BRITISH GP - RACE - RE-CAP & RESULTS
Vettel snatched the lead off the line while pole sitter Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen collided as they battled for position. He held the lead through the first set of pit stops, but fell behind the Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas when the Ferrari returned to the pits during a late safety car. He pushed back on fresh tyres, trying to find a way past Bottas before finally finding a way through in the closing laps of the race.
Hamilton was bogged down off the line, falling behind Vettel, Bottas and Raikkonen. He attempted a move around the outside of Raikkonen to reclaim the position, but a lock up from Raikkonen caused a collision and Hamilton was sent into a spin. The Brit dropped to the back of the field, starting an impressive climb up the order.
Both cars appeared relatively unharmed, and Raikkonen was handed a 10 second penalty for the incident.
Within six laps, Hamilton was up in the top 10. The Mercedes pitted late in the pit stop window, emerging sixth, behind Raikkonen.
After the early pit stops, Vettel led Bottas, Max Verstappen, Daniel Ricciardo, Raikkonen and Hamilton, with both Red Bull drivers pitting early.
With tyre wear looking marginal at Silverstone, Red Bull gambled and brought Ricciardo in for fresh tyres 30 laps into the 52 lap race, with the expectation neither Ferrari would make it to the chequered flag without mimicking the move.
Any advantage was undone moments later when the Sauber of Marcus Ericsson span into the tyre barriers at Abby, bringing out the safety car and gifting the front runners a free stop.
Ferrari opted to take fresh rubber while Mercedes, who didn’t have any new soft tyres, left both drivers out. It put Bottas in the lead, with Vettel ahead of Hamilton in second.
On the restart, Bottas held onto the lead while Raikkonen and Verstappen ran side by side. The Ferrari managed to get through into third, but Verstappen retook the position at the following corner.
The fight for third was cut short when Carlos Sainz and Romain Grosjean came together, sending both cars into the gravel and bringing out a second safety car.
When the race restarted, it was a frantic dash to the flag. Raikkonen managed to pass Verstappen and closed the gap to the top three, making it a four way fight for the race lead. Bottas, struggling on old tyres, came under pressure from Vettel, but the Mercedes driver managed to defend well, holding on to the lead until the final laps of the race.
Vettel made a move up the inside to take the race lead and immediately managed to build a gap to Bottas, finishing more than two seconds ahead of the rest of the field.
Bottas continued to struggle on old tyres, dropping back to fourth, while Hamilton and Raikkonen were inherited to the podium positions.
The Red Bull duo had been running fifth and sixth when slight contact sent Verstappen into a spin. He was able to continue, but later pulled to the side of the track to retire with a brake-by-wire issue.
Nico Hulkenberg, who started outside the top 10 in P11, climbed up to sixth at the start of the race. Though he dropped down a position as Hamilton climbed up the order, he picked up the position again after Verstappen was forced to retire.
Esteban Ocon took seventh after a strong start, ahead of Fernando Alonso, Kevin Magnussen, and Pierre Gasly.
Charles Leclerc had been running at the sharp end of the field in the early stages of the race, but a problem in his pit stop forced him to pull over soon after returning to the track, retiring just 18 laps in.
Brendon Hartley, who suffered a heavy crash after a suspension failure in FP3, retired after one lap due to more mechanical issues.
Sergio Perez dropped to the back of the field after a collision with Ericsson off the line. The Force India was sent into a spin, almost collecting the Williams duo, who were forced to start from the pits. He managed a strong recovery, finishing 11th, ahead of Stoffel Vandoorne, Lance Stroll, and Sergey Sirotkin.
While Gasly had originally finished in 10th, he was demoted to 13th after receiving a time penalty for causing a collision with Perez. This promoted Perez up into the points.
RESULTS:
1. Sebastian Vettel / Ferrari-Ferrari / Germany / + 25 Points
2. Lewis Hamilton / Mercedes-Mercedes / Great Britain / + 18 Points
3. Kimi Raikkonen / Ferrari-Ferrari / Finland / + 15 Points
4. Daniel Ricciardo / Red Bull Racing-TAG-Heuer / Australia / + 12 Points
5. Valtteri Bottas / Mercedes-Mercedes / Finland / + 10 Points
6. Nico Hulkenberg / Renault-Renault / Germany / + 8 Points
7. Esteban Ocon / Force India-Mercedes / France / + 6 Points
8. Fernando Alonso / McLaren-Renault / Spain / + 4 Points
9. Kevin Magnussen / Haas-Ferrari / Denmark / + 2 Points
10. Sergio Perez / Force India-Mercedes / Mexico / + 1 Point
11. Stoffel Vandoorne / McLaren-Renault / Belgium
12. Lance Stroll / Williams-Mercedes / Canada
13. Pierre Gasly / Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda / France*
14. Sergey Sirotkin / Williams-Mercedes / Russia
15. Max Verstappen / Red Bull Racing-TAG-Heuer / Netherlands / Brake-By-Wire**
RETIRED - Carlos Sainz / Renault-Renault / Spain / Collision damage
RETIRED - Romain Grosjean / Haas-Ferrari / France / Collision damage
RETIRED - Marcus Ericsson / Sauber-Ferrari / Sweden / Collision
RETIRED - Charles Leclerc / Sauber-Ferrari / Monaco / Tyre
RETIRED - Brendon Hartley / Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda / New Zealand / Power Unit Connector
* - (Gasly) 5-Second-Time-Penalty added to final race time for causing a collision with Perez
** - Notes Max Verstappen completed at least 90% of the race distance and was qualified as finished, despite his retirement
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Article Written By: Bethonie Waring
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