@LewisHamilton extends title lead in thrilling #BritishGP – #F1
Lewis Hamilton took a record-breaking sixth British Grand Prix victory after jumping title-rival and Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas with a safety car-assisted strategy, while Sebastian Vettel knocked Max Verstappen out of third.
Hamilton ran a longer first stint to overhaul team-mate Bottas, which allowed him to stop only once and proved crucial when the safety car was deployed after the latter pitted.
That gave the Briton track position and he won comfortably after Bottas had to come in for his final pit stop to put on his mandatory second tyre, the red-branded softs.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc claimed the final podium spot after a dramatic battle for third, in which the young-Monegasque driver has an epic fight with Verstappen – who was later sent into the gravel by Vettel.
Red Bull Racing’s Pierre Gasly came home in a season-best fourth for the Milton Keynes-based outfit, while team-mate Verstappen managed to get his Honda-powered RB15 racer out of the gravel trap to complete the top five, with Vettel down in 16th after replacing the SF90’s front wing from nose damage and being slapped with a 10-second time penalty.
Bottas held the lead in the first part of the Grand Prix but set off the pit stops among the front-runners while Hamilton remained out longer until lap 20.
That was crucial for Hamilton, who was opting to use the harder compounds and run a one-stop strategy.
He and Vettel – who was stuck down in sixth, but also ran a longer first stint – then had his commitment rewarded when the safety car was deployed.
Alfa Romeo Racing’s Antonio Giovinazzi locked the rears of his C38 racer entering Vale and slid side-ways into the gravel.
With the race stabilised, Hamilton and Vettel jumped into the pits, emerging in first and third respectively and able to run until the end without making another stop.
In the battle for the win, Bottas was hindered by the decision not to stop under the safety car and switch onto the hards, which forced the Finn into a two stopper.
He was unable to fight Hamilton for the lead at the restart and ran a couple of seconds off of the Briton, before stopping with seven laps remaining having opened up enough of a gap to the best of the rest.
That meant Bottas finished in second and was likely to claim the bonus final point as a consolation for losing the victory – before team-mate Hamilton snatched it on the last lap on his older hard rubber.
Hamilton’s last grab fastest lap meant the Briton extended his championship lead to 39 points.
Behind the two Silver Arrows, Leclerc brought his Ferrari home in third after an epic race.
Leclerc held position earlier on but had to withstand pressure from a fast-charging Red Bull of Verstappen, who then managed to jump past him in the pitlane as they pitted at the same time.
However, Leclerc quickly snatched the place back when Verstappen ran wide at The Loop corner immediately after exiting the pits, before dropping back behind after the Scuderia opted not to stop him again as soon as the safety car emerged.
Red Bull reacted quickly, and Verstappen had a swift stop as the Dutchman rejoined in fifth place, behind Vettel and team-mate Gasly who pitted earlier and was sticking to a one-stop strategy.
Ferrari’s decision to stop Leclerc a lap later relegated him to sixth, and when the race resumed the battle with Verstappen intensified.
Their wheel-to-wheel battle continued and peaked when Leclerc attacked the Red Bull around the outside into the final series of corner just before the mid-point of the race.
They touched wheels slightly when Leclerc had the inside line for the right-hander of Vale and Verstappen took to the run-off on the outside, holding his position as he rejoined through Club.
Leclerc’s challenge evaporated after the incident was unpenalized, while Verstappen breezed past Gasly into fourth and then caught and attacked Vettel who was in third.
He blasted the Ferrari on the outside of Stowe on the 37th lap, but the Dutchman ran slightly wide and Vettel stuck into his slipstream on the short run to Vale – but placed his SF90 racer on the inside, with nowhere to go, and attempted to make a late switch back to the outside.
Vettel locked his brakes and slammed the rear of Verstappen’s RB15 racer, sending it airborne over the kerb and into the gravel trap at Vale, ending up facing the wrong way with its rear wheels in the gravel.
They both continued on, but Verstappen had to settle for fifth and lucky not to lose more positions – as Vettel dropped to the back.
Vettel’s fall allowed McLaren’s Carlos Sainz to finish sixth after an intense fight with Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo in the best-of-the-rest battle.
Alfa Romeo Racing’s Kimi Raikkonen’s one-stop strategy worked to perfection and claimed eighth, while Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat’s well-timed stop under the safety car allowed the Russian to charge to a ninth-place finish.
Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg rounded out the top 10 and ahead of the other McLaren of Lando Norris who took 11th and Toro Rosso’s Alexander Albon who was 12th.
Racing Point’s Lance Stroll finished 13th and in-front of ROKiT Williams Racing’s George Russell who came home in 14th and ahead of the aforementioned Vettel who ended the race in 15th.
ROKiT Williams Racing’s Robert Kubica and SportPesa Racing Point’s Sergio Perez brought up the rear and a lap down.
The two Haas F1 VF-19’s were the other two retirements in the Grand Prix alongside the aforementioned Giovinazzi – as Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen collided on the opening lap and both ended their races early afterwards.
The Top Three
1st – Lewis Hamilton, #44, Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport, F1 W10 EQ Power+: “What a day! To all the crowd, thank you so much for coming out! I couldn’t have done it without these guys or without my team. There are nearly 2000 people in my team who make this possible and I’m just a link in that chain.”
2nd – Valtteri Bottas, #77, Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport, F1 W10 EQ Power+: “I don’t know really what to say. I was controlling the pit stop gap and then there was a safety car… that was pretty much it, just not my day.”
3rd – Charles Leclerc, #16, Scuderia Ferrari, SF90: “It’s probably the race I enjoyed the most in my F1 career. With the safety car we lost some position but very happy to finish third. The last race was an eye-opener for me, it is great for Formula 1 to fight on the limit and I’m happy this race was like this.”
Formula 1 Rolex British Grand Prix 2019 Race Results Classification (52 Laps)
POS | DRIVER | CAR | LAPS | GAP |
1 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport | 52 | 1h21m08.452s |
2 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport | 52 | 24.928s |
3 | Charles Leclerc | Scuderia Ferrari | 52 | 30.117s |
4 | Pierre Gasly | Aston Martin Red Bull Racing-Honda | 52 | 34.692s |
5 | Max Verstappen | Aston Martin Red Bull Racing-Honda | 52 | 39.458s |
6 | Carlos Sainz Jr. | McLaren-Renault F1 Team | 52 | 53.639s |
7 | Daniel Ricciardo | Renault F1 Team | 52 | 54.401s |
8 | Kimi Raikkonen | Alfa Romeo Racing | 52 | 1m05.540s |
9 | Daniil Kvyat | Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda | 52 | 1m06.720s |
10 | Nico Hulkenberg | Renault F1 Team | 52 | 1m12.733s |
11 | Lando Norris | McLaren-Renault F1 Team | 52 | 1m14.281s |
12 | Alexander Albon | Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda | 52 | 1m15.617s |
13 | Lance Stroll | SportPesa Racing Point F1 Team | 52 | 1m21.086s |
14 | George Russell | ROKiT Williams Racing | 51 | 1 Lap |
15 | Sebastian Vettel | Scuderia Ferrari | 51 | 1 Lap |
16 | Robert Kubica | ROKiT Williams Racing | 51 | 1 Lap |
17 | Sergio Perez | SportPesa Racing Point F1 Team | 51 | 1 Lap |
– | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo Racing | 18 | Spun off |
– | Romain Grosjean | Rich Energy Haas F1 Team | 9 | Accident damage |
– | Kevin Magnussen | Rich Energy Haas F1 Team | 6 | Accident damage |
Formula 1 2019 World Driver’s Championship Standings – Top 10
- Lewis Hamilton – 223 Points.
- Valtteri Bottas – 184 Points.
- Max Verstappen – 136 Points.
- Sebastian Vettel – 123 Points.
- Charles Leclerc – 120 Points.
- Pierre Gasly – 55 Points.
- Carlos Sainz – 38 Points.
- Kimi Raikkonen – 25 Points.
- Lando Norris – 22 Points.
- Daniel Ricciardo – 22 Points.
Formula 1 2019 World Constructors Championship Standings
- Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport – 407 Points.
- Scuderia Ferrari – 243 Points.
- Aston Martin Red Bull Racing-Honda – 191 Points.
- McLaren-Renault F1 Team – 60 Points.
- Renault F1 Team – 39 Points.
- Alfa Romeo Racing – 26 Points.
- SportPesa Racing Point F1 Team – 19 Points.
- Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda – 19 Points.
- Rich Energy Haas F1 Team – 16 Points.
- ROKiT Williams Racing – 0 Points.
Round 11 of the 2019 FIA Formula One World Championship returns to the historic Hockenheimring in Germany for the Formula 1 Mercedes-Benz Grosser Preis Von Deutschland 2019 from July 26-28.