When it rains it pours, at least if you’re Valtteri Bottas.
The Finn, upon whom the entirety of the sport is relying to make the 2020 championship a contest, started the British Grand Prix with a five-point deficit to teammate Lewis Hamilton but ended it with a yawning 30-point chasm after a catastrophic final three laps.
Up until lap 50 of 52 the British Grand Prix was another demonstration of Mercedes imperiousness. The famous high-speed bends of the Silverstone Circuit looked as though they had been designed around the W11 rather than the other way around, and reigning champion Hamilton put the synergy to devastating use by shattering the track record to take pole position.
We analyse the British Grand Prix, where tyre life is made up and the first 49 laps don’t matter, and Rob reveals his name is being censored in an online golf tournament.
By lap 49 of 52 the British Grand Prix, having long settled into a rhythm of tyre management and pace control, seemed headed for a predictable Lewis Hamilton-led Mercedes one-two finish.
Then all hell broke loose.
As Valtteri Bottas crossed the line to start his lap 50 his front-left tyre collapsed, handing Max Verstappen second place. The next lap Carlos Sainz suffered the same Pirelli blowout, and on the final tour the identical fate befell Hamilton.
But the Briton had only half a lap to go and a 40-second buffer to Verstappen. He was able to limp home and retain the lead with a five-second margin to record perhaps the most dramatic of his seven home-race wins.
Lewis Hamilton took a record-breaking seventh home-race victory at the British Grand Prix on just three wheels after a last-lap tyre failure robbed him of a cruise to the chequered flag.
Hamilton’s front-left tyre let go with half a lap remaining and a 40-second advantage over second-placed Max Verstappen, who had just put on a set of the fastest rubber.
The gap closed at a ferocious rate, but Hamilton coaxed his stricken car to the line with five seconds of his margin remaining to record perhaps the most tense home win of his career.
Lewis Hamilton won the British Grand Prix on three wheels after a dramatic last-lap tire failure threatened to derail an otherwise perfect afternoon.
Continue reading on RACERLewis Hamilton and Mercedes are absolutely peerless at Silverstone, the Briton taking pole by 0.3 seconds from teammate Valtteri Bottas and the next-closest constructor more than a second adrift.
The British Grand Prix was always likely to be something of a bloodbath on the evidence of the German marque’s impressive pace so far this season. The Silverstone Circuit has become increasingly power sensitive as downforce has ramped up during this regulatory era, and Mercedes has taken a massive step forward in the motor stakes this season.
But the advantage isn’t solely down to power, with the Mercedes W11 strong in just about all facets. Only in the heat does the car appear unbalanced, as was the case during Friday, but even then the team’s propensity to run with much reduced power during practice flatters to deceive.
Lewis Hamilton has taken pole and Mercedes has crushed the competition in a dominant qualifying performance at the British Grand Prix.
Hamilton had little trouble seeing off teammate Valtteri Bottas in their exclusive battle for pole, with both his laps in the top-10 shootout quick enough to secure him a place at the front of the grid.
The gap from the leading pair to the rest of the field was astonishing. While only 0.3 seconds separated Hamilton from Bottas, more than an entire second split the Briton from everyone else.
Lewis Hamilton will start the British Grand Prix from pole position after Mercedes obliterated the field in qualifying at Silverstone.
Continue reading on RACERValtteri Bottas heads into qualifying with the fastest practice time of the weekend on a substantially cooler day at the British Grand Prix.
Continue reading on RACERLance Stroll set Friday’s fastest practice time at the British Grand Prix after a heavy crash for Alex Albon crash interrupted FP2 with a red flag.
Continue reading on RACERMax Verstappen opened the British Grand Prix with the fastest time in first practice despite the Red Bull Racing drivers expecting a difficult weekend at Silverstone.
Continue reading on RACERSebastian Vettel must feel particularly aggrieved with the way 2020 is panning out.
The four-time world champion expected two things from this Formula One season: a car to contend with Mercedes for the title and an extension to his expiring contract.
Little did he know, as 2019 turned into this wretched 2020, neither was ever going to happen.
I M O L A 🇮🇹 rejoins the F1 calendar and we lament the demise of Deal or No Deal.