Weekend Review
The Silverstone Grand Prix race weekend got underway on Friday with a new format that has never been used. Formula One officials decided that they would spice things up a little bit by having a practice session on Friday as usual. Then a qualifying session would determine who would be in pole position for its first-ever sprint race qualifying which would be 17 laps. This new format was used in order to determine who would be in pole position for Sunday’s race. Usually, qualifying is held for the fastest lap during that session on Saturday. It came with a lot of criticism, but also excitement.
Championship contender Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton took pole position for the sprint qualifying race with a blistering lap, but on Saturday he couldn’t replicate his form, with championship leader and Red Bull driver Max Verstappen getting off to a great start and holding his lead for all 17 laps and ensuring that he would have pole position.
Controversial Crash
The stage was set for a battle between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton as Hamilton was sure to beat Verstappen at his home Grand Prix in front of all these Hamilton fans cheering him on. Both got off to a great start and as expected it was going to be a crucial first lap. Verstappen led Hamilton right from the get-go. Hamilton was breathing down Verstappen’s neck trying to get the young Dutchman to make a mistake. Well, it wouldn’t be Verstappen who made a mistake. It would be Hamilton as both headed into the famous copse corner at 180 mph it looked like Hamilton would try to go down the inside of Verstappen and clipped Verstappen’s right rear tire sending him into the barriers.
Hamilton would then go on to claim that it wasn’t his fault and that he left Verstappen the room to which on the replays it clearly showed it was Hamilton’s fault. Hamilton was then given a ten-second time penalty for causing a collision. Which caused a lot of uproar within the paddocks and social media. Because the people think that Hamilton was let off very easily for causing a severe collision. Which sent Verstappen for precautionary checks at the hospital. Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc took the lead. As Hamilton served his penalty during his one-stop pitstop it seemed like a victory was out of the picture. But with the Ferrari struggling with an engine issue and thinking he has enough of a gap to win the race it looked like he took his foot off of the pedal.
With Hamilton lapping over a second a lap quicker than Leclerc he caught up to him. And overtook Leclerc on lap 50. And rode away from Leclerc and took victory in front of his home fans.
Post-Race
There were a lot of controversies to talk about the accident. As both racers and team principals shared their thoughts on what happened during lap 1. Obviously, there were a lot of disagreements but ultimately it is up to the FIA governing body. For them to make a decision whether to punish Hamilton further. With that win it closes the championship gap to 7 points with Verstappen leading the way and the next race will be held in Hungary.
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