Paul Henman formula1 British Grand Prix – Race

British Grand Prix – Race

There were a couple of investigations following yesterday’s Qualifying sessions:

  • RUS under investigation for not slowing under yellow flags on the last lap of Q1
    “Russell hit with 5-place grid penalty for failing to respect yellow flags in qualifying” “In addition Russell was handed three penalty points, the first he has on his licence. He’s now set to start his home race from 20th on the grid.” [FIA]
  • Q3 pit lane incident involving LEC, STR and RIC
    Can’t find any mention of the outcome of this! Did Ferrari get away with what was clearly an unsafe release?

KVY already knew he had a 5 grid spot penalty due to a gearbox change

So the revised grid is: HAM, BOT, VER, LEC, NOR, STR, SAI, RIC, OCO, VET, GAS, ALB, HUL, MAG, GIO, RAI, GRO, LAT, KVY*, RUS*
*penalties applied

Counting down to the start – it’s about 30mins away as the cars leave the garages and put in some installation laps
HUL is still in the garage – the Racing Point mechanics seem to be working on his car
The pit lane exit has closed, so HUL will have to start from the pit lane instead of P13
Radio from HAM complaining of a leak from his drink bottle
HUL’s getting out of the car and taking his helmet off – what a shame for him

National anthem – feels really odd not to hear the fans
And no fly past… oh, wait – there’s a lone Spitfire with THANK U NHS written under its wings

Racing Point have the floor off HUL’s car – it looks like he’s not going to be able to start
NOR reports there’s a tail wind into Maggotts and Becketts (Turns 10 & 12)

OK F1 app, please get it right this time!

Air temperature 21°C; track 42°C; a few showers about 40km away but likelihood is only 40%

Reminder of the grid: HAM, BOT, VER, LEC, NOR, STR, SAI, RIC, OCO, VET, GAS, ALB, HUL*, MAG, GIO, RAI, GRO, LAT, KVY, RUS
*HUL is out of the car and won’t start the race – did PER take the keys with him? 🙂

Mechanics clear the grid
HAM leads everyone (except HUL) away on the formation lap
We knew the top 10 will all start on the tyres they used in Q2; HUL would have been on hard tyres, and most of the rest of the grid are a mix of softs and mediums
VER makes it safely to his grid spot, unlike the previous race 🙂

01/52: BOT challenges HAM into T1 but HAM keeps P1
SAI looking to make a move on LEC
RIC past NOR for P5

02: HAM, BOT, VER, LEC, SAI, RIC, NOR, STR, OCO, VET
MAG off, in the gravel at Club
Safety Car deployed

03[SC]: Replay shows contact between ALB and MAG, bumping wheels
ALB runs slowly along the main straight, close to the pit wall so his team can have a look; there’s a thumbs up

04[SC]: Marshals are clearing MAG’s car from the gravel trap
Replay shows VET lock up as he was lining up OCO

05/52[SC]: HAM, BOT, VER, LEC, SAI, RIC, NOR, STR, OCO, VET, GAS, ALB, GIO, KVY, GRO, RAI, RUS, LAT; out: MAG, HUL
SC in at the end of this lap

06: STR kicks up some dust as he defends from OCO

07: HAM fastest lap 1:30.533
ALB pits; switches to hard tyres; rejoins P18
Race control: incident involving MAG and ALB under investigation (Looked like a racing incident to me)
GAS closing on VET

10/52: HAM, BOT, VER, LEC, SAI, RIC, NOR, STR, OCO, VET, GAS, GIO, KVY, GRO, RAI, RUS, LAT, ALB

11: KVY takes P12 from GIO

12: BOT f/lap 1:30.518
Radio for NOR “Look after the front left a bit and keep STR behind”; “It’ll be a challenge”

13: Big off for KVY – that looks nasty!
Safety Car deployed; medical car is going out too
Replay – looks like a right rear failure caused him to spin around, over the gravel and into the armco barrier
Most of the drivers are pitting but HAM, BOT and VER had already passed the pit entrance

14[SC]: Front runners pit now too
KVY looks pretty unhappy as he pushes the TV camera away

