Paul Henman formula1 Grand Prix of Great Britain – Race

Grand Prix of Great Britain – Race

After the inaugural #F1Sprint (don’t say race!) and a post-session penalty for RUS, the grid looks like this: VER, HAM, BOT, LEC, NOR, RIC, ALO, VET, OCO, SAI, GAS, RUS*, RAI, STR, GIO, TSU, LAT, SCH, MAZ, PER.

PER’s Red Bull has a new control electronics and energy store, so penalties would push him to the back of the grid, but he pitted at the end of the Sprint; the team changed the rear wing, as well alter the set-up of his suspension and the cooling of the front brakes, so PER will now be required to start from the pit lane. [FIA]

Red Bull also replaced both front brake drums on VER’s car after they caught fire on the grid waiting for the #F1Sprint to start

RAI becomes the first driver in F1 history to race at the same circuit 20 times!
Can HAM make it eight British Grand Prix victories? [twitter]

The drivers have a free choice of tyres for the race; the FIA Strategy Guide which shows which new & used sets they have available

Air temperature 29°C; track 53°C
Pit lane is open; cars can head to the grid
ALO spins his Alpine in Luffield corner! Recovers and heads to the grid

Grid: VER, HAM, BOT, LEC, NOR, RIC, ALO, VET, OCO, SAI, GAS, RUS, RAI, STR, GIO, TSU, LAT, SCH, MAZ; PER starts from the pit lane

Mechanics clear the grid; looks like everyone’s on mediums except PER who’s on the hard compound
VER leads everyone (except PER) around on the formation lap
HAM and BOT hanging back, so VER will have to slow up or he’ll sit too long on the grid

01/52: HAM makes a good start, challenging into Turn 1 but VER keeps P1
HAM challenges again – contact!
VER is off across the gravel, into the tyre wall at Copse
Safety Car deployed
LEC had already passed HAM for P1
Radio from HAM, “I’ve got damage”; “We’re waiting for you in the box”

02[SC]: HAM doesn’t pit
VER is out of the car but he looks winded
Red flag – they’ll need to rebuild that tyre wall
Radio from HAM asking if VER is ok

03[SC]: The SC leads everyone into the pits
Order is LEC, HAM, BOT, NOR, RIC, VET, ALO, SAI, RAI, OCO, STR, GAS, GIO, RUS, TSU, SCH, LAT, MAZ, PER; out: VER
Unsurprisingly incident involving VER and HAM is under investigation
Meanwhile the Mercedes mechanics are patching up HAM’s front wing with glue and duct tape
Red Bull mechanics are looking at VER’s car – why haven’t they removed it from the gravel so the marshals can get on with rebuilding the tyre wall and restart the race?

Christian Horner on the radio to the race director, Michael Masi, telling him it’s 100% HAM’s fault; Masi says it’s under investigation
Mercedes now contact Masi and say HAM was alongside
Slow-motion replay shows VER’s hands turn right to squeeze HAM
I would call it a racing incident, but if someone has to be blamed I’d say VER was turning in on HAM
Otmar Szafnauer, Aston Martin team principal, says it’s a racing incident

Tyre wall is rebuilt; time for everyone to focus on the restart
SC leads lead everyone around on another formation lap; they will form up on the grid for a standing start
Order for the restart: LEC, HAM, BOT, NOR, RIC, VET, ALO, SAI, RAI, OCO, STR, GAS, GIO, RUS, TSU, SCH, LAT, MAZ, PER; out: VER
Long wait for the back of the grid to form up

04: NOR steals P3 from BOT
RIC has a look at BOT too but the Mercedes stays ahead
VET spins, keeps it out of the wall
OCO takes P10 from GIO

05/52: LEC, HAM, NOR, BOT, RIC, ALO, SAI, STR, RAI, OCO, GIO, GAS, RUS, TSU, PER, SCH, LAT, MAZ, VET
HAM has been given a 10-sec penalty 🙁 Terrible decision

06: LEC fastest lap
Radio for HAM telling him of the penalty; no response

07: Radio for HAM, “We need to push on now”

08: HAM f/lap 1:32.738

10/52: LEC, HAM, NOR, BOT, RIC, SAI, ALO, STR, OCO, RAI, GAS, PER, GIO, RUS, TSU, LAT, VET, SCH, MAZ; out: VER

11: HAM has had to drop back from LEC because his tyres are getting too hot

13: Radio for LEC, telling him they’re switching to Plan B – are they 2-stopping?

