Formula 1 delivered an enthralling spectacle at the venue where its inaugural world championship race was held in 1950. Motorsport Week provides some insight and behind-the-scenes gossip from the British Grand Prix weekend.
How Hamilton won
The visual impression was that the Safety Car period was a game-changer in the outcome of the British Grand Prix, elevating Lewis Hamilton into a lead that he would not relinquish. In reality the neutralisation period was a facilitating factor in Hamilton’s 80th grand prix victory, and sixth at Silverstone, but the divergent strategies meant he was always on the front foot by that point. Tyre supplier Pirelli had not thought a one-stop approach possible due to the high lateral loads on a resurfaced high-energy circuit but Hamilton was quietly confident that the pace and performance he had displayed on Friday meant that pitting just once was a feasible, if risky, approach. Hamilton pushed Valtteri Bottas early on and the Finn’s defending, and subsequent attack, were resilient and masterful. Hamilton was not having it all his own way. But as soon as Bottas swapped his expired Mediums for another set of yellow-banded rubber on lap 16 the die had been cast – he needed to stop again. Hamilton knew that victory was within his reach.
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“We’re supposed to both do a two-stop today, I chose to do a one,” said Hamilton. He had not gone against Mercedes’ approach but rather had taken up the team on its openness to try a one-stop strategy for the second car, in this case Hamilton.
“I already in the morning decided going into the race that I was going to do a Hard tyre on my second stint,” asserted Hamilton. “It was a really difficult call for everyone as we only had one Hard tyre, we didn’t test it in the long runs, I think only one or two teams tested it, so it was a bit of an unknown how off pace you’d be. When he pitted on lap 16 my plan was to offset as much as I could so I think I went four laps or something and probably could have done another lap or two.” At that stage Bottas still had the virtual lead, which stretched from seven-tenths to around two seconds over the following four laps, which was not the growth expected on old vs new tyres. Without the Safety Car Hamilton would have emerged “maybe two-and-a-half seconds [behind]” Bottas and “I would have come out on my fresh Hards and I could have just sat behind him if I wanted to and he would have had to pit, so I would still have had that 21-second gap. So [the Safety Car] didn’t really make a difference.” Hamilton still had to nurse his Hards for 32 laps but he was able to exert a stranglehold on the race through his overall speed while still preserving the tyres, a masterclass in race execution. Mercedes suggested Hamilton pit again but, while keen to praise the team for its stops, remained wary of things that could still have gone wrong. He felt good. He stayed out. Mercedes was concerned about a small blister on his right-front tyre but gave Hamilton permission to go for fastest lap – which he did on the final of 52 laps, taking the extra point for fastest lap. It was a race in which Hamilton had total faith in his ability to undertake a Medium/Hard approach when all the data was pointing towards Medium/Medium/Soft. The reward was a 39-point lead over Bottas, who had an excellent weekend, but still ended up on the losing side. Hamilton has now taken an absurd 15 wins in a calendar year (out of 21 events), and is now just 11 shy of Michael Schumacher’s record, while he has led 310 of the 612 racing laps in 2019, a hit rate of over 50 per cent.
The kids are alright, the sequel
If Austria was an hors d'oeuvre then Britain was the next course in the Formula 1 fight between Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc. Their scrap, which went on for the first stint, was utterly spellbinding, as Leclerc pushed the limits of defending against a driver who re-wrote the rule book on car placement. Some of Leclerc’s jinks were “borderline”, as he put it, but it was hard and fair racing between the sport’s two main rising youngsters. “I think Austria was quite an eye-opener for me, and I understand how far we can go and what was expected,” said Leclerc, who earlier in the weekend had vowed he would adopt a more aggressive approach. Verstappen suggested Leclerc was “a bit sour” from Austria but nonetheless revelled in the fight which he “enjoyed a lot.” Silverstone was further proof that Formula 1’s future is in good hands.
Difficult
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Sebastian Vettel was asked post-race to describe his season in a single world. After a pause came the reply: difficult. The British Grand Prix was certainly challenging for Vettel, adrift of Leclerc on one-lap pace, as his tricky run continued. He really could have done without such a cataclysmic mistake that ended his hopes, wrecked Verstappen’s podium prospects, and left him with a 10-second time penalty and two more points on his license. It was the seventh race in the last 12 months in which a mistake, or misjudgement, by Vettel has had a negative impact on his result, a startling statistic for a driver with such high placing in the record books. Vettel is now winless in 18 races and must hope that his home event is a catalyst for a positive turnaround – not that Hockenheim was kind to him in 2018.
