Verstappen had actually been the only motorist in the top 10 to begin the race on the hard tires. And after beginning P4– which became P3 by Turn 1, after he quickly passed the Racing Point of Nico Hulkenberg– he managed his speed remarkably throughout the race, pushing the Mercedes early on before taking the lead from Bottas with a dazzling move Luffield, before racing to the surface for his very first triumph because Brazil last year– and Red Bulls very first at Silverstone given that 2012.
Max Verstappen has actually ended up being the very first non-Mercedes driver to win a race in 2020, the Red Bull racer triumphing in the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix from the Mercedes pairing of Lewis Hamilton and polesitter Valtteri Bottas after an unbelievable display screen at Silverstone.
DRIVER OF THE DAY: Unexpected Verstappen success a fan favourite
Alex Albon took fifth for the second Red Bull, passing the Racing Point of Lance Stroll with a lap to go, Stroll ending up P6 ahead of stand-in team mate Nico Hulkenberg, who stopped late on for soft tires.
Hamilton delighted in a late-race surge, passing his team mate with 2 laps to enter into Brooklands to claim second location– equating to the number of podium surfaces of Michael Schumacher in the process– while it was the 2nd time in three years that Bottas has actually stopped working to convert a Silverstone pole into a win, as he got home 3rd.
Rounding out the leading 10, Esteban Ocon was P8, ahead of the McLaren of Lando Norris and the AlphaTauri of Daniil Kvyat, who despite his lower beginning position, finished one spot ahead of group mate Pierre Gasly to take his 2nd point of the season.
Charles Leclerc was another driver to manage his tires well, making a one-stop work to claim a fine P4, while team mate Sebastian Vettel could only handle P12, having spun on his own at the very first corner of the race.
1
Max
Verstappen
VER
Red Bull Racing
1:19:41.993
25
2
Lewis
Hamilton
HAM
Mercedes
+11.326 s.
19.
3.
+19.231 s.
Valtteri.
Bottas.
BOT.
Mercedes.
15.
4.
Charles.
Leclerc.
LEC.
Ferrari.
+29.289 s.
12.
5.
+39.146 s.
Alexander.
Albon.
ALB.
Red Bull Racing.
10.
6.
Lance.
Walk.
STR.
Racing Point.
+42.538 s.
8.
7.
+55.951 s.
Nico.
Hulkenberg.
HUL.
Racing Point.
6.
8.
Esteban.
Ocon.
OCO.
Renault.
+64.773 s.
4.
9.
Lando.
Norris.
NOR.
McLaren.
+65.544 s.
2.
10.
Daniil.
Kvyat.
KVY.
AlphaTauri.
+69.669 s.
1.
Race Highlights: 2020 70th Anniversary Grand Prix.
AS IT HAPPENED.
George Russell and Charles Leclerc were 2 other fallers at the start, Russell quickly dropping behind his team mate Nicholas Latifi in spite of beginning three places ahead of him, while Leclerc dropped from P8 to P10– with Lando Norris doing the opposite to get up to P8.
That ended up being P7 when Pierre Gasly was among the first to pit early doors on Lap 8, trading his mediums for hards as Alex Albon had a lap in the past, the 2 motorists the very first of numerous to pit early on.
Polesitter Bottas was calm and ensured off the line, heading Hamilton– who had actually angled his Mercedes W11 strongly towards his group mate on the grid– into Turn 1, while Verstappen was past Hulkenberg before Abbey to take P3. Further back, Sebastian Vettel messed up any advantage of beginning P11 on the tough tires by spinning on his own through Turn 1, relegating him to the back of the pack right away.
Daniel Ricciardo had actually kept his fifth position, however attempting to go around the beyond Hulkenberg at The Loop, got squeezed by the German, Ricciardos stutter on the throttle enabling Lance Stroll past for fifth. Up ahead, Hamilton had a sniff of an overtake on Bottas entering into Brooklands, however Bottas held the corner, prior to settling into a rhythm at the head of the pack, just over a 2nd up from Hamilton.
70th Anniversary Grand Prix: Watch the F1 race start at Silverstone.
By Lap 26, the order was Verstappen from Bottas from Hamilton, Verstappen heading the Finn by 19s– in theory enough for a free rest stop– and making Mercedes sweat, the Dutchman lapping regularly faster than the Silver Arrows in spite of being on much older tires, with Lambiase then instructing his chauffeur to increase his pace prior to bringing him in on Lap 27 for mediums.
Verstappen and Bottas both pitted once again for hards on Lap 33, Red Bull positive sufficient to match Mercedes stop-for-stop, implying that with 15 laps to go, the order was Hamilton– who Mercedes had chosen to keep out as long as possible regardless of the worn-down state of his hard tires– with Verstappen around 10 seconds behind, then Bottas, Leclerc, Hulkenberg, Stroll and Albon, the Racing Points having held on decently after having a hard time for race rate at the British Grand Prix a week previously, while having actually pitted on Lap 18, Leclerc had actually handled his tyre life beautifully to be up in P4.
Lower down the order, Albon was in punchy type, passing Raikkonen with a scintillating relocation around the beyond Copse, before getting previous Gasly at Brooklands and Norris, once again at Copse, prior to making his second pit stop on Lap 31.
Leclerc pitted simply once, but managed his tires perfectly.