14: A lot of drivers being told to extend this stint

15/52: LEC, HAM, NOR, BOT, RIC, SAI, ALO, STR, OCO, RAI, GAS, PER, GIO, RUS, TSU, LAT, VET, SCH, MAZ
Radio from LEC reporting the engine cut out; he’s given some complex changes to make

16: HAM f/lap 1:32.713
BOT f/lap 1:32.694
Radio for HAM, giving him a setting change so he can attack LEC

17: HAM f/lap 1:32.473
BOT f/lap 1:32.415
Radio from LEC reporting the engine cut again
GAS given a warning flag for exceeding track limits

18: HAM f/lap 1:32.291

19: Pit stops are starting – RAI, PER, RUS and VET

20: LEC, HAM, NOR, BOT, RIC, SAI, ALO, STR, OCO… OCO pits
LEC f/lap 1:31.985
PER attacking RAI, takes P13

21: RIC pits from P5; hard tyres go on; rejoins P9

22: LEC f/lap 1:31.974
NOR pits; long stop 🙁 Problems getting right-rear on; rejoins P6

23: BOT pits; hards go on; rejoins alongside ALO, slots into behind for P5
BOT passes ALO for P4

24: NOR inside ALO for P5

25/52: LEC, HAM, SAI, BOT, NOR, ALO, GAS, RIC, TSU, STR
ALO pits from P6; bit of a slow stop; rejoins P10
ALO squeezes past STR for P9

26 = half distance: SAI f/lap 1:31.885
BOT f/lap 1:31.415

27: Radio for LEC asking how many laps he could do at this pace; “I don’t feel any drop off”
Radio from HAM, “front left is dead”

28: HAM pits; serves 10-sec penalty; hard tyres go on; rejoins P5, about 4sec behind NOR

29: SAI pits from P2; problem with the front-left; rejoins P6

30/52: LEC pits from P1; clean stop; rejoins still P1, his lead over BOT now ~7sec
HAM f/lap 1:30.762

31: LEC, BOT, NOR, HAM, RIC, SAI, TSU, ALO, STR, PER, GAS, OCO, RAI, RUS, GIO, LAT, VET, MAZ, SCH; out: VER
TSU pits
HAM easily past NOR for P3

32: SAI closing on RIC

34: LEC’s lead now 9sec over BOT; HAM is ~4sec behind his teammate

35/52: LEC, BOT, HAM, NOR, RIC, SAI, ALO, STR, PER, GAS, OCO, RAI, TSU, RUA, GIO, LAT, VET, MAZ, SCH

37: Radio from BOT, he thinks it’ll be hard to get to the end; his front tyres are looking rough

39: HAM f/lap 1:30.594
PER pits; mediums go on; rejoins P17

40/52: LEC, BOT, HAM, NOR, RIC, SAI, ALO, STR, GAS, OCO
PER inside VET for P16
Radio for BOT, “Team order: do not fight with HAM”

41: BOT lets HAM take P2

42: HAM f/lap 1:30.443
VET pits; retires the Aston Martin

43: HAM f/lap 1:30.160
SAI still on the rear on RIC, harrying him for P5
Radio for LEC, “mode Race, full push to the end”

44: HAM now under 6sec behind LEC
PER looks inside TSU; they bump wheels; PER takes P12

45/52: LEC, HAM, BOT, NOR, RIC, SAI, ALO, STR, GAS, OCO, RAI, PER, TSU, RUS, GIO, LAT, MAZ, SCH; out:
HAM f/lap 1:29.801

46: HAM f/lap 1:29.699
HAM under 4sec behind LEC

47: Radio from HAM, “He’s picking up the pace” and yet HAM still closes the gap
LEC is closing up on 6 backmarkers
GAS pits
RAI has spun off

48: RAI moves out the way and is lapped by LEC
Replay shows PER and RAI made contact, causing RAI to spin

49: HAM has got LEC’s lead down to 1.5sec
LAT lifts off, letting LEC and HAM lap him
HAM now close enough to get DRS

50/52: LEC, HAM, BOT, NOR, RIC, SAI, ALO, STR, OCO, TSU
Incident involving PER and RAI will be investigated after the race
HAM inside LEC into Copse; LEC runs wide; HAM cleanly takes P1

51: Radio for HAM, “Keep it easy on the kerbs; just look after it”

52: PER f/lap 1:28.617 – no point because he’s P16 but that takes it away from HAM

HAM takes the chequered flag – that’s 8 British Grand Prix victories!
LEC P2
BOT P3
NOR P4
RIC P5

Interviews:
Christian Horner: wah, wah, wah

Provisional result: HAM, LEC, BOT, NOR, RIC, SAI, ALO, STR, OCO, TSU; GAS, RUS, GIO, LAT, RAI, PER*, MAZ, SCH
DNF: VET, VER
*PER fastest lap
Incident involving PER and RAI will be investigated after the race

[2021 calendar] [2021 line-up] [Points standings]

2 thoughts on “Grand Prix of Great Britain – Race”

  1. “‘I’d rather fight than finish P11 or P12’ says Raikkonen as he and Perez escape penalty after late collision”
    https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.id-rather-fight-than-finish-p11-or-p12-says-raikkonen-as-he-and-perez-escape.53RCbKAWwYekhXFVcNFebR.html
    “In discussions with the drivers and team representatives, they all felt that no one was predominantly at fault. The Stewards agree and take no further action.”

    Can someone ask the stewards how this collision is different to the HAM/VER incident? Ignore the outcomes (RAI spins; VER in the tyre wall) because they should be investigating the *collision* not what happened afterwards. If PER/RAI is a racing incident, then surely so was HAM/VER.

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