With its future very much up in the air on the Formula One calendar, we come to this year’s British Grand Prix with anticipation that it could be one of the last at the iconic Silverstone circuit. Join The Roar for a live blog of the race from 10pm AEST.
One of the classics, Silverstone has been one of the longest standing venues in Formula One – next to Monza. It’s array of high-speed corners excite drivers and offers spectacular racing.
At 5.8km in length, Silverstone in 2017 will see Formula One cars take corners at the highest ever speeds. The 52-laps for the grand prix, will no doubt present much entertainment.
Being England, the weather always plays its hand and there will be a chance of showers for this race.
What too is a factor at the British Grand Prix is the overwhelming support for their home heroes and for Lewis Hamilton, there has never been a more adored driver.
The Briton stands tied with the great Nigel Mansell with four overall victories at home, with three of those coming in consecutive seasons – dominating with Mercedes AMG.
Hamilton will be chasing a record fifth victory, which would put him equal to the legendary Scotsman Jim Clark and Frenchman Alain Prost – and he will have the benefit of starting from pole position.
Championship leader Sebastian Vettel was left seven-tenths of a second adrift of Hamilton, having only qualified third fastest, behind Ferrari teammate Kimi Räikkönen,
Mixed fortunes will be felt for Red Bull, with Daniel Ricciardo set to start from the rear of the grid, after issues in qualifying – on top of a 5-place grid penalty for a change of gearbox.
Max Verstappen has the luxury of a fourth-place start, being promoted one position because of a five-place gearbox penalty being handed to Valtteri Bottas. The Dutchman easily represents the best chance Red Bull have winning the race.
Mixed weather in qualifying saw a mixed mid-field and with more rain to come in the race, can the likes of the Renaults and McLarens score some serious points? Nico Hulkenberg will start a season best fifth, as will Stoffel Vandoorne in eighth.
The championship stands in favour of Vettel currently with a 20-point buffer, but is this the weekend for some magic from Hamilton to change things around?
Tune into The Roar’s live blog coverage from 10pm AEST, as we get set for another what could be another momentous British Grand Prix.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Well there is one race now before Formula One takes its annual mid-season break and of course one point between Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton in the championship battle. Tune in again on The Roar in a fortnight's time for the Hungarian Grand Prix. Until then, that is a wrap for this live blog. Thanks again for joining me and I'll be back for Hungary. Adios!
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
-------- DRIVER'S -------- 177 - Sebastian Vettel 176 - Lewis Hamilton 154 - Valtteri Bottas 117 - Daniel Ricciardo 98 -- Kimi Räikkönen 57 -- Max Verstappen 52 -- Sergio Perez 43 -- Esteban Ocon 29 -- Carlos Sainz 26 -- Nico Hulkenberg 23 -- Felipe Massa 18 -- Lance Stroll 18 -- Romain Grosjean 11 -- Kevin Magnussen 5 --- Pascal Wehrlein 4 --- Daniil Kvyat 2 --- Fernando Alonso 0 --- Jolyon Palmer 0 --- Marcus Ericsson 0 --- Antonio Giovinazzi 0 --- Stoffel Vandoorne 0 --- Jenson Button
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
----- CONSTRUCTOR'S ----- 330 - Mercedes AMG 275 - Scuderia Ferrari 174 - Red Bull Racing 95 -- Force India Mercedes 41 -- Williams Mercedes 33 -- Scuderia Toro Rosso 29 -- Haas Ferrari 26 -- Renault Sport 5 --- Sauber Ferrari 2 --- McLaren Honda
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
RACE REPORT It was the perfect home grand prix weekend for Lewis Hamilton, with the Briton achieving a fifth career victory at the Silverstone circuit – equalling the record of Formula One greats Jim Clark and Alain Prost. The three-time world champion ran a flawless race, whilst the minor podium placings saw some drastic reshuffling in the dying stages of the British Grand Prix. Valtteri Bottas crossed the line in second, to complete the one-two finish for Mercedes AMG, having started from ninth due to a gearbox penalty. The Finn utilised an alternate strategy, which saw him on the faster supersoft tyres in the final stint, but it was consecutive punctures for the Ferraris ahead that saw Bottas claim second. Both Kimi Räikkönen and Sebastian Vettel were set for podium finishes, until their Ferraris sustained punctures – hurting Vettel’s race more so, with the German crossing the line in seventh. It was a solid points scoring race for Red Bull, with Max Verstappen finishing