2018 British Grand Prix
Great Britain is having a fantastic July when it comes to sporting events. England’s national team is having a sensational World Cup, with the Three Lions making it to the semi-final after an impressive outing from Gareth Southgate’s men.
This weekend also saw England’s very own man, Lewis Hamilton, setting up to race at the Silverstone Circuit for the British Grand Prix. He has won this race a lot of times, and the crowd was anticipating another master-class performance from him.
Only a few doubted the capabilities of Mercedes and Hamilton when all of the F1 cars were lined up at the starting grid and waiting for the lights to go off. The Briton is racing on home soil, and it seemed foolish to consider Formula 1 results that don’t involve having Lewis Hamilton at the top of the podium by the race’s end.
However, an unfortunate knock at the very start of the race immediately saw the tides change for Hamilton and the anticipating crowd. The race ended in an unexpected victory for Sebastian Vettel, who made a couple of impressive moves en route to the win.
Highlights of the game
The starting grid was a lock between Mercedes and Ferrari. Hamilton, Vettel, Raikkonen and Valtteri Bottas were at the top rows after qualifying. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo completed the top six.
There was no clear-cut winner in this race, but the defining moment came during the very first lap. The conditions were great for an afternoon of racing, but Hamilton spun out of control on Turn 3. The Flying Finn clipped Hamilton’s machine on the back and sent the Briton spinning out of the top and into 18th place.
While there were concerns that the collision caused considerable damage, neither of the two cars saw any damage. However, Hamilton’s race was pretty much over at that point. He wasn’t confident at all while he was talking to his team through the radio.
However, Hamilton was still racing brilliantly in spite of his mood being down in the dumps. He easily cruised past four drivers within a couple of laps and was edging closer to the top. Justice was soon served as Ferrari was handed a ten-second penalty for the ruckus.
The English crowd was kept on their toes as their homegrown ace kept on passing by opposition until he finally saw the back of his team-mates and the Ferraris he has been chasing for the good half of the race.
Vettel changed tyres around the 20th lap and was blitzing through the track. Bottas kept on chasing Vettel and was allowed through by Hamilton, who was on a different racing strategy. The three were on a tense dance as tyre management was an important factor in a track full of tough turns and chicanes like Silverstone.
However, what decided the race was the two consecutive safety cars that affected the tyre strategy of all the drivers involved. Marcus Ericsson was retired after keeping his DRS open during a turn, causing the rear of the car to lift and fly off the track.
Ferrari pulled a fast one and pitted their man for soft tyres on the 34th lap, while Bottas and Hamilton kept out with their mediums. When the safety car was called in, Mercedes’ own Finn pulled a fast one on Vettel and smartly bought a few seconds for his defensive driving.
The second safety car was brought out after Romain Grosjean and Carlos Sainz was involved in another crash. Sainz attempted a brilliant outside overtake. Grosjean oversteered a bit and sent both of their cars into the gravel. Thankfully, no one was hurt.
It was after the second safety car that Vettel made his move. He made continuous attacks to Bottas, but the Mercedes driver brilliantly defended. The German then waited for an opportune moment and simply blitzed by Bottas’ inside corner.
The moment Vettel saw nothing but clean air was the moment the race was won. Hamilton fought Bottas for second and tried to give chase, but it was already over.
Vettel just got another seven points to put between him and Hamilton for the Drivers Championship. Meanwhile, Ferrari’s lead has ballooned to 20 points in the Constructors Standings. It’s too bad that the Mercedes updates weren’t able to get Hamilton a record sixth win at Silverstone
Key statistics
This victory is Vettel’s fourth victory of the season, with the last one being in Canada. It’s also noteworthy to remember that this is the first time this season that Ferrari and Mercedes occupied the top four positions at the end of each race.
While Hamilton saw his four-race winning streak at Silverstone end, he still sees his legacy as arguably the greatest racer of all time soar to greater heights. He has nabbed 76 pole positions, already eight times higher than Formula 1 legend Michael Schumacher.
Hard tyres also made their first appearance this season at Silverstone. Pirelli introduced hard-compound tyres for teams to use. Hard-compound tyres were ideal on paper as Silverstone was punishing on drivers that does tyre management poorly.
What’s next?
The next race on the calendar for the racing fans of SBOBET is the Germany Grand Prix. Mercedes will be hoping to wrestle back some much-needed points in their home grand prix, but anything can happen in the season.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Vettel won in front of his home crowd. However, it would be kind of funny if Hamilton takes this one instead.
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