2021 British GP Review

Title rivals collide as Hamilton takes a brilliant yet controversial win

Verstappen, after winning the sprint race, started on pole with his title rival Hamilton starting next to him in second. Hamilton, spurred on by his home crowd, made an aggressive start as the two went side by side for most of the first sector, as the two came up into copse corner Hamilton clipped Max's rear right wheel sending him flying off into the barrier as the race was red flagged, the stewards took a dim view of Hamilton's manoeuvre as he got awarded a ten second time penalty. Eventually the race got running again and left Charles Leclerc in the lead, surprisingly his pace was good and he was able to keep Hamilton at arm's length for the first stint. However once Hamilton served his penalty, he went on a rampage chasing Leclerc down and overtaking him with just three laps to spare taking a memorable victory.

DRIVER WEEKEND REVIEWS:

Mercedes:

Hamilton:7/10, He took an excellent pole position on the Friday evening, however Max got the best of him during the sprint race meaning he had to start from second. After the collision on lap one he did well to refocus and showed some blistering pace at the end to overcome a ten second time penalty and win, however the Verstappen collision prevents him from getting a higher rating.

Bottas:5/10, It was the same old story for Bottas as he had an ok qualifying being fairly close to the top two, however his race pace was subpar as yet again he struggled to keep up with his teammate. It got even worse for Bottas as he was ordered to let his Hamilton pass to allow him to fight Leclerc for the win. Not a bad weekend for Bottas as he still finished on the podium, but he'll need to step up his performances if he wants to keep his seat for next season.

Red Bull:

Verstappen:6/10, He was bested by Hamilton in qualifying however he managed to overturn that in the sprint race with an excellent drive to claim pole for Sunday. Again, he lead from the start but a collision with Hamilton on lap one sent him careering into the barrier in a terrifying accident for the Dutchman. Luckily, he escaped without harm and he'll be looking to rebuild his championship lead at the next round in Hungary.

Perez:2/10, He had a disappointing qualifying being over six tenths down on his teammate in 5th, the situation was compounded on Saturday as he spun off during the sprint race which dropped him all the way to the back of the grid for the start. Things somehow got even worse in the race as he failed to make up significant ground hovering around the fringes of the points for the majority of the afternoon. He ended up sacrificing his lowly tenth place to pit for softs in order to steal the fastest lap point away from Hamilton ending the day in a bitterly disappointing 16th.

McLaren:

Norris:7/10, Lando continued his impressive form with a solid performance throughout this weekend. He narrowly edged out his teammate in both the sprint and qualifying, but the race is truly where he came alive as for the second week in a row he was able to keep pace with and trouble the lead cars for the majority of the race. He was actually on course for a podium until a slow pit-stop crushed those hopes and allowed Bottas to jump ahead. Nevertheless, this race added to a collection of impressive performances from Norris this season.

Ricciardo:5/10, It was an encouraging weekend for Daniel as he put an end to his bad run of form by qualifying 7th and crucially within a tenth of his teammate Norris who's been getting the better of him all year. Things went slightly downhill in the race as he struggled to keep pace with the lead pack however this weekend proved that Daniel is beginning to unlock his true potential in this McLaren car.

Aston Martin:

Vettel:3/10, Things were looking up for Vettel's Aston Martin career after a run of fairly impressive performances since the Monaco grand prix, but that run was put to an end at Silverstone. He got off to a good start to the weekend as he comfortably outqualified his teammate Stroll and was able to start an impressive 8th for the race. However, a costly spin in wheel-to-wheel combat with Alonso on the opening lap put pay to any hopes of points as he was sent right to the back of the field and was unable to recover. He eventually retired from the race with overheating issues.

Stroll:5/10, Stroll had a difficult start to the weekend as he complained about not being comfortable with the car and that was reflected in qualifying as he ended up half a second down on his teammate. He had a change of fortunes come race day, as a good strategy and some strong pace propelled him up into 8th place, constituting a strong performance from the Canadian.

Alpine:

Alonso:7/10, An average qualifying for Alonso left him 11th for the sprint race but he got a lightning start and jumped up to 5th place. He was then overtaken by the McLarens but was still able to take 7th for the start of the race in which he continued to impress as he managed to hold onto a 7th place finish, 2 positions ahead of his teammate Ocon. Another impressive weekend for Alonso as he looks more and more like the driver we saw before his sabatical.