The Gasman arrives
Pierre Gasly has had a wretched season with very few highs and a litany of troughs, which reached a nadir in Austria. The 10 days in between events allowed Gasly and Red Bull to have a spate of meetings and the youngster arrived in Britain confident of a turnaround. But words are words, and actions are actions, and Gasly backed up his ebullient mood with by far his strongest showing of the campaign. For the first time this year Gasly was legitimately part of the front-running group, rather than hanging onto the coat-tails, or worse, getting lumped in with the midfield. Gasly declined to elaborate on what went on, insisting it was best to keep such matters behind closed doors, but revealed that “a lot of changes” were made. “I think there are so many things that made it possible, it wasn’t like one big thing, it was many little things to sort out and to maximise,” he said. “It is still not perfect but I think we did a massive step forward in every area. We still need to find that extra, final step to make it to the podium but the whole weekend was strong.” The task for Gasly is to now maintain the momentum through the final two pre-summer events and prove the fundamental ability and potential that brought him – and kept him on – the Red Bull programme in the first place.
Tales of highs, tales of lows
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Carlos Sainz Jr. struggled through low-speed corners in qualifying but made gains in race trim with a flying start and then profited from the Safety Car phase to seal a net sixth, ahead of Daniel Ricciardo and Kimi Raikkonen, though it could have been better for Renault. A problem with Sergio Perez’s steering wheel meant he couldn’t shift the brake balance back, and the forward setting left him careering into Nico Hulkenberg; the greatest damage was to an apologetic Perez’s wing, but Hulkenberg dropped a spot to Raikkonen, and then lost ninth to Daniil Kvyat when he lost engine power. “I feel like we had some boost pressure drop-outs and the team told me to go into safe mode and basically cut the engine power, then a few seconds later they said ‘no back to this’, then with a default it recovered but obviously you lose a few seconds,” said the Renault driver. That he took a point was also down to problems for the British-born youngsters. A battery problem had stymied Alexander Albon’s prospects as Honda detected a high voltage issue from the power unit, and told Toro Rosso it was inadvisable to make a second stop on safety ground. That left Albon out on worn tyres and he dropped from ninth during the closing stages. Lando Norris’ grid spot was squandered by strategy and the Safety Car, marking a disappointing outcome for one of 2019’s most impressive drivers.
Haas
When the perplexingly renegade ex- (maybe ex?) representative of your title sponsor posts a bizarrely photoshopped image on social media and that isn’t anywhere near the primary concern then you know it’s been a bad weekend. The Rich Energy saga was an unexpected plot twist in the mystery of the energy drinks firm and its bearded CEO (who may or may not be CEO) but ultimately that strand of news was an internal fight within that company, albeit one that reflected badly on Haas. Of more concern was Haas’ on-track performance, with the situation so problematic that Haas reverted to an Australian GP spec approach for Romain Grosjean. Spinning in the pit lane, and wrecking a front wing, was an embarrassing start to the weekend. But at least there was a useful 52 laps ahead for the team to try and gather crucial data in a bid to cure the race pace issues plaguing the VF-19. At least, that is, until the drivers clashed four corners into the race. It was an innocuous brush with greater consequences – but considering the team’s predicament the drivers took an unnecessary risk. Team press releases are usually sanguine affairs but Haas was pulling no punches. “The best that our drivers could bring to the battle was a shovel – to dig the hole we’re in even deeper,” was the quote attributed to irate boss Guenther Steiner. In his media session he was understandably aghast at the situation. “I don’t have the solution, I need to sleep over it, I need to wind down and I will come up with a solution, I normally come up with solutions how to go forward, that’s my job, and whatever they are, I will push them too,” he said. “We’re a team, and everyone needs to work for the team, and not or himself. I’m the first one to work for double the time like I did maybe three or four months ago. It doesn’t bother me. I want everybody to be steering in the same direction. When I saw it on TV, I couldn’t almost believe it. There are two cars running into each other and it’s us two.” Maybe it is time for a change. But what, and who? There are a few names in the running…
Silverstone delivers
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Great race tracks do not always deliver great racing but in recent years there has been a correlation between superb layouts permitting drivers to battle and put on a show. Perhaps that should act as a lesson for the future when new circuits and venues are being planned. Silverstone is regularly a highlight of the season for drivers, with the current Formula 1 cars so fast that the circuit has changed from being a downforce-limited track to one dictated by aerodynamic efficiency. Williams aside, the likes of Abbey, Farm and Copse are no longer considered corners but merely full-throttle bends, allowing drivers to still follow relatively closely, for the downforce levels are so high. The resurfaced track provided greater levels of grip while the cool weekend-long temperatures meant it was a different ball game to Austria. There Pirelli had the C3s-C5s trying to cope with a 53c track temperature on a rear-limited venue while at the high-energy Silverstone the C1s-C3s were getting a workout on a track temperature of 30c. The tyres still had to be looked after but overheating was nowhere near an issue it usually is, courtesy of the British summer that left air and track temperatures cooler than pre-season testing. With Formula 1 still trying to define its 2021 regulations Silverstone was a reminder that track layout, circumstance, and a little bit of help from the weather and tyres can result in fantastic racing, even for the flaws elsewhere.
