A special British Grand Prix as I report the race from my view at the British Grand Prix, from the Grandstand.
The start
Sitting at chapel (located on the exit of Becketts). I was not located towards the start so was watching on the big screen. As the cars went through I saw a crash in the background and we soon saw it was British Driver George Russell. The crowd were devastated and when the red flag was waved, the crowd and me thought it was because of Russell. However, we soon realised it wasn’t just Russell.
30-40 minutes into the red flag, replays revealed that Zhou Guanyu had collided with Russell which sent the Chinese driver upside down and continued until he reached the barrier and rolled over it. Fortunately, he was unhurt but certainly another example as to why the Halo is so important in modern day Formula 1.
Ferrari’s struggles
Despite Ferrari not ‘struggling’ for pace or for positions, Ferrari had Sainz in first place but a quicker Leclerc behind.
Ferrari found themselves in this position after Perez occurred front wing damage and Verstappen occurred a puncture and floor damage. Ferrari also had the threat of Lewis Hamilton in third behind as he was setting fastest lap after fastest lap.
Battle for second
After Esteban Ocon occurred a mechanical failure, the safety car was deployed and triggered pit stops for every one bar race leader Charles Leclerc. This meant that he would be on old hards whilst everyone else would be on new soft tyres.
When the safety car came in, Sainz quickly got past teammate Leclerc for the lead and went to extend his lead. Meanwhile, Leclerc had Perez and Hamilton to fend off for the remaining laps.
Leclerc and Perez battled until they both went wide and enabled Hamilton to slip past both drivers for P2. However, this didn’t last long as half a lap later he was past by both drivers. Hamilton later past Leclerc for P3.
Chequered flag
Carlos Sainz crossed the line to win his first Grand Prix on his 150th race weekend. Perez finished a surprise P2 considering his front wing change at the start of the race. P3 was Sir Lewis Hamilton much to the delight of the fans.
Post race, I ran to the podium but just missed it but here’s the amount of fans on the main straight.
An amazing race and one to remember. Glad Albon and Zhou Guanyu are ok after their respective crashes.