Ocon:6/10, A new chassis was brought in for this weekend in hopes of fixing some of Ocon's recent woes and in qualifying it appeared to have worked as Ocon was just a tenth off of his teammate Alonso. In the race he showed some decent pace and was able to bring home 2 points with a 9th place finish, which was his first top ten finish since Monaco marking an end to a poor run of form for the Frenchman.

Ferrari:

Leclerc:9/10, A heartbreaking defeat for Leclerc as he lost the lead to Hamilton just three laps from home, but nonetheless it was a valiant drive from the Ferrari star. He qualified 4th for the sprint race and showed impressive speed being able to keep pace with the big guns at the front, however anything more than a podium looked highly unlikely. But when the leading pair of Hamilton and Verstappen came to blows, Charles pounced and took the lead of the race, a lead which he held for 49 laps. It was an impressive performance and shows the good work Ferrari have been doing to build a car that can compete at the sharp end once again.

Sainz:6/10, It was an average weekend for Sainz especially considering what his teammate Leclerc was able to achieve in the same machinery. He qualified a disappointing 9th and fell right to the back of the field in the sprint race after a small collision with Russell, however he did show some great speed to charge his was back through the field and recover to 11th for the start of the race. He demonstrated good pace on a long first stint in the race, but his good work came undone after a slow stop cost him valuable time and dropped him back down the field. Despite this he did still manage a sixth-place finish, which was a solid drive considering the setbacks he suffered throughout the weekend.

Alpha Tauri:

Gasly:6/10, It was a solid weekend for Gasly all-round as he secured 11th on the grid for Sunday's race. He had a quiet afternoon for the most part, but it looked as though he was on to score some points until right at the end when he suffered a puncture dropping him down the field. He recovered somewhat but only managed to come home in a disappointing 11th.

Tsunoda:5/10, Tsunoda had a disappointing qualifying session and was left languishing down in 16th place for the race start. However, with some good race pace Yuki would overcome his qualifying woes to claim a singular point in 10th place. Not an outstanding weekend by any means but he kept his nose clean and claimed some decent points, something which he hasn't been able to do very often this season.

Alfa Romeo:

Raikkonen:4/10, This weekend was a continuation Raikkonen's Saturday struggles as he was beaten by Giovinazzi for the 9th time this season in qualifying. Things improved in the sprint race as he made up some places and jumped from 17th to 13th for the start. Things improved further in the race as he was running on the fringes of the points, until he tangled with Perez and spun, in the end he finished the day an underwhelming 15th.

Giovinazzi:5/10, In-keeping with the tone of the rest of his season this race was a quiet affair for Giovinazzi. He put in a fairly impressive qualifying performance as he outpaced his veteran teammate to claim 14th and in the race he demonstrated that same speed to bring the car home in 13th. Not an amazing weekend by any stretch, but given his machinery there isn't much more to expect of the Italian.

Haas:

Schumacher:5/10, He got the best of his teammate on Friday by three tenths of a second and held that advantage in the sprint race to claim 19th on the grid. However, Sunday wasn't the same story, as somewhat surprisingly he was beaten by his teammate Mazepin. Not a disaster for Mick but he won't want this to become a regular occurrence if he wants to prove himself as one of the grids most promising young talents.

Mazepin:5/10, This weekend didn't change Mazepin's fortunes when it came to qualifying as he was once again beaten by his teammate Mick. However, the race was much more promising for Nikita as he finished ahead of his teammate and made an impressive overtake to go with it. He'll need to build on this performance in order to truly prove himself as an F1 calibre driver.

Williams:

Russell:8/10, It was a mesmeric performance on Friday for George as he put his Williams 8th on the grid, ten places above his teammate Latifi. However, sprint qualifying didn't go to plan as a collision with Sainz meant he was awarded a penalty moving him down to 12th for the start. In the race his misfortune continued as he went backwards, which has generally been the trend for the Williams cars this season, however his immense qualifying performance is still etched in everyone's memory as rumours of a move up to Mercedes begin to build.

Latifi:3/10, Yet again he was embarrassed by his teammate in qualifying as he finished an incredibly disappointing 18th. Things slightly improved in the race as he kept his nose clean and was able to roughly keep pace with his teammate Russell. This marks another lacklustre performance for Latifi as he is yet to prove himself as anything more than a pay driver.