F1 2020: Max Verstappen wins 70th Anniversary Grand Prix

Max Verstappen has become the first non-Mercedes driver to win a race in 2020, the Red Bull racer winning out in the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix from the Mercedes pairing of Lewis Hamilton and polesitter Valtteri Bottas after an incredible display at Silverstone.

 

Verstappen had been the only driver in the top 10 to begin the race on the hard tyres. And after starting P4 – which became P3 by Turn 1, after he quickly passed the Racing Point of Nico Hulkenberg – he managed his pace brilliantly throughout the race, pressuring the Mercedes early on before taking the lead from Bottas with a brilliant move around Luffield, before racing to the finish for his first victory since Brazil last year – and Red Bull’s first at Silverstone since 2012.

Hamilton enjoyed a late-race surge, passing his teammate with two laps to go into Brooklands to claim second place – equalling the number of podium finishes of Michael Schumacher in the process – while it was the second time in three years that Bottas has failed to convert a Silverstone pole into a win, as he came home third.

 

Charles Leclerc was another driver to manage his tyres well, making a one-stop work to claim a fine P4, while teammate Sebastian Vettel could only manage P12, having spun on his own at the first corner of the race. 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 teammate Nico Hulkenberg, who stopped late on for soft tyres.

 

Rounding out the top 10, Esteban Ocon was P8, ahead of the McLaren of Lando Norris and the AlphaTauri of Daniil Kvyat, who despite his lower starting position, finished one spot ahead of teammate Pierre Gasly to take his second point of the season.

F1 2019: Lewis Hamilton wins British Grand Prix

Once again, a huge crowd turned out for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone and once again, they were treated to a thriller. Pole-sitter Valtteri Bottas looked to have done everything right as he led from the front and fought off teammate Lewis Hamilton, but a safety car intervention gifted his Mercedes teammate a free pit stop, allowing him to leapfrog the Finn and ultimately a record sixth home win.

Behind the Silver Arrows, there was wheel-to-wheel action galore, as the Ferraris and Red Bulls, engaged in a tense battle for third. It was eventually won by Charles Leclerc, but only after Max Verstappen had been dramatically punted out of the position by the other Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel.

Bottas led away from pole position and held off a spirited attack from Hamilton in the early laps, before the Briton wriggled through at Luffield to the delight of a packed house at Silverstone. But Bottas wasn’t having any of it, tucking into the slipstream before catapulting his Mercedes up to the inside at Copse to retake the lead in sensational fashion.

Championship leader Hamilton dived into the pits, as did Vettel, and re-joined in the lead before taking the chequered flag for his seventh victory in 10 races in 2019, with Bottas finishing second. Hamilton hammered home his pace with the fastest lap on the final lap of the Grand Prix, on 30-lap old tires, usurping Bottas, who pitted late on for fresh rubber.

Red Bull had to settle for fourth and fifth with Pierre Gasly and a recovering Verstappen, while Carlos Sainz, who like Hamilton had a free stop when he pitted under the Safety Car, took sixth, ahead of Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo and Kimi Raikkonen. Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat was ninth with Nico Hulkenberg snatching the final point from Alexander Albon on the final lap.

Lewis Hamilton wins Britain Grand Prix

Mercedes Lewis Hamilton won the British Grand Prix for the fifth time matching the record of Jim Clark and Alain Prost – to cut Sebastian Vettel championship lead to just a single point after late tyre dramas hit both Ferraris. They allowed Valtteri Bottas to grab second from Kimi Raikkonen to secure a Mercedes one-two, as Vettel trailed home seventh.

Red Bull – off the pace of the frontrunners all afternoon – were the key beneficiaries, with Max Verstappen fourth and Daniel Ricciardo – the fans’ Driver of the Day after battling his way up from P19 on the grid –fifth. Behind them, Nico Hulkenberg secured a superb sixth place for Renault – some consolation for the French team after Jolyon Palmer in the sister car went out with hydraulic problems on the formation lap. The Force India’s of Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez took the flag in eighth and ninth respectively, with Felipe Massa the final point scorer for Williams in tenth.

As Red Bull fell back, Bottas in the other Mercedes was pushing forward. He moved ahead of Verstappen after the latter’s pit stop on the 19th lap, then ran long on his soft tyres, climbed to second behind Hamilton as the Ferraris stopped, then battled after them on his supersoft tyres after pitting on the 32nd of the 51 laps. Vettel succumbed as the Mercedes slammed past going up to Stowe on the 43rd lap, after an attempt round the outside there the previous lap hadn’t quite worked out, and then Bottas began to slice into Raikkonen’s advantage as he sensed a possible Mercedes one-two.

Stoffel Vandoorne couldn’t quite turn his top 10 qualifying position into points with 11th for McLaren, who lost Fernando Alonso at just over half distance with mechanical problems. Haas took 12th and 13th with Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean, as Marcus Ericsson was Sauber top finisher in 14th ahead of the delayed Kvyat, who got a drive-through penalty for rejoining the circuit unsafely and thus causing the collision with his team mate. Lance Stroll was 16th for Williams with some ‘aero loss’ late in the race, leading home Sauber Pascal Wehrlein.

MotoGP 2016: Grand Prix of Great Britain

Maverick Vinales has claimed his first MotoGP Victory and the first for Suzuki since 2007 with a dominant performance in the British MotoGP at Silverstone. The Spaniard broke away early in the restarted race and never looked back, pulling a near five second lead as a thrilling fight developed behind him.

Suzuki hasn’t won a race since Chris Vermeulen at Le Mans in 2007, with its last pure dry win back in 2000 with Kenny Roberts Jr. rising star Vinales is the fourth new race winner of the season and different winner so far. Home star Cal Crutchlow eventually finished 3.5s from Vinales to be best of the rest in second place, having got the better of Marc Marquez in the closing stages.

The world championship leader ran wide while trying to re-pass Crutchlow LCR Honda after a close moment at the end of the Hangar Straight, initially dropping Marquez back to fifth. The Repsol Honda rider had earlier been involved in an equally close duel with Valentino Rossi who completed the podium after he made his late mistake.

Ducati Andrea Lannone slid out of second as the race entered its closing stages, with Dani Pedrosa completing the lead group. Marquez overtook his team-mate after rejoining the track following the near miss with Crutchlow. Marquez now takes a slightly reduced 50 point advantage over Rossi into next weekend Misano round. Reigning champion Jorge Lorenzo meanwhile lost further ground in the championship with a forgettable eighth place.