British GP Race Report

With the diffuser ban discussion in the background, the drivers decided to do what they do best and showed on the track what they’re made of, delivering a race to remember with all the men engaged in some great battles. A few days of arguments over the exhaust rules left the teams, drivers, but especially fans unable to state clearly where it is all heading to and what the rules really say. However, these are politics dealt with behind the closed door and when the clock struck 1 p.m. (UK time), we were left with what we really love – fast cars, best drivers in the world… and unpredictable British weather.

The rain kept on coming and going every now and then all weekend long and when the race was about to start, half of the circuit was wet and half was dry, forcing the drivers to start on the intermediate tyres.

Prince Harry was about to give trophies (probably wishing to give them to the Brits) and though especially McLaren didn’t deliver the result the team and fans hoped for in their home race, there were still 3 British drivers in the top 10 on the grid (Button P5, di Resta P6 and Hamilton P10). Canada in particular taught us earlier, that nothing is impossible in F1, so the crowd gathered in thousands could still hope for a great result for their beloved drivers. Unfortunately for them, a combination of bad luck and bad pit stops didn’t let the Brits achieve success in the F1’s birthplace (even Lewis Hamilton’s ever fighting spirit wasn’t enough to get to the podium). Nevertheless, I’m sure the fans gathered in the stands, on the lawns and in front of TVs couldn’t moan about lack of entertainment.

On Saturday, Mark Webber walked his dog at home nearby Silverstone and went to the track to beat his team mate for pole. However, he was unable to capitalise on it on Sunday and lost the start, letting Vettel through. Behind the two Red Bulls we saw two Ferraris and then two McLarens with Lewis Hamilton having a stellar start which prompted him soon to P6. This wasn’t enough for Lewis as he soon attacked Button. With lesson from Canada learnt and no wall in the vicinity, he was successful and willing to overtake Massa too. His aggressive style brought him to the grass at one point but as he had pulled away from Button already, he didn’t lose anything. Lap 9 saw a collision between Kamui Kobayashi and Michael Schumacher who managed to get to P9, though starting 13^th. Schumacher lost front wing and some valuable seconds as he was forced to visit his mechanics straight away and was later penalised with a 10-seconds stop & go penalty.

At this point Schumacher was the first driver to opt for the slick tyres, a move the other drivers would soon copy as the track was getting drier with every lap. Before most of the drivers ducked to the pit lane around lap 11–12, Alonso/Webber and Hamilton/Massa pairs entertained us with some pursues. Hamilton even managed to get in front of Massa, but went too wide and lost the place immediately. After the first pit stops the leading order was: Vettel, Webber, Alonso, Hamilton, Massa, Button with the Brazilian losing place to Hamilton in the pits. Soon he was overtaken by the second McLaren as well. Next few laps brought us a battle between Lewis Hamilton and his rival Fernando Alonso. The Briton overtook the Spaniard with ease, but it wasn’t the end of their duel this day. Alonso would repay his former team mate and would overtake him back on lap 24.

Meanwhile, Jaime Alguersuari, who (due to bad strategy) was knocked out in qualifying in Q1 alongside the other Toro Rosso driver Buemi, was making a good progress and by lap 20 he was already P12 to finish third race in a row in the top 10.

After being overtaken by Hamilton, Alonso lost some time at first, but decided not to give up too easily and started to chase the McLaren driver. This duo was now fastest on the track, beating each other’s fastest laps records lap after lap. Alonso caught Hamilton finally and overtook him thanks to DRS and KERS on the Wellington Straight. Lap 26 brought us a small tragedy for one more local hero – Paul di Resta. The Scot managed to beat Adrian Sutil in the second Force India car on Sunday yet again to start the race 6^th. He had a good race until lap 26 when a faulty and thus, long pit stop cost him points finish. As if this wasn’t enough, he later clashed with Sebastien Buemi damaging the front wing of the Toro Rosso.

As it turned out, the race win was decided on lap 27, when Alonso and Vettel went to change tyres. Red Bull had some problems and so Alonso emerged from the lane in P1, while Vettel was sent to P3 behind Lewis Hamilton and in front of Mark Webber. 

Vettel was now all over Hamilton, but was unable to overtake him – a grist to Alonso’s mill: by lap 35 the Spaniard’s gap over Hamilton was already around 9 seconds. Unable to overtake Hamilton despite being very close, Vettel went for his last pit stop, probably hoping to beat others due to strategy. However, it paid off only partially: with this decision Vettel managed to gain a position over Hamilton, but still lost to Alonso.

Jenson Button retired on lap 39, when his team released him from the pits with right front wheel loose. Button made it to the end of the lane and stopped on the lawn there. After the race McLaren was fined for this unsafe release with 5,000 euro*.

10 laps from the end, Alonso’s first win this season seemed already safe as he was pulling away with constantly fastest laps and gaining advantage over Vettel. However the excitement wasn’t over. After all, there were still 2 podium spots to fill in and at least a few willing to take them! McLaren informed their only remaining driver (now in P3) that he was running out of fuel and had to save it. Red Bull were concerned that it might be a trick played in order to encourage Webber (P4) to chase Lewis and therefore, ruin tyres. It turned out they weren’t bluffing, but were in real trouble and so Webber overtook Hamilton on lap 46 with no particular problem, despite Lewis Hamilton being told not to make it easy for him. Now Webber started to chase Vettel and caught him a few laps from the end. The team decided to keep it safe and ordered Webber to maintain the gap. The Aussie didn’t listen and attacked his team mate, but without success.

Meanwhile Massa (P5) scented his chance to grab P4 from struggling Hamilton. The two drivers fought till the chequered flag and ended the race side by side with Massa crossing the finish line fractions of seconds behind Hamilton, on the grass and without a few parts on his front wing.

 Fernando Alonso became only the third driver this season (in third GP, after Hamilton in China and Button in Canada) to beat Sebastian Vettel, leading the Red Bull duo home 60 years after Ferrari’s first ever F1 victory (on 14^th July 1951 Jose Froilan Gonzalez won British GP for Ferrari in a car Alonso drove earlier on Sunday). He climbed to 3^rd in the WDC, but is still 92 points behind the runaway leader Sebastian Vettel (now 204 pts), who managed to end all the races so far this season in top 2 (6 victories and 3 second places). Second in the standings is now Mark Webber (124 pts). Silverstone’s top three drivers are followed in the WDC by the McLaren boys, who are on par with 109 points.

Full race results here.

WDC standings here.

WCC standings here.

 

* Sauber was another team to receive a fine: on lap 11 they released Kamui Kobayashi right in front of Williams’ Pastor Maldonado. The Japanese managed to avoid a collision, but the team didn’t manage to do so with the penalty and now has to pay 20,000 euro.