July 5, 2022
Free-Practice 1: 7/1/2022
Friday’s first Practice session was drenched with rain, leading many teams to opt out of participating. The rain was so bad that teams wouldn’t be able to collect good data, so the teams wanted to preserve their tires for the predicted rain on Saturday. Only 10 drivers set lap times, the other 10 either didn’t go out on the track, or they didn’t set a proper lap time.
Many teams brought upgrades to Silverstone, so it was frustrating for them to not be able to test them in dry conditions.
Valtteri Bottas of Alfa Romeo was P1, with a 0.470s lead on his former teammate Lewis Hamilton.
The Ferraris of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc went P3 and P4.
Lewis Hamilton was the only driver to set a lap time on slick tires. Lance Stroll of Aston Martin attempted it, but he ended up spinning and getting beached in the gravel. This caused a red flag, and since there was only one minute left in the session, FP1 was over.
Free-Practice 2: 7/1/2022
By Friday afternoon, the track had fully dried and all 20 cars were running on slick tires.
Carlos Sainz put his Ferrari into P1, with Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes 0.163 seconds behind. Lando Norris finished in P3.
Max Verstappen was in P4 after voicing his displeasement with the car throughout the practice session.
Pierre Gasly finished in a shocking P18 after complaining of no grip.
The Williams of Alex Albon was a full second ahead of his teammate Nicholas Latifi. Albon, P14, is sporting some new Williams upgrades this weekend, so maybe they are working. Latifi rounded out the grid in P20.
Free-Practice 3: 7/2/2022
The track was fully dried for the third practice session of the weekend.
Max Verstappen ended in P1, 4 tenths of a second ahead of his teammate Sergio Perez.
Charles Leclerc put his Ferrari a few hundredths behind the Red Bulls, in P3. Carlos Sainz struggled with bouncing and finished P6.
Mick Schumacher finished FP3 in P9! Hopefully points will be a possibility! His teammate Kevin Magnussen finished the session at the back of the field in P20.
Williams was pleased with the performance of Alex Albon’s upgraded car when he finished P14, just as he did in FP2.
Alpha Tauri has been struggling throughout the weekend. Pierre Gasly ended the session in P15 while Yuki Tsunoda finished in P17. Hopefully they find a way to get that pace back before qualifying.
Qualifying: 7/2/2022
The teams were all ready for Saturday afternoon’s qualifying session, but Mother Nature had other plans. In true U.K. fashion, it started raining just 10 minutes before qualifying started. This led all of the teams to switch to intermediate tires and a back up at the end of the pit lane as teams wanted their drivers to put in a good lap before the rain got too bad.
Q1:
Max Verstappen led with Charles Leclerc, George Russell, Carlos Sainz, Lewis Hamilton, and Sergio Perez following closely behind. It seems like Mercedes is finally back in the fight for the win!
Daniel Ricciardo’s McLaren was in the elimination zone at the end of Q1, but his final flying lap saved him and put him up in P14.
Nicholas Latifi made it to Q2 for the first time this season!
Eliminated: Albon (P16), Magnussen (P17), Vettel (P18), Schumacher (P19), Stroll (P20)
Alex Albon wasn’t pleased with his orders to use cool down laps. He said he would have preferred to push for consecutive flying laps before his cool down lap.
Aston Martin is supposed to have a decent car but they haven’t been getting into Q2 recently. I’m starting to wonder about what’s going on with them?
Q2:
The rain increased throughout Q2, so drivers who went out earlier in the session had an advantage.
Verstappen led Hamilton, Leclerc, Perez, and Sainz during this session. Verstappen was 0.407 seconds ahead of Hamilton.
Latifi made it to Q3 for the first time in F1 career!
Zhou Guanyu had an incredible lap at the end of Q2 to make it into the top 10.
Eliminated: Gasly (P11), Bottas (P12), Tsunoda (P13), Ricciardo (P14), Ocon (P15)
After the checkered flag the final laps were showing no improvement at all because of the rain, so those who were in the bottom five stayed there.