15/52[SC]: HAM, BOT, VER, LEC, GRO, SAI. RIC, NOR, STR, VET, OCO, GIO, GAS, ALB, RUS, RAI, LAT; out: KVY, MAG, HUL

16[SC]: HAM complaining the SC isn’t going fast enough

18[SC]: Marshals have cleared all the debris now
Radio from NOR complaining RIC is opening too much of a gap – they’re not supposed to exceed 10 car lengths
SC in at the end of this lap

19: NOR makes a move on RIC – takes P7
Race control: ALB given 5sec penalty for causing the accident with MAG

20/52: HAM, BOT, VER, LEC, GRO, SAI, NOR, RIC, STR, OCO
STR closing on RIC … but now OCO is challenging STR

21: HAM f/lap 1:30.371
SAI tries to squeeze inside GRO but the Haas keeps P5
Everyone is on hard tyres except GRO who’s on mediums because he’s not stopped yet

22: HAM f/lap 1:30.188
GRO weaving under braking – that’s dangerous!
SAI takes P5 from GRO

23: BOT f/lap 1:30.058

24: HAM f/lap 1:29.812
Radio for NOR telling him to go get GRO
Race control: incident involving GRO and SAI noted

25/52: HAM, BOT, VER, LEC, SAI, GRO, NOR, RIC, STR, OCO, VET,
NOR inside GRO to steal P6

26 = half distance: Black & white flag for GRO for “unsporting conduct”, presumably for moving under braking

27: OCO looking for a way past STR but the Racing Point is defending hard

29: BOT f/lap 1:29.764

30/52: HAM, BOT, VER, LEC, SAI, NOR, GRO, RIC, STR, OCO, VET, GIO, GAS, ALB*, RUS, RAI, LAT; out: KVY, MAG, HUL
*Remember ALB has a 5sec penalty to be added

31: HAM f/lap 1:29.712
GAS takes P12 from GIO
ALB pits; serves his 5sec penalty;

32: HAM f/lap 1:
Race control: GIO under investigation for “safety car infringement”

33: BOT f/lap 1:29.617
LAT around RAI to take P15

34: HAM f/lap 1:29.326?
Radio from VER asks his engineer “Are you remembering to drink?” 🙂

35/52: HAM, BOT, VER, LEC, SAI, NOR, GRO, RIC, STR, OCO
HAM f/lap 1:29.321
Race control: GIO given 5sec penalty for “safety car infringement”

36: RIC lines up GRO; yet again GRO moves under braking – this is going to end badly one of these times
Replay shows GRO looking at RIC in his mirror – that’s a deliberate move 🙁

37: GRO pits; hard tyres go on; slow to get away from the box; rejoins P17 (last)

39: Race control: incident involving GRO and RIC has been noted

40/52: HAM, BOT, VER, LEC, SAI, NOR, RIC, STR, OCO, GAS

41: HAM f/lap 1:29.282
ALB f/lap 1:29.261 but he’s P15

42: HAM f/lap 1:29.254
Radio from BOT complaining of vibrations but “not a flat spot”
VER f/lap 1:29.070
OCO tucked up behind STR

43: BOT’s front right tyre is looking tired; HAM’s front right is much the same

44: HAM’s lead 3.2sec over BOT, who in turn is 10sec ahead of VER

45/52: HAM, BOT, VER, LEC, SAI, NOR, RIC, STR, OCO, GAS, VET, GIO, RUS, ALB, LAT, RAI, GRO
ALB closing on RUS

46: ALB eases past RUS for P13
OCO looks at a move on STR but STR makes a dangerous move under braking
ALB easily past GIO for P12

47: Black and white flag for STR
OCO takes P8 from STR
Radio from NOR saying RIC is closing so he needs teammate SAI to speed up
ALB f/lap 1:28.874
Radio from BOT complaining about visibility – caused by the vibrations?