2020 vision
McLaren removed itself from any silly season rumours by locking in both Sainz Jr. and Norris for 2020. It was an entirely expected step, with Sainz Jr. holding a two-year deal and Norris effectively passing his probation period off the back of an impressive first half of his rookie campaign. It allows the team to focus on its gradual improvement under new boss Andreas Seidl, ensuring there are no distractions. Esteban Ocon’s name continues to be associated with Renault (again) though the machinations for the bulk of the grid are only going to properly begin once the top teams deliver confirmation of their line-ups. The calendar is still taking shape with only Australia (March 15) assured of its date though there will again be 21 grands prix (assuming both ‘new’ 2020 races are ready on time), meaning Spain and Germany remain the likeliest for the chopping block, as has been expected for some time. The mid-season European races (France, Austria, Britain) are potentially up for some shifting owing to Liberty's desire to avoid direct clashes with other events (Tour de France, Wimbledon, Euro 2020) where possible. It has been mooted that Britain may run in late June, again as a standalone, with Austria/France back-to-back in July.
Too much sport
There was frustration, particularly among the British contingency, that the British Grand Prix had been scheduled on the same weekend as Wimbledon and the Cricket World Cup final, in which England took on New Zealand. Several of the post-race media sessions coincided with a crucial stage in Wimbledon’s epic five-setter, with Sebastian Vettel understandably distracted at the Djokovic-Federer battle while trying to answer questions about his race. The cricket, meanwhile, was a less universally acclaimed encounter, with the English journalists gripped by the astonishing conclusion and the rest of the world asking about the rules and what was actually going on. “None of those numbers on the screen mean anything to me,” said one non-English journalist, moments before the most extraordinary finish to any cricket match led to a cacophony of noise from one corner of the media centre.
The name’s Bull, Red Bull
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The Aston Martin-sponsored Red Bull team celebrated the world of James Bond for Formula 1’s 1,007th race, with tweaks to the RB15 livery. The rear wing was adorned by the iconic 007 logo while the rear wings were fitted with number plates that featured in some of the earlier films from the franchise. Verstappen’s car featured the number plate from the Aston Martin DB5 first featured in Goldfinger while Gasly’s machine was equipped with the number plate from the Aston Martin V8 as seen in The Living Daylights. The drivers donned suit-themed race suits, while actor Daniel Craig was present at the race, presumably shaken, and stirred, by the Formula 1 buzz. “I've seen the older Bond films, and I especially like the more recent ones,” said Verstappen. “I already drove the DB5 here. That was cool. I'm not a fan of classic cars in general, but this one is nice.” Sadly, neither of the cars were equipped with funky lasers, guns or ejector seats – though the latter surely something Helmut Marko would ponder putting in an F1 car.
Racing for cancer
Racing Point, nee Force India, has partnered Breast Cancer Care since 2017 and during that period the team has raised over £212,000, with the money having helped the charity fund life-changing support for those affected by breast cancer in the UK. At the British Grand Prix, title sponsor SportPesa launched the ‘Grid That Gives’ initiative, which will see the company donate £1,000 to Breast Cancer Care for every grid place gained by Sergio Perez and Lance Stroll from their starting grid position to the end of race position. It means the team is guaranteed to surpass its original fundraising target, which was £250,000 by the end of 2020.
