A very English summer welcomes Formula One back to its spiritual home this weekend for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, as the pursuit of upsetting Red Bull’s streak of six straight wins continues. Be sure to tune in here on The Roar from 11:50pm (AEST) for live blog coverage.
Reigning world champion Max Verstappen returns to the 5.8km historic circuit which was one of the key flashpoints in his title pursuit in 2021, having been a victim in that first lap incident with seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton.
Having a 46-point lead in the standings over Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez, the Dutchman is definitely in a position to not have to risk anything – particularly if the weather mirrors the wet conditions from the changeable qualifying.
The wet was able to equalise Red Bull and Ferrari during qualifying, seeing Carlos Sainz ahead of his 150th grand prix claim a maiden pole position ahead of former Toro Rosso teammate Verstappen. Charles Leclerc made a mistake, similar to Verstappen on his final run in Q3 to end up third joining Perez on the second row.
In the limited dry running, it was evident that Red Bull still have the superior race pace. A hungry Verstappen keen to redeem his 2021 result, may even lead at the end of the first lap.
The 52-lap race will be touch and go when it comes to race strategy and whether the harder compounds in Pirelli’s range can withstand a one-stopper. As known, the high-speed corners at Silverstone can be quite demanding on the tyres.
Eight-time British Grand Prix winner in Hamilton will be in the hunt for a podium on home soil from fifth, leading fellow Brit Lando Norris who starred for McLaren – while teammate Daniel Ricciardo was eliminated in Q2. George Russell in his first home race for Mercedes too, was only eighth-fastest, but still holds the enviable record of finishing in the top-five at every race this season.
Star performances from Guanyu Zhou and Nicholas Latifi also see them starting in the top ten, however with faster drivers in the likes of Pierre Gasly and Valtteri Bottas behind – it might be a struggle to keep them at bay.
With the rich vein of form for Verstappen and Red Bull, it is hard to go past that title-winning combo to win the race and their long-run pace still beats the Ferraris. Can the Scuderia engineer a special victory?
Race Information
Lights out: 12am (AEST)
Venue: Silverstone, Northamptonshire
TV: Fox Sports
Online: Kayo Sports, Foxtel
Grid
1. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari), 2. Max Verstappen (Red Bull), 3. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), 4. Sergio Perez (Red Bull), 5. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), 6. Lando Norris (McLaren), 7. Fernando Alonso (Alpine), 8. George Russell (Mercedes), 9. Guanyu Zhou (Alfa Romeo), 10. Nicholas Latifi (Williams), 11. Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri), 12. Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo), 13. Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri), 14. Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren), 15. Esteban Ocon (Alpine), 17. Kevin Magnussen (Haas), 18. Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin), 19. Mick Schumacher (Haas), 20. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
Simoc
Guest
It got to late so I had to watch the highlights. Fantastic racing. It doesn't get any better. Perez is getting better and better. For Sainz it must be a massive relief. I expect he will win more regularly now. It's hard to see an F1 future for Ricciardo. He's getting slower and may not see out the season. The qualifying gap to Norris is way to big. On the other hand Zhou has out-qualified Bottas in the past 3 GPs. Schumacher was under great pressure (being king of destruction this season) at Haas and finally delivered points. Stroll has been poor all season. But a win for F1 there.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Aww thanks! I do always hope that the blogs do provide a meaningful alternative commentary to what’s going on the Telly.
Cam
Roar Rookie
Still scratching my head why Ferrari didn't pit Leclerc under the safety car, it certainly cost him the race and would have narrowed the gap between him and Verstappen's championship lead.
andrew
Roar Rookie
Watched the highlights just now. Zhou was lucky, the halo certainly saved him from serious injury. After his recent form Sainz is on par with Leclerc. Don't see McLaren keeping Dan beyond this year if he can't improve. Reading between the lines I get the feeling Zac Brown wants the young American, Herta, in the seat asap.
