen, Hamilton fought back resiliently, passing Charles Leclerc on lap 50. Leclerc had led every lap of the race after the restart following the incident between Hamilton and Verstappen on lap one.
The second sector altercation between Verstappen and Hamilton triggered a red flag due to severe damage to the tyre barrier. Leclerc led off the line maintaining his lead through several heart-stopping engine malfunctions.
“We have to look at the positives in this type of situation, despite the disappointment of losing the win in the closing laps. It was a challenging race for me,” said Leclerc.
“In the first stint, I had to make some changes on the steering wheel to manage the engine cuts I had. After that, I felt that we had it under control. I managed to pull away from the others and lead for the majority of the race. Unfortunately, Lewis was just more competitive on the Hards. I could feel his pace as he approached me and there was not much I could do.” Leclerc remarked.
Hamilton’s teammate Valtteri Bottas endured a relatively calm race – keeping his nose clean for the last podium. It was a fantastic weekend for McLaren who – after qualifying fifth and sixth in the sprint race – would finish the Grand Prix in fourth and fifth.
Daniel Ricciardo valiantly fought off an eager Carlos Sainz. Unfortunately, a technical problem at Ferrari’s pit stop cost Sainz a lot of time and he found himself once again behind Ricciardo’s number 3 car.
Lando Norris was in the hunt for a podium position until a pit stop delay with the rear right tyre left the Briton disheartened. “A bit of a frustrating race, but also a lot of positives and in the end, I’m happy with the result. I would’ve loved to have a chance to fight for P3 – the pit-stop meant we weren’t able to, but I don’t really think it would’ve changed the end result,” he said.
Alpine Racing’s Fernando Alonso – after a brief tussle with Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel on lap 4 – concluded with a decent points haul in seventh. Vettel’s teammate Lance Stroll made his way up the field from 15th to finish 8th. Vettel, spinning out into last place after Luffield corner on lap 4, would eventually retire the car due to damage.
Esteban Ocon broke a string of non-points finishes with a 9th place finish. AlphaTauri driver Yuki Tsunoda finished 10th to continue AlphaTauri’s spectacular run on finishing every Grand Prix this year with at least a point.
Verstappen’s championship lead has been reduced to 4 points ahead of a visit to Hungary.
