Paul Henman formula1 70th Anniversary Grand Prix – Race

70th Anniversary Grand Prix – Race

There’s just the one update after Qualifying: OCO was given a 3-place penalty for blocking RUS in Q1 [FIA]
Revised grid: BOT, HAM, HUL, VER, RIC, STR, GAS, LEC, ALB, NOR, VET, SAI, GRO, OCO, RUS, KVY, MAG, LAT, GIO, RAI

Hopefully Racing Point won’t have a repeat of last week‘s problem starting HUL’s car and he’ll be able to start the race this time.
The British Grand Prix ended with some of the front-runners having punctures and Pirelli had already planned to bring softer compound tyres for this race, so they’ve mandated higher pressures to reduce the risk of repeating this problem; I suspect everyone will 2-stop too.

Lawrence Stroll was clearly fired up in his pre-recorded speech about the decision to penalise Racing Point for copying Mercedes’ brake ducts. I can see why: the stewards’ report actually says “censure or penalisation is not appropriate on this point”, so to then fine Racing Point and deduct 15 world championship points makes no sense. The FIA’s inconsistency is causing this problem, and of course the other teams are trying to benefit from it.

Pit lane is open; cars are heading to the grid
Racing Point tweet a photo of HUL crossing the line and entering the pit lane – “CONFIRMED: @HulkHulkenberg has officially made it further than last week…” 🙂
And they’ve all made it to the dummy grid

Wow, that was a painfully Americanised version of the national anthem 🙁 Just sing it! There’s no need for the vocal gymnastics!

BOT leads everyone away on the formation lap
RAI was a bit slow but he gets away
Looks like it’s mostly mediums at the front, a few hard tyres in the midfield
First time in the Pirelli-only era that no-one’s started on the softest compound tyre, according to the commentators

01/52: VER past HUL before Turn 1
VET spins – he’s down to P20
HAM threatening already
STR past teammate HUL for P4
NOR past ALB
SAI looking at a move on LEC

02: BOT, HAM, VER, HUL, STR, RIC, GAS, NOR, ALB, LEC, SAI, OCO, MAG, KVY, GIO, GRO, RUS, RAI, LAT, VET

03: DRS enabled
BOT fastest lap 1:31.384
Replay shows VET just lost the tail all on his own – he was over the kerb and touched the grass on the inside of T1

05/52: BOT, HAM, VER, HUL, STR, RIC, GAS, NOR, ALB, LEC
VET has taken P18 from RAI – two world champions right down at the back of the field

06: Radio for BOT “Front left critical, also rear left”

07: ALB pits from P8; hard tyres go on; rejoins P20

08: GAS pits; rejoins P18

09: RUS pits
Radio for HUL “Still plan A, still on target”

10/52: BOT, HAM, VER, HUL, STR, RIC, NOR, LEC, SAI, OCO
MAG pits, followed by LAT

11: GAS around the outside of RAI to take P14
Radio for VER telling him they’re concerned about the tyres, back off; VER wants to attack HAM

12: VER now close enough to get DRS – under 0.5sec behind HAM on some parts of the track
Radio from HAM “My rears are finished”

13: NOR pits
VER all over HAM’s rear wing

14: BOT pits; hard go on; rejoins P6, just ahead of LEC
HAM continues to defend from VER

15/52: HAM pits from P1; rejoins P6, just behind LEC
RIC pits too; rejoins P10
ALB attacking RAI; ALB almost off the track but he makes it stick, takes P15

16: LEC pits, releasing HAM
VER started on the hard tyres so he won’t pit for a while

17: BOT f/lap 1:30.850
VET inside GRO but can’t make it work; tries again, takes P11

18: NOR easily past GRO for P12
ALB closing on GAS again
LAT attacks MAG; MAG runs wide; rejoins and side-swipes LAT; debris flies but both keep running

19: STR and LEC pit
ALB tries to pass GAS but the AlphaTauri defends well, keeps P13

20/52: VER, BOT, HAM, SAI, HUL, STR

21: BOT and HAM are struggling with their new tyres
HUL closing on SAI
Radio for HAM warning him VER is the real threat if he’s one-stopping