48: ALB closing on VET
ALB f/lap 1:28.790
RAI runs wide; destroys his front wing

49: GAS closing on STR; GAS takes P9
VER closing the gap on BOT

50/52: HAM, BOT, VER, LEC, SAI
BOT runs wide; VER takes P2
BOT has a puncture
ALB past VET for P11

51: VER pits from P2; softs go on, ready for a run at fastest lap
BOT pits; softs go on; rejoins P12

52 = final lap: Radio for HAM warning “please don’t do fastest lap; tyre integrity is key”
SAI has a front left puncture; heads into the pits
HAM’s front left has gone too! He’s got most of a lap to go
VER closing on HAM
Bono giving HAM updates as VER closes but there’s nothing HAM can do

Chequered flag: HAM limps across the line – phew!
VER f/lap 1:27.097
LEC takes P3

If VER didn’t pit for new tyres for fastest lap, he probably would have won that … but that’s hindsight because HAM’s puncture was after VER pitted

Provisional result: HAM, VER, LEC, RIC, NOR, OCO, GAS, ALB, STR, VET; BOT, RUS, SAI, GIO, LAT, GRO, RAI
DNF: KVY, MAG, HUL
Fastest lap: VER on that last lap

Wow, what a last couple of laps!
What else happened? SAI dropped from P5 to P13 because of his puncture

What was the 2nd trophy that HAM received?
Kerri answered it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Grand_Prix_Trophy

11 thoughts on “British Grand Prix – Race”

  1. Lots of follow up!

    • “Pirelli investigating after Hamilton, Bottas and Sainz all suffer late tyre issues in British GP” [FIA]
      “Looking at the tyre from Grosjean from the first stint, it was completely worn. I had a look at some tyres from the second stint, and the level of wear is close to 100%, so we have to understand if this is the cause of the failure.”

    • “Grosjean handed warning from stewards after ‘potentially dangerous’ defence of Sainz and Ricciardo” [FIA video]
      “The stewards issued a Warning, with the admonition that late movement in reaction to drivers following is also considered potentially dangerous and will be scrutinised by the stewards.”

    • After the race, Racing Point CEO Otmar Szafnauer explained the problem. “There was basically a drivetrain seizure, the cause of which is still being investigated,” he said. “It’s a shame for the entire team after such a huge effort to get Nico in the car.” [FIA]
      “It looks like a bolt sheared within the clutch housing and that bolt got caught and therefore wouldn’t allow the internal combustion engine to turn over” [pitpass.com]

    • “Albon calls Magnussen clash ’50/50′ as Horner praises ‘really exciting’ P8 recovery drive” [FIA video]
      I agree with him – I called it a racing incident at the time and the replays haven’t changed my mind.

    • “Kvyat ‘distracted’ ahead of big Silverstone shunt, as AlphaTauri suggest puncture may be to blame” [FIA video]
      KVY blames himself for his off because he was changing a setting on the wheel as he entered Maggotts, but I’m with Team Principal Franz Tost in thinking it wasn’t driver error.
  2. “Mattia Binotto says he is no longer Ferrari’s technical director.” [grandprix.com]
    “I’m no longer a technical director,” the Italian revealed to German broadcaster RTL after Sunday’s British GP. “I’m just Ferrari team boss.”

  3. “Lewis Hamilton has overtaken his hero Ayrton Senna to set another Formula 1 record with his victory in yesterday’s British Grand Prix. Despite his last-lap puncture, Hamilton led every lap on Sunday, the 20th time in his career he has done so. That moves him ahead of Senna’s former record of 19.” [racefans]
    “Mercedes led their 27th race in a row last weekend, one shy of their longest such run, and four short of the all-time record held by Williams.”
    “Hamilton latest win leaves him four victories away from matching Michael Schumacher’s record of 91.”

  4. “Formula 1 tyre supplier Pirelli says the failures suffered by three cars near the end of the British Grand Prix were caused by “extremely long use” on a demanding circuit.” [BBC]
    “Pirelli said tyres had been stressed by teams running long stints after early pit stops under a safety car. It said the increased speeds of the 2020 cars had also contributed.”

  5. “Former Force India driver turned pundit Paul Di Resta is ready to dust off his racing boots if required at this weekend’s 70th Anniversary Grand Prix, after McLaren put him on standby should they require a reserve driver.” [FIA]

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