70th Anniversary Grand Prix 2020
Max Verstappen finally got the better of Lewis Hamilton. After coming agonisingly close to beating the reigning world champion in last week’s British Grand Prix, the Red Bull driver got his first win of the season at the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix.
The Mercedes duo of Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas finished behind Verstappen to claim the other two podium spots, while Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc had another brilliant drive at Silverstone as he went from eighth to fourth thanks to a one-stop strategy.
Unfortunately, his team-mate Sebastian Vettel’s nightmare farewell season at Ferrari continued as his first-lap spin led to another disastrous race.
Highlights of the game
The two Mercedes drivers switched starting positions from the British Grand Prix as Bottas got the better of Hamilton. Meanwhile, Nico Hulkenberg defied the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix 2020 odds as he topped Red Bull’s Max Verstappen for third in qualifying.
However, Hulkenberg couldn’t hold onto that position as Verstappen recreated his fine performance in Hungary and overtook the Racing Point driver within the very first lap. But Bottas was able to hold off his team-mate Hamilton and retained the early lead.
There were also 70th Anniversary Grand Prix 2020 highlights happening in the tail-end of the grid as Vettel, who was all the way down in 12th, slipped to last place after spinning out in the first lap.
Vettel’s Ferrari team-mate, Charles Leclerc, also made a poor start as he fell from eighth to 10th within the first five laps.
Up at the top, Mercedes continue to have concerns with their tyres at Silverstone. Hamilton just barely held on for the win last week after his tyre blew out before taking the chequered flag, and they wore out quickly to allow Verstappen to close in.
Bottas was the first to enter the pits on lap 13 and Hamilton dove in for his stop just a few laps later, which gave Verstappen the lead.
Verstappen likely needed to stop only once to hold off Mercedes, but he seemed capable of pulling it off thanks to how well his tyres were holding up. Meanwhile, Mercedes were struggling to preserve their tyres in the heat at Silverstone.
Halfway through the race, Verstappen was looking quite comfortable in the lead as Mercedes couldn’t mount a serious challenge due to their tyre issues.
Verstappen finally came in for his first stop on lap 27, but Red Bull’s pit crew let him down as he re-entered behind Bottas. However, the Dutch driver didn’t take too long to overtake the Finn and reclaim the lead.
Further down in the grid, Vettel was having a torrid time in the middle of the pack as Leclerc was setting the fastest lap of the race.
After making a hard push to extend his lead, Verstappen made his second stop on lap 33, and he was followed in by Bottas.
Those stops allowed Hamilton to retake the lead. The Brit’s tyres were once again looking ragged, but making another stop would likely cost him any chance of getting the win.
However, Hamilton’s team did decide to bring him in for one last stop. He came back out in fourth behind Verstappen, Bottas, and Leclerc, and had just 10 laps to claw his way back to the top.
That was still a lot of time for Hamilton to do just that as he proceeded to set the fastest lap in the race. Hamilton eventually passed Leclerc and now had Bottas in his sights.
The two Silver Arrows were given the green light to race, but with Bottas’ tyres in a bad state, it was unlikely that he would be able to hold his team-mate off. And so it proved as Hamilton finally passed his Mercedes team-mate with three laps to go.
However, the gap between Hamilton and Verstappen was still nine seconds, and not even the reigning world champion could close that gap in a couple of laps.
Verstappen eventually held off the two Mercedes drivers to claim his first win of the season, while Leclerc came in fourth on a one-stop strategy to give Ferrari fans something to cheer for.
Key statistics
Verstappen’s win was Red Bull’s first at Silverstone since Mark Webber took the chequered flag in 2012.
While Hamilton didn’t win, he did set another record as he tied Michael Schumacher’s all-time mark of 155 podium finishes. It’s also the eighth race in a row at Silverstone where Hamilton has finished either first or second.
On the other side of the coin, Vettel’s struggles at Silverstone continue. After his disappointing 12th-place finish, he has now failed to finish higher than 10th in his last three starts on the track.
What’s next?
With the Silverstone double-header done and dusted, F1 moves on to Barcelona for the 2020 Spanish Grand Prix.
Verstappen owns a win at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, but SBOBET odds will once again have Hamilton as the overwhelming favourite. The reigning world champion has won the Spanish GP in each of the last three seasons.
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