Formula 1 2024: British Grand Prix
Track Insights:
The Silverstone Circuit, located in Northamptonshire, England, has a rich history dating back to its origins as a World War II Royal Air Force bomber station. The airfield was repurposed into a racetrack in 1948, with the first official British Grand Prix taking place that same year. Over the decades, Silverstone has become a cornerstone of motorsport, hosting numerous prestigious races including the Formula One British Grand Prix. The circuit's fast and challenging layout, featuring iconic corners like Copse, Maggots, and Becketts, has solidified its reputation as a favorite among drivers and fans alike. With continuous upgrades and improvements, Silverstone remains a beloved and historic venue in the world of motorsports.
This track sees drivers go through another set of 14 curves, corners and chicanes. There is 2 DRS zones and a lap length of 5.891km. Drivers are tasked with navigating this notoriously narrow and unforgiving circuit 52 times for a total of 306.198km.
Starting Grid:
Pole Position: George Russell: Mercedes
P2: Lewis Hamilton: Mercedes
P3: Lando Norris: Mclaren
P4: Max Verstappen: Red Bull
P5: Oscar Piastri: Mclaren
P6: Niko Hulkenburg: HAAS
P7: Carlos Sainz: Ferrari
P8: Lance Stroll: Aston Martin
P9: Alex Albon: Williams
P10: Fernando Alonso: Aston Martin
P11: Charles Leclerc: Ferrari
P12: Logan Sargeant: Williams
P13: Yuki Tsunoda: VCRB
P14: Zhou Guanyu: Sauber
P15: Daniel Ricardo: VCRB
P16: Valtteri Bottas: Sauber
P17: Kevin Magnussen: HAAS
P18: Esteban Ocon: Alpine
P19: Sergio Perez: Red Bull
P20: Pierre Gasly: Alpine
Race Highlights:
I really don’t think that this race could have ended any better or happier if God himself had written it (and I can already hear people say ‘he did’). You heard it on the team radio when he crossed the finished line- I think the only other race yoTu can really compare it to this season is mayyyybe Charles in Monaco.
Coming into this race, the big topic of conversation was, “Can Lewis break the record that he and Michael Schumacher hold for most wins at one circuit?”. Prior to the start of the race, they both sat at 8 wins. Lewis held 8 wins at both Silverstone and the Hungaroring in Austria. Schumacher’s wins were tallied at the currently retired Magny-Cours Circuit in France. I will be honest, I think us Lewis fans always hope for a LH44 win. But with the car only getting slightly better each week and no where need the pace of the *one* Red Bull and Mclarens, it was incredibly unlikely. Then again, if anyone were to do it, it would be the 8x World Champion himself. And that he did.
To start off the race, we had three hometown Brits leading the pack. It was a front row lock out for the budding Mercedes team who has been on the podium for the last two races. The very speedy Mclaren of Lando Norris taking that third spot will be looking to hunt them down. As well as Max Verstappen and his declining Red Bull in 4th- his teammate, whose position on the team is in serious question despite a recent contract extension started from the pit lane after getting a getting a new engine. However, not the most unfortunate start to this race- Pierre Gasly and his Alpine didn’t make it through the formation lap before coming into the pits and retiring his vehicle with a gear box failure.
As per usual, the race got off to a thrilling start. Verstappen was able to take advantage of a run off by Norris to get into third. Now, if you don’t know this by now, when there is a chance of rain, there is going to be a great race. We’ve seen the veterans really thrive in wet conditions while the younger drivers visibly struggle. Both Mercedes got off to a good start and worked to build a comfortable gap to the Dutchman when they were warned that rain was anticipated in the next 25 minutes. With everyone working out strategies for the impending showers, lap 13 saw the McLaren of Norris catch and pass the Red Bull of Verstappen going into Stowe. Followed quickly by his teammate, dropping Verstappen into P5 as the rain began to pelt the track.
On lap 18, Hamilton made his move on his teammate to gain the lead as Russell was looking to struggle in the changing conditions. Things only seemed to go from bad to worse for the impending team leader of Mercedes when Norris took advantage of his struggles and took P2 and again, his teammate quickly followed dropping the Brit back to P4 and they didn’t stop there. Not two laps later the podium picture looked very different with the Papaya team leading the race in a thrilling 1-2. At this point, the track was getting more and more wet and drivers such as Leclerc, Zhou, Perez and Ocon decided to go or the intermediates- which Hamilton declined citing that the time wasn’t right. Most of these drivers radioed in that the track was still too dry and ended up back in the pits to swap tires back. Leclerc ended up with the brunt of this poorly timed decision as he had gone off track during lap 25 and found himself being lapped by his teammate.
Back to the action at the front, Norris found himself in some trouble with his teammate Piastri hunting him down through the wind and rain. During this time, both Verstappen and Sainz, running P5 and P6 respectively took the opportunity to pit to strap on intermediates while Norris and the team at Mercedes followed the next lap. McLaren made the ambitious decision to leave Piastri out in the lead all the way until lap 29 where he emerged from the pits in 6th. By this time, Norris and his orange rocket had regained the lead with Hamilton running just three seconds behind and Verstappen in third having jumped in front of Russell. Athena question on everyone’s mind though would be how long would that last. Both Red Bull drivers were reporting issues with the degradation of the tires with over 20 laps- forcing Perez to pit in order to put a new set on.
Coming down to lap 34, mixed messages were being sent from engineers telling drivers that the rain would last for 6 more laps and the drivers reporting that it was no longer raining on the track but the track was still too slick to put dry tires back on. While Hamilton continued to hunt down Norris for the lead, his teammate Russell’s really bad no good day would come to an end with a retirement due to a suspected water systems issue after starting the race off on pole. The sun started to peak out around lap 37 with Norris leading fellow Brit Hamilton by just about two seconds. At this point, many drivers made the decision to pit for slicks with Hamilton opting for a clean set of softs and Verstappen going the opposite for hards. Norris and camp made the choice to stay out for one additional lap which would cost him the lead when he eventually pitted for a slow 4.5 seconds.
As we got down to the nitty gritty final laps, the Mercedes veteran was out in front with his British counterpart and the Dutchman dueling it out for second. Verstappen was like a lion stalking his prey as he ate away at Norris’ lead as he struggled on his set of soft tires. Eventually, the reigning world champion did catch his rival and took P2 off his hand but the battle left him without enough in the tank to go for the Greatest Of All Time. Hamilton would go on to create history with his record 9th win at the British Grand Prix. Marking his first win since Saudi Arabia 2021. A Marshall found the visibly emotional driver to deliver a British flag which he took with him on his cool down lap as well as the podium.
Podium:
1st: Sir Lewis Hamilton: Mercedes (25)
2nd: Max Verstappen: Red Bull (18)
3rd: Lando Norris: McLaren (15)