22: ALB takes P12 from GAS
Race control: Incident involving MAG and LAT is under investigation
Radio from VER “My tyres feel good”

23: SAI pits, releasing HUL
OCO and VET pit too
Slow stop for SAI

24: BOT has told his engineer he’s going to run out of rear tyres
Reminder: VER started the race on these tyres, whereas BOT and HAM have only had them since lap 14 and 15 respectively

25/52: VER, BOT, HAM, HUL, STR, RIC, LEC, NOR, ALB, OCO, KVY, SAI, RAI, VET, GIO, RUS, LAT, GRO, GAS, MAG
Radio from HAM “Got a band in the middle of my tyre” – his front right looks horrible

26 = half distance: Radio for VER telling him to push – he may be pitting soon
HUL is lapping faster than HAM

27: VER pits; mediums go on; a bit on the right rear; rejoins P2, just a few feet behind BOT
VER attacks immediately and reclaims P1
MAG given 5sec penalty for the incident with LAT

28: ALB closing on NOR
Radio from HAM wondering about tyre pressures

29: ALB around the outside of NOR to take P7

30/52: LEC f/lap 1:30.668
NOR pits

31: VER, BOT, HAM, STR, LEC, ALB, OCO, KVY, RIC, SAI,
BOT f/lap 1:30.544
Radio for VER telling him not to worry about conserving the tyre
HUL and ALB pit
RIC off, recovers

32: VER f/lap 1:30.361
STR pits from P4; rejoins P6

33: VER and BOT both pit
Both take on hard tyres
HAM goes P1 as VER rejoins P2, BOT P3, with LEC just over 1sec behind the Finn
Both HAM’s rear tyres look horrible

34: VET pits; mediums go on
Radio from HAM asking about his rear tyres; told there’s tread left

35/52: HAM, VER, BOT, LEC, HUL, STR, KVY, OCO, ALB, SAI; no retirements yet

36: VER doesn’t seem to be closing on HAM
Radio from HAM asking if the tyres are safe; told yes
VER’s been told to close the gap a bit otherwise HAM could have a free pit stop if there’s a safety car

37: Radio for VER – we have the pace, just need to make sure we have the tyres

38: GAS has VET and SAI on his tail
ALB f/lap 1:30.103

39: VER still just over 10sec back from HAM
BOT is ~2.5sec behind VER

40/52: HAM, VER, BOT, LEC, HUL, STR, ALB, OCO, NOR, KVY, GAS, VET, SAI, RAI, RIC, RUS, LAT, GIO, GRO, MAG
RIC takes P14 from RAI

41: LEC closing up on BOT
Radio for VER telling to him close the gap to HAM

42: VER starts to close the gap but BOT isn’t keeping up with VER
HAM pits; did he hit the speed limit in time? Hard tyres go on; rejoins P4, behind LEC
ALB f/lap 1:29.899

43: HAM 3.5sec behind LEC

44: HAM f/lap 1:28.451 – gap to LEC down to 1.5sec
HAM has DRS now

45/52: VER, BOT, LEC, HAM, HUL, STR, ALB, OCO, NOR, KVY
HUL pits from P5; softs go on – he’s going for fastest lap; rejoins P7
HAM inside LEC into Stowe; takes P3
MAG pits from P20; retires

46: HAM ~4sec behind BOT

47: HAM laps LAT and closes on BOT

48: Radio for BOT – “you’re free to race, just give each other space”

49: BOT just 1.2sec ahead of HAM
Radio for HAM telling him the same – “you’re free to race”
BOT’s tyres are a lot older than HAM’s

50/52: VER, BOT, HAM, LEC, STR, ALB, HUL, OCO, NOR, KVY, GAS, VET, SAI, RIC, RAI, GRO, GIO, RUS, LAT; out: MAG
HAM around the outside, cleanly past BOT for P2

51: ALB passes STR for P5
VER’s lead over 9sec – it’s not over yet, though – remember last week!

52 = final lap: Radio from VER reminding his engineer to hydrate 🙂

VER takes the chequered flag – his 9th victory
HAM has equalled Michael Schumacher’s record of 155 podium finishes

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

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