Haas Kevin Magnussen was slapped with a five-second penalty meanwhile, for re-joining the track aggressively into the course of Nicholas Latifi– while Haas would later retire the car from last place 6 laps from the end.
He wasnt. Verstappen had aromatic blood with Hamilton, and after leader Bottas pitted on Lap 14, emerging P6, the Dutchman was all over Hamiltons rear wing, Hamilton grumbling that his rear tires were “completed”. The battle was cancelled, however, when Hamilton was generated on Lap15, leaving Verstappen in the lead, having most importantly started on the tough substance tires.
Daniel Ricciardo, who had actually sniffed a podium after finishing P3 in Free Practice 2, wasnt having an excellent time of it, making 2 pit stops early on, before the Australian spun his Renault at the exit of Village and dropped to P12 on Lap 31. After his own Lap 1 spin, Vettel was not in the best of state of minds, either, berating Ferrari for his own pit stop having actually put him in an unfavourable gap.
Hamilton was able to hold on for second, after suggesting darkly on group radio during the race that Verstappens pace may have owed something to what Red Bull had done with his tire pressures– while Bottas found it “very discouraging” to complete 3rd after starting initially, stingingly stating later on that his group had been “sleeping” strategy-wise, as Hamilton appeared to receive a more maximum technique.
If Mercedes had believed that they might have been able to one-stop Hamilton, memories of his tyre failure from seven days previously probably examined that strategy, with Hamilton pitted on Lap 42, 10 from completion, emerging 4th, and leaving Verstappen, Bottas and Leclerc in the leading three.
Verstappen declined to let the Mercedes gap him.
Verstappen had actually done extremely well to correspond with the Mercedes in the early part of the race, much to the irritation of his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase, who on Lap 11 told his driver to cool his speed to maintain his tires. “Mate, this is my only possibility of getting the Mercedes, Im not just relaxing like a grandmother,” came the action.
It wasnt Red Bulls finest pit stop, with the right-rear sluggish on, allowing Bottas to re-take the lead by a few cars and truck lengths when Verstappen emerged. It didnt last long, though, Verstappen jinking to the within on Bottas on the run down to Brooklands, before braving it out around the outside at Luffield and declaring the lead once again– before right away gapping Bottas by a couple of seconds.
Hamiltons speed was electric in the latter phases, though, as he chose off Leclerc at the end of the Hanger directly before chasing after his group mate. He was on his tail with a handful of laps to go, and managed the coup de grace on Bottas on Lap 50 of 52 into Brooklands to take P2.
The Mercedes squabbles, though, had actually allowed Verstappen to clear off at the front. He had sufficient time in hand to send a cheeky message to Lambiase on the final lap reminding him to remain hydrated– as he had actually done a week back– before he delightedly weaved across the line to take his ninth profession win, admitting after the race that it was a triumph he “didnt see it coming”.
70th Anniversary Grand Prix: Verstappen declines to sit behind like a grandma.
Verstappen was pleased with his ninth career win.
Verstappen was delighted with his ninth career win.
Charles Leclerc ended up on the podium a week back, but seemed almost happier with P4 this time around, whooping into his radio after boldly making a one-stop method work in one of the drives of the day.
The key quote.
Daniel Ricciardo, who d smelled a podium after finishing P3 in Free Practice 2, wasnt having a great time of it, making 2 pit stops early on, before the Australian spun his Renault at the exit of Village and dropped to P12 on Lap 31. And maybe its barely surprising that the chauffeur to do it was Max Verstappen, whose defiance of his engineer early in the race made for such an exciting 70th Anniversary Grand Prix. Roll on Barcelona …
Were straight over to Barcelona for the Spanish Grand Prix on August 14-16 at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
An amazing outcome to win here, we had an excellent day, whatever exercised well, we had the best method, everything was running smooth and Im exceptionally happy to win”– Max Verstappen, Red Bull.
After beginning P9, Albon again needed to fight through the pack, but did so with aplomb, selecting off Stroll with a lap to go for P5, Stroll then ending up 6th ahead of Hulkenberg, with the German having actually pitted late on for softs.
After the very first stint, it seemed like we were actually good on tires. Of course then there was a question mark on how Mercedes is going to go on that hard tyre.
Fourth at the British Grand Prix, Ricciardos day was more challenging this time around as he ended up P14, however Reanult team mate Esteban Ocons performance was much better, as he ended up eighth, ahead of the McLaren of Norris and the 2 AlphaTauris of Daniil Kvyat and Gasly.
Its a track where Mercedes have won for the previous 3 years– but with more hot temperature levels forecast, and Verstappen in the form hes in now, could there be some additional pain in Spain to come for the Silver Arrows?
Verstappen had fragrant blood with Hamilton, and after leader Bottas pitted on Lap 14, emerging P6, the Dutchman was all over Hamiltons rear wing, Hamilton complaining that his rear tires were “ended up”. The fight was called off, though, when Hamilton was brought in on Lap15, leaving Verstappen in the lead, having actually crucially begun on the difficult compound tires.
There you go– Mercedes can be beaten. And maybe its hardly unexpected that the chauffeur to do it was Max Verstappen, whose defiance of his engineer early in the race produced such an interesting 70th Anniversary Grand Prix. Roll on Barcelona …
Whats next?