fourth and a strong recovery from Daniel Ricciardo to come from eighteenth on the grid to fifth. The Renault of Nico Hulkenberg survived a late issue with de-rating to bag a haul of points in sixth, whilst his British teammate Jolyon Palmer was not so lucky – having not even got to start the race with a hydraulics failure on the formation lap. Points went begging once again for Stoffel Vandoorne, who was presented with his best opportunity of the season with a start inside the top ten. The McLaren driver ended the race in eleventh, behind the Force Indias and the Williams of Felipe Massa. Tension will continue to brew at Toro Rosso, with Carlos Sainz and Daniil Kvyat once again coming to blows during a first lap incident which had brought out the Safety Car. Kvyat went off-track, came back on and found himself barging into his teammate Sainz’s car – terminating the Spaniard from the race. A sole point separates Vettel now at the top of the championship from Hamilton, following his flawless weekend at home. Bottas’ deficit meanwhile has been cut to 23-points, putting the Finn within a race win’s worth of points to the Ferrari.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
STANDBY FOR RACE REPORT AND UPDATED STANDINGS
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
PODIUM INTERVIEWS - Hosted by Jenson Button & Owen Wilson HAMILTON - "The support this weekend has been immense." BOTTAS - "Definitely not an easy race to start from P9." "Just kept my head down and kept going." RÄIKKÖNEN - "They [Mercedes AMG] just went a bit faster." "Unlucky situation keeps following us."
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
RESULTS FROM THE 51-LAP BRITISH GRAND PRIX 1 L. Hamilton 2 V. Bottas 3 K. Räikkönen 4 M. Verstappen 5 D. Ricciardo 6 N. Hulkenberg 7 S. Vettel 8 E. Ocon 9 S. Perez 10 F. Massa 11 S. Vandoorne 12 K. Magnussen 13 R. Grosjean 14 M. Ericsson 15 D. Kvyat 16 L. Stroll 17 P. Wehrlein RET F. Alonso RET C. Sainz RET J. Palmer
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Roar Guru
LEWIS HAMILTON REIGNS SUPREME AT SILVERSTONE! Winning his fifth BRITISH GRAND PRIX. It's a Mercedes AMG one-two finish, with VALTTERI BOTTAS claiming second in the dying stages of the race. KIMI RÄIKKÖNEN recovers to third after a late race puncture.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 51/51: FINAL LAP Disaster for Vettel who drags his Ferrari into the pits. He could potentially lose the lead of the championship here.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 50/51: PUNCTURE FOR VETTEL TOO! It's all happening then in these final laps! Vettel sees his front tyre go flat and he drops to fifth. Kimi back into third on those new tyres.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 50/51: Red Bull drag in Verstappen too, perhaps in response to Räikkönen.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 49/51: OH NO! FRONT TYRE FAILURE FOR RÄIKKÖNEN! That's Kimi out of the hunt for a second place, just a few laps from the end of the race. Bottas assumes second and Vettel into third.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 49/51: 3 LAPS TO GO Hamilton sets another fastest lap at 1:30.621. Problems being reported for Hulkenberg with D-rates in his Renault. An admirable sixth for the German looms, if issues can be avoided.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 47/51: HAM RÄI BOT VET VER HUL RIC OCO PER MAS VAN MAG GRO ERI KVY STR WEH the order. ALO SAI PAL all out of the race.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 46/51: New fastest lap from Bottas with a 1:31.007 and he has cut the gap to Kimi down to under 6 seconds!
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 45/51: Soft tyres for Vettel degrading, with the German remarking that 'he has no front.' Interesting that Bottas was able to maintain his soft tyres, whilst both Vettel and Hamilton have reported issues.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 44/51: There's 8 seconds between Raikkönen and Bottas now as we head into the final stages of the race. Big move for the championship that was, when the Mercedes AMG passed the Ferrari.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 43/51: Bottas on the faster tyres is all over Vettel and with the Finn now in the hunt for the championship, this is crucial battle! The Finn does it down the straight and takes third from the Ferrari.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 43/51: Bottas and Vettel going at it! The German had to lock his brakes hard, but keeps that third position ahead of the Mercedes AMG.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 41/51: The bottom seven cars have found themselves all a lap down now.