Buck Spet
Guest
Stoked for Sainz, its been worth the wait. Allbeit he was still "slower" than his teammate and perhaps even Hamilron. His self preservation and instincts combined with the right tyre, mindset and track position paid dividends. Pity that Russel was unable to restart his car and limp to the pits, he might have been in the mix at the end. Perez made the most of the day and showed how brutally rapid that RB is regardless of the SC neutralisation. Mick finnaly score the first points of his career, hope the boys as Haas crack a few cold ones in celebration. Looked forward to see what Albon could do in the upgraded tailender, AM surely capitalised on his and AR retirements to salvage etleast some respect after failing again to reach Q2. Then we have to address the elephant in the room, but Danny boy is having a torrid time, reminds me of Seb at RB in '14 and SF in '20, not gelling with the machinery, unable to unlock any pace leaving any pitwall strategy futile. I hope he turns it around, he has too, for McL and for the 30-40's group. This might be a tuening point in the season for MB, with both their drivers in form its a matter of lining up some good descisiona for them to score big points before the summer break and with that momentum Toto can make a title run in the second half. With only two landmarks remaining this season (Norris & Russel victories) SF are bound to be mkre direct with team orders, RB will go full send every race and max's dip in Monaco seems to be a thing of the past. If CL wants ro beat MV he needs everything SF has to offer and i dont see that happening. With LH & GR getting competitive machinery SF will pay the price in points. Thanks for your Blogs I use it as my commentary during the race (i mute the TV commentators atleast 90% of the race, they are unable to improve the spectacle with shouting, speculation and their comical inability to detect of whats afoot) *i do rate brundle and his pitwalks, his insights are appreciated in FP and Quali.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
What a race that was! And again, super grateful to the safety standards in F1, marshals, recovery teams and medical staff in ensuring that nothing worse come of Guanyu Zhou or Alexander Albon. Congratulations to Carlos Sainz for his maiden F1 win. The first of many hopefully for the Spaniard. That though will wrap up this live blog of the British Grand Prix, thank you again for tuning in for this exciting race. Until the next round in Austria come seven days time, it is bye for now.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Thoughts on this race then Roarers?
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
-------- DRIVER'S -------- 181 - Max Verstappen 147 - Sergio Perez 138 - Charles Leclerc 127 - Carlos Sainz 111 - George Russell 93 -- Lewis Hamilton 58 -- Lando Norris 46 -- Valtteri Bottas 39 -- Esteban Ocon 28 -- Fernando Alonso 16 -- Kevin Magnussen 16 -- Pierre Gasly 15 -- Sebastian Vettel 15 -- Daniel Ricciardo 11 -- Yuki Tsunoda 5 --- Guanyu Zhou 4 --- Mick Schumacher 3 --- Alexander Albon 3 --- Lance Stroll 0 --- Nicholas Latifi 0 --- Nico Hulkenberg
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
----- CONSTRUCTOR'S ----- 328 - Red Bull Racing 265 - Ferrari 204 - Mercedes AMG 73 -- McLaren Mercedes 67 -- Alpine 51 -- Alfa Romeo Racing 27 -- Scuderia AlphaTauri 20 -- Haas Ferrari 18 -- Aston Martin Racing 3 --- Williams Mercedes
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
RACE REPORT An epic conclusion to the British Grand Prix sees a new race winner in Formula One, as Carlos Sainz converts a career first pole position to a maiden grand prix victory at Silverstone. The race was marred early with a red flag on the opening lap, for a horrific incident at the first corner which saw Guanyu Zhou’s Alfa Romeo hurled across the gravel upside down and then over the tyre barrier. Contact was made between Pierre Gasly and George Russell, which concertinaed onto the rookie and took the Mercedes out of the race also. Behind, Sebastian Vettel tagged Alexander Albon which saw the Williams spin and hit the pit-wall, resulting in the Thai driver having to be sent to the local hospital for checks. Thankfully none of the drivers were harmed in that opening lap melees. Following the red flag, Sainz was able to restart from pole ahead of Max Verstappen and Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc. The Monegasque made contact with Sergio Perez which forced the Red Bull driver