Charles Leclerc wins his first race of the season, with home-heroes George Russell and Lewis Hamilton completing the podium places. Silverstone once again held a spectacular and entertaining race, from Lego go-karts to end-of-race drama.
It was Antonelli who was lined up in pole position for the start of the Grand Prix, closely followed by the Ferraris of Leclerc and Hamilton, respectively. Yet, as the lights went out the young Mercedes driver could not convert his pole into the lead of the race, being swiftly overtaken by the two Ferrari drivers, with Leclerc taking the lead of the race.
After reviewing the start of the race, the stewards declared that Hamilton had moved before the lights went out, leaving the Brit with a five-second time penalty to be served at his first pitstop.
The first lap saw a collision between Williams’ Alex Albon and Haas’ Oliver Bearman, with the pair making contact going into Brooklands. Fortunately, both drivers continued their race, but sustained damage to their cars. Later, the stewards handed a 10 second time penalty to Albon for the incident. The Williams later retired the car due to the damage from this incident.
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri also sustained damage to his front wing on the opening lap of the race after contact with Liam Lawson. The Australian had to change the nose of the car at the end of the first lap, dropping him to the back of the field.
Hadjar outqualified his teammate, Verstappen, on Saturday. But on lap three, the Dutchman overtook his teammate for fifth place. On lap eleven, Antonelli closed the gap to Hamilton. He eventually made the move at Copse corner, overtaking the Ferrari to take second place.
A series of pitstops came on lap 24, with Hamilton serving his time penalty. He said on his radio that his tyres “still felt good,” but the Ferrari boxed regardless. Russell pitted at the same time, coming out ahead of his former teammate. Norris and Verstappen inherited 3rd and 4th place as they stayed on track.
By lap 29, the gap between Verstappen, Russell and Hamilton allowed the two Brits to chase the four-time World Champion for the final podium place. With the trio’s battle continuing over ten laps, it resulted in the Mercedes car suffering a slow puncture whilst fighting against Verstappen for fourth. The call to pit dropped him out of the third-place battle. On lap 38, Hamilton finally made the move over Verstappen for 3rd.
Nico Hulkenburg’s Audi came to a stop at the side of the track on lap 39, leading to yellow flags and a short VSC. The two RedBulls and Lando Norris used this opportunity to take their pitstop.
When racing resumed, Antonelli became increasingly worried of an issue with his car. The race leader dived into the pits, with the team changing his front wing and tyres. Coming out in 6th, the young Italian continued reporting the problem. The team believed there was an issue with the “wheel-shield” and chose to box Antonelli again to remove the piece.
The Championship leader was hesitant to return to the pitlane, believing he could stay on track to gain the final points to offer. However, after exceeding track limits, he was handed a 5 second time penalty from the stewards. Antonelli was audibly upset by this on his radio, saying that he “didn’t do it on purpose” and that the “car was broken”.
Chaos ensued as Max Verstappen beached his car at Stowe on lap 48/52 of the Grand Prix. The Dutchman lost control of the car coming into the corner, with it spinning over the gravel. He said that the issues with his RB22 are “frustrating and painful”. This is Verstappen’s second crash in a week, due to problems with the rear wing.
A full safety car was deployed. Many teams used this as an opportunity to change onto soft tyres for the last stint of the race, including bringing Hamilton in for soft tyres. Staying out on track, George Russell overtook the fellow British driver for second place.
As Verstappen’s beached RedBull was being lifted out of the gravel, drivers who had been lapped during the race were allowed to unlap themselves. The announcement of the Safety Car ending before the final lap started made fans and teams hopeful of a last-lap battle.
However, as the driver’s entered Vale, Bernd Myländer kept the Safety Car on track, ending the race under neutral conditions. Fans were left confused the Safety Car appeared to be ending but continued to the end.
The FIA said that it was an “erroneous mistake.” A full racing lap must be completed following lapped cars being able to unlap themselves. Many people have called out the FIA for unclear decisions being made within the last two races, referring to the double/single yellow flag confusion during Qualifying in Austria.
The controversial ending to the British Grand Prix has also been contrasted to the ending of the famous Abu Dhabi 2021 title-decider, where racing was resumed on the final lap, albeit under different regulations.
The British Grand Prix was a spectacular and special race, seeing Charles Leclerc earn his first win of the season, followed by Russell and Hamilton, who completed the podium. The five British drivers of Hamilton, Russell, Norris, Bearman and Lindblad had a successful race, with 564,000 tickets sold for the weekend, to welcome them home.
*All photos are owned and taken by Jessica Eccles, for inquiries please contact on Instagram @jessicaecclesjournalism
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