ESPN rounds up the main talking points from a thrilling British Grand Prix, where Sebastian Vettel claimed Ferrari’s first win at Silverstone since 2011.
Shock: Brilliant weather at Silverstone? Check. Brilliant race at Silverstone? Check. Not many people would have bet on that a few weeks ago.
Shocker: Kimi Raikkonen’s clumsy move on the inside of Lewis Hamilton led to contact that changed the complexion of the race. The Finn accepted blame afterwards, although Ferrari probably won’t be too unhappy with the move. Hamilton went on to suggest there had been “interesting tactics” at play.
An instant classic: This season’s races seem to be swinging between dull processions and brilliant, memorable duels for the win. This one was the latter. First, Valtteri Bottas turning in some unreal defensive moves to hold off Vettel, before the German’s remarkable pass on the Finn for the win late on. The late fight showed how close the top two teams are — Red Bull still needs something extra to join the fun every weekend — and why we can expect this fight to continue late into the season.
The magic ends for Lewis … sort of: Hamilton has been dominant at Silverstone in recent years but winning the race always looked unlikely as soon as he got spun around by Raikkonen at the start. But it was a tremendous fight back to second position late on, one that helped limit the damage to Vettel in the championship fight.
Two-class formula: This season has highlighted one of the biggest problems facing F1 right now — the huge gulf between the front three teams and the rest. We’ve known it for a while, but Silverstone showed just how big it is.
Hamilton was dropped to the back with his opening lap contact, but was already back to sixth position by the tenth lap. Vettel and Bottas did similar at Paul Ricard after a collision on the opening lap.
A matter of inches Sergio Perez narrowly avoided a very nasty shunt at the start. Having lost control of his car into Turn 1, the Mexican’s car went across the track and the pit exit, just as the two Williams drivers were heading out having started in the pit-lane.
Overtake of the race: Vettel’s pass on Bottas to win the race was brilliant, but this one must go to Max Verstappen for his incredible move around the outside of Raikkonen at Luffields after the first Safety Car restart. There was no huge tyre disadvantage and there wasn’t the aid of DRS, it was just Verstappen doing what Verstappen does best.
Elbows out, Valtteri: It’s a shame Bottas’ tyres didn’t have the same fight the Finnish driver had. He held on to the lead as long as he could under attack from Vettel, who had a huge tyre advantage, with some of the gutsiest driving we’ve seen from the No.77 car. Unfortunately, he finished fourth after sliding down the order late on.
Driver of the day: Given how bleak his race chances looked ahead of the race, this should go to Hamilton — fighting back to second position from where he was deserves plaudits.