to pit for a new front-wing, while Leclerc carried on sans a front-wing endplate. Verstappen suffered from a puncture on Lap 13, taking the Dutchman out of contention for the podium. Subsequently having bodywork damage to the rear of his Red Bull which hampered performance throughout. Ferrari pit Sainz first on Lap 21 for hard tyres, with the threat of Hamilton now looming. Leclerc was in on Lap 26 and rejoined behind his teammate, while the Briton led his home grand prix briefly. A slow stop for the seven-time world champion on Lap 34 saw Hamilton drop behind the Ferraris with Leclerc now leading the race, having had better pace than Sainz on the hard tyres. Lap 40 saw the Safety Car deployed for Esteban Ocon’s Alpine grinding to a halt on the old pit-straight. This gave the opportunity to Sainz and Hamilton to pit for soft tyres heading into the backend of the race, while Leclerc stayed out on the hards. Energised with grippier tyres, Sainz pounced on his teammate at the restart and created a buffer, while Hamilton and Perez – who’d used the Safety Car to get a free pit-stop – were about to put on a wheel-to-wheel show with Leclerc for the final places on the podium. The exchanges lasted for a couple of laps, though a disappointing result for Leclerc, finishing behind Perez and Hamilton – who also recorded the fastest lap of the race, en route to a record thirteenth podium on home soil. Fernando Alonso and Lando Norris were also in the battle at the end of the race, having had the chance to take on fresh softs during the Safety Car also. The Alpine finished fifth ahead of the McLaren, as their fight in the constructor’s championship rages on. Verstappen survived a late assault from Mick Schumacher, who from the last row of the grid scored his maiden points in Formula One with a solid eighth place. Double points for Haas, with Kevin Magnussen tenth behind Sebastian Vettel.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
POST-RACE INTERVIEWS - Hosted by Jenson Button SAINZ - "First race win with Ferrari at Silverstone, I can't ask for anymore." "Lewis was on it today." "I struggled quite a bit with the balance on the medium tyre." "It's a special place for me." PEREZ - "It was a great comeback and we didn't give up." "It was just an epic final laps." "I just got squeezed there [Turn 1]." HAMILTON - "I gave it everything today, chasing down those Ferraris." "We made a step closer to them." "We lost a bit of time in the pit-stop." "This is a huge bonus for us to be on the podium."
Liam Salter
Roar Guru
Brilliant by Carlos, feel so bad for Leclerc but that was some amazing racing at the end for 4th. Incredible from Checo too. Hell of a race.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
RESULTS FROM THE 52-LAP BRITISH GRAND PRIX 1 C. Sainz 2 S. Perez 3 L. Hamilton (Fastest Lap) 4 C. Leclerc 5 F. Alonso 6 L. Norris 7 M. Verstappen 8 M. Schumacher 9 S. Vettel 10 K. Magnussen 11 L. Stroll 12 N. Latifi 13 D. Ricciardo 14 Y. Tsunoda RET E. Ocon RET P. Gasly RET V. Bottas RET G. Russell RET G. Zhou RET A. Albon
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
CARLOS SAINZ WINS THE BRITISH GRAND PRIX & HIS FIRST F1 RACE! An excellent drive of recovery from Sergio Perez to take second. And a record thirteenth podium for Lewis Hamilton on home soil with third.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 52/52: FINAL LAP
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 51/52: Norris has dropped outside of the DRS range behind Alonso, while the Alpine is still in pursuit of Leclerc. Sainz leads Perez by 4 seconds, then a further 3 seconds back to Hamilton in third.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 50/52: Schumacher going wheel-to-wheel with Verstappen as well for seventh, with the Haas sitting solid in eighth at the moment. Both Haas cars inside the top ten at present.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 49/52: Hamilton immediately gets a gap over Leclerc, as the Ferrari has Alonso and Norris all over his rear.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 48/52: Hamilton gets the better run out of Turn 5 and tries to go around the outside of Leclerc at Luffield. The Ferrari is back ahead going into Maggotts & Becketts, but the Mercedes has DRS and comes back on straight to move into third.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 47/52: That was some exhilarating exchanges with three drivers all fighting for spots on the podium. Sainz's lead is out to 3.7 seconds.