Last week's Grand Prix marked the 70-year history of Formula 1 racing. Pirelli had done their homework after the tyre drama seen in the British GP. They had brought a step softer tyres to the second race at Silverstone, and the required tyre pressures had been raised. These changes brought welcome variation to teams' tyre strategy both in the qualifying and in the race.
Medium tyres were seen in Q1 already, as both Haas drivers came out on the yellow-marked compound. Q2, on the other hand, saw all three compounds in use. The leading team Mercedes sent their drivers out on the medium rubber, whilst Red Bull opted for an interesting strategical call in terms of Verstappen. The Dutchman opted for the white-marked hardest tyre wear, still being able to set very competitive lap times. However, the majority of teams used the medium rubber. Bottas set the benchmark in the second session, with Hulkenberg jumping second in the dying moments of Q2. Perez had again been tested positive for Covid-19 after his 10-day quarantine, so the German got a second chance at the wheel of the "pink Mercedes". Hamilton was third, with AlphaTauri's Gasly fourth. Charles was well among the top ten after setting a decent lap time on the medium compound. Sebastian, on the other hand, was forced to come out on the softs at the end, but still wasn't able to make his way into the final segment! In spite of flawless laps, there was absolutely no pace in Sebastian's SF1000.
Other tyres than softs have rarely been seen in the last session. This time, however, both Red Bull drivers and Renault's Ricciardo came out on the mediums. Hamilton took provisional pole, as Bottas' first sector left a little to hope for. The first runs saw Ricciardo in P3, Hulkenberg in P4 and the Red Bull duo in P5 and P6. There was lots of diversity in the teams' tyre strategies, as Mercedes switched to the medium compound for their last flyers. Red Bull, on the other hand, made the switch to the softs. Ricciardo decided to stick to the medium compound. Hamilton found some extra time on his last flyer -very little though-, but Bottas, still gutted after the race-ruining puncture in the previous race, wasn't going to let pole slip away from him. The Finn robbed Hamilton of pole by six hundredths of a second! However, there was no threat to Mercedes' front row lockout. Hulkenberg, who holds the unwanted record of most GP starts without a podium finish, made superb job by qualifying third. This time Verstappen was left in P4. Renault's Ricciardo and Stroll in the sister RP20 locked down the third row. Charles made smooth work, but P8 was the maximum result, considering the lack of performance of the red car. However, both P8 and P12 were definitely not where the Red Team wanted to be!
The lights went out at hot Silverstone, and Bottas nailed it. Hamilton made everything he could to challenge his teammate for the lead, but Bottas had no intention to give up on the lead. Verstappen got an impressive start on the medium tyres, making his way past Hulkenberg immediately. Stroll, too gained a position at the start, getting ahead of Ricciardo's black and yellow Renault. Unfortunately Sebastian was the driver to face first-lap drama. Going into first corners, the German hit the kerb, lost the rear end of his SF1000 and span. In a blink of an eye, Sebastian had dropped down to the back of the pack! What a frustrating start to the race for the quadruple world champion! Charles' start to the race wasn't easy, either. The Monegasque had lost two positions, dropping down to P10.
Tyre degradation turned out unexpected. Both Mercedes drivers complained about their overheated tyres on the team radio. Albon in his RB16 pitted after completing 6 laps only! By lap 9 Verstappen had decreased the gap to Hamilton into 1.2 seconds. Red Bull told Max to keep the distance, but the stubborn Dutchman strongly disagreed. He answered his team, that "he didn't want to drive like a grandma". Max's dilemma soon disappeared, as the Mercedes drivers pitted on the sequential laps. Both Bottas and Hamilton opted for the hard rubber.
Amazing but true, Verstappen had no tyre issues whatsoever. On lap 22 he was still banging lap times 1.5 seconds faster than those of Valtteri on a much fresher set of tyres! Tyre management proved Max's secret weapon against the Silver Arrows. Max had already opened a 16-second gap to Bottas in P2. Meanwhile, Sebastian pitted for another set of hard Pirellis. Sebastian continued his desperate battle far out of points.
"Tyre whisperer" Verstappen pitted not until on lap 26, which marked the halfway point of the race. He opted for a fresh set of mediums, and rejoined the track right at the very tail of Bottas' W11. However, Verstappen didn't even have to put up a fight to get past the Finn, so massive was the speed difference.
Lap 32 saw the second round of pit stops for both Verstappen and Bottas. There were only two seconds separating the duo, as they rejoined the track on hard Pirellis. Once Max had taken the lead, he had absolutely no intention to give up on it. On the contrary to his teammate, Hamilton stayed out, although his tyres were critically out-worn. Nevertheless, the Briton kept banging excellent lap times one after another. It was only on lap 42, when the reigning world champion pitted from the lead. He braked heavily when entering the pits; it almost seemed like speeding in the pit lane. Hard Pirellis were Hamilton's choice for his last stint. He had clearly aimed for one-stop strategy, but with so much tyre degradation, it had proved mission impossible. Hamilton rejoined the track four seconds behind Charles, who was in P3. Ferrari seemed to be more gentle in terms of tyres, and Charles was confident to make a one-stopper work.
In just three laps Hamilton had hunted down the Monegasque, making it within DRS distance. Overtaking didn't take too much of an effort from Verstappen, who was absolutely flying. After passing Charles Hamilton smelled his teammate's blood. The Mercedes teammates were told on the team radio, that they were free to race each other, but they had to keep it clean. Bottas' hard tyres were so badly blistered, that there was no grip for the Finn. Valtteri was unable to prevent Hamilton from approaching him tenth by tenth; with only two laps to go Hamilton pulled through. Pole had just turned into bitter P3 for Valtteri.
"Tyre whisperer" Verstappen crossed the finish line as the race winner for the 9th time in his career. The victory was well-deserved, as Verstappen's winning margin was impressive 11 seconds. Hamilton, who equalled Schumacher's record of most podium finishes (155), finished the runner-up, leaving pole-sitter Bottas on the lowest step of the podium. Once again Charles maximised his performance, taking excellent P4, thanks to the Red Team's genius one-stop strategy. Albon managed to put together a strong race, as the Thai driver finished in P5. He was followed by the "pink Mercedes" of Stroll and Hulkenberg. Sad but true, Sebastian was able to make it P12 only, which wasn't much of a comfort.
By winning the race Verstappen jumped second in the drivers' championship standings. Hamilton still has a firm lead with 107 points to Verstappen's 77. Bottas has now been dropped down to third with 73 points. Charles is 4th but 28 points down on the Finn already. Sebastian still has 10 points only, which doesn't give a truthful image of the German's true skills. Mercedes have a sweeping lead in the constructors' standings, as they have more than double the points that Red Bull have.
The F1 circus moves to Barcelona already this week. I'm definitely looking forward to Sebastian bouncing back stronger! Forza Ferrari!
With passion for racing red,
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