Hot Laps
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Pirelli’s Hot Laps were back at Silverstone – with Lamborghini joining the party – and on Thursday a mixture of pundits, VIPs and media were given rides around the circuit. Only one driver had a slight mishap. The TV cameras cut to the sight of a McLaren 720S spinning off into the gravel. Not part of the plan. The passenger was Johnny Herbert, who caused much amusement as he inspected the beached car before grabbing a shovel to try and dig it out. But who was the driver? As the cameras remained on the scene it became clear that it was not an ex-driver or McLaren test driver, but its Formula 1 racer Lando Norris. The youngster crouched beside the car barely able to believe what he has done, adding to an eventful day in the wake of his total loss of composure during the press conference. But the most heart-warming segment of the Hot Laps was when Lewis Hamilton took Sir Frank Williams out for two laps in a Mercedes AMG S63 – if you haven’t watched the video then do so here.
The Brawn Supremacy
Classic cars are a regular feature of the British Grand Prix. Masters Historic Formula 1 was on the support bill but the greatest focus was placed on the Brawn BGP001, the car which stunned the paddock when it burst onto the scene in early 2009. In an environment where fairy-tales are nigh on impossible, the rejuvenation of a team that came close to extinction and a driver who came within an inch of not being on the grid is as close to a Hollywood script as possible. On Thursday Silverstone came alive with the sound of a V8 engine as Jenson Button – present in his role as a Sky Sports F1 pundit – got behind the wheel of the BGP001 for a few laps of the circuit. “So emotional to be with my championship winning car," said Button. "When I jumped in the car the excitement felt the same as when I first drove an F1 car back in 1999 but as soon as I exited the pit lane it all came back, felt so natural and at home.”
Thank You Charlie
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The Formula 1 community received a shockwave on the eve of the 2019 season with the loss of Charlie Whiting, whose role in the championship was immeasurable. On Thursday a commemoration service was held at Silverstone to remember Whiting’s contribution, with readings and recollections both from his family and his Formula 1 family. Whiting’s widow, Juliette, spoke eloquently, as did his eldest daughter Laura, while host Martin Brundle, friend and colleague Ross Brawn, Sebastian Vettel – on behalf of the drivers – and FIA President Jean Todt all paid tribute to Whiting’s huge impact on various aspects of the championship. There were also video tributes from friends and colleagues detailing Whiting’s presence not just as a Race Director, Safety Delegate and all-round leader, but as a person. The majority of the Formula 1 community, including all 20 drivers, were present to pay tribute to Whiting. President Todt concluded the speeches and perhaps left the most important message: Whiting has left an indelible mark on Formula 1, but now is the time to ensure he is not merely remembered, but built upon and developed by the next generation. Whiting's son, Justin, was given the honour of pressing the button to signal the start of the race. It was also confirmed on Sunday that Michael Masi, who took over from Whiting as Race Director, will remain in the role through the remainder of 2019.
Horner breaks in
Silverstone’s renewal through 2024 led to some reminiscing from Red Bull team boss Christian Horner, who had one of the best days of his life as a youngster when he broke into the venue.
“One of my earliest memories coming here was back in 1992, shortly after I passed my driving test in my pimped-up Volkswagen Beetle,” he said. “They used to have a Goodyear tyre test here in June, the month before the grand prix. As an aspiring young karting driver I managed to find a hole in a fence – I don’t know whether it’s still there, around the corner from Copse, go through the tunnel, there’s a hole in the fence there, crawled through that, I managed to get into the pitlane, tried to pretend like I looked like I should be there. I had a karting jacket on at the time and came face to face with Ayrton Senna. It was a huge moment for me, he was one of my heroes. He’d had an accident on a jetski and so he wasn’t doing a lot of driving but he noticed the kart logo I had on my jacket and started asking me about karting. I thought, ‘I can’t top that! This day cannot get any better’ and then I managed to sneak through a garage and get to the front of the pitlane and Nigel was testing his Williams. I managed to get into the Williams garage, God knows how, and overhear Nigel. They were asking him what was preventing him going faster through Becketts? I remember him saying ‘I’m struggling to line my eyes up with my eye-sockets, because we’re so fast through there!’ So that was a huge memory for me, just topped the day off. Meeting Senna, then Mansell, and then driving home in my very flash Volkswagen Beetle!”
By George I’m boring
Drivers usually face an array of questions about their racing lives and sometimes these stray into personal territory. A Polish TV channel wanted to know what George Russell did as a hobby, only for the rookie to be unable to think of anything concrete outside of racing. “I’m a boring guy,” laughed Russell. “I’m a very boring guy. Er… Officially a boring guy! I’m new to Formula 1 and to be honest this year is a massive learning year about how much time and effort I need to put it. I’m spending time with friends and family. But I do want to find a hobby. I think it’s important. Maybe golf.” Tiger Woods, you have been warned…
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