The AlphaTuaris were not performing very well this weekend, so P11 and P13 is a pretty good qualifying result for them! In the race, they might be able to push and make some overtakes to get points.
Q3:
It was still raining and radars didn’t show it stopping before the end of qualifying. The strategy of pushing for a good lap in the beginning was still the way to go.
In the beginning of Q3, Verstappen had a crazy spin. In a very Verstappen move, he just got control of the car, saved the spin, and continued on his way! That lap gave him a time that put him in P2 for the time being!
At the end of Qualifying, it looked like Verstappen, Hamilton, and Leclerc would be fighting for pole. Out of nowhere, Sainz landed provisional pole with his final flying lap! However, Leclerc and Verstappen were still on their final laps, so no one thought anything of this. Leclerc then spun at Turn 14 and brought out a yellow flag that forced Verstappen to slow down. This gave Sainz his maiden pole! Leclerc’s spin put him in P3 with Verstappen in P2.
Lando Norris was pleased with qualifying P6.
After a stunning performance throughout quali, Hamilton had to settle for P5 and his teammate was in P8 (not a good day for Mercedes).
Zhou had the best qualifying result of his F1 career with P9!
Latifi had a big spin in Q3 that he got out of without damage but put him in P10. Still, it was his best ever qualifying!
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Carlos Sainz (right) celebrating his first pole position with former F1 World Champion Nigel Mansell (left) |
Race:
As they turned into the first corner of the race, George Russell and Zhou Guanyu were side by side. Pierre Gasly tried to put his AlphaTauri between the two cars just as Russell started moving in, which caused Gasly to clip Russell’s car and send him spinning into Zhou. Zhou’s Alfa Romeo then flipped upside down, spun (WHILE STILL UPSIDE DOWN) into the gravel, flipped and tried to right itself, went over the tire barriers and ended up SIDEWAYS, in between a fence and the barrier.
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Zhou Guanyu's car was stuck between a fence and the tire barrier |
Russell stopped on the gravel, jumped out of his car, and went running over to Zhou’s car to see if he was ok in a display of great sportsmanship. Alex Albon had moved toward the right of the track to avoid the crash as it happened, and Sebastian Vettel didn’t see him and ended up driving into the back of him. Albon hit the concrete barriers, head on, and then went skidding across the track; nearly missing Daniel Ricciardo and hitting Esteban Ocon. Yuki Tsunoda’s front wing also got damaged in the middle of the madness and the race was immediately red flagged.
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George Russell jumped out of his Mercedes to help Zhou Guanyu |
During the red flag, it was found that Russell intended to go on in the race and he only stopped to assist Zhou. However, he was unable to start his car again and the track marshalls ended up loading his Mercedes onto a truck and taking it back to the pitlane. Russell claims that he told the marshalls to leave his car there and let him find a way to start it, but it didn’t matter anymore because he had external help to bring it back to the pitlane. F1 rules state that if you have external help to move your car, like marshalls driving your car to the pitlane, you are out of the race. Russell was ultimately disqualified from the race and his streak of finishing every race in the top 5 ended.
Zhou, Albon, and Russell were required to get checked over at the medical center after their crashes. Luckily, Zhou and Russell were cleared and allowed to return back to their teams. Zhou’s crash was really bad, so for him to be deemed fit and not have to go to the hospital was amazing. It shows how far F1 has come in terms of safety. Albon was flown to a nearby hospital for more checks, but was released from the hospital later in the day. His crash may not have seemed as bad as Zhou’s, but the impact of his head on collision with the cement wall might have required more tests to deem him fit.
Yuki Tsunoda and Esteban Ocon’s cars were fixed during the red flag, so they were able to continue on in the race. The FIA decided the drivers should line up on the grid in their qualifying positions for the restart because the drivers didn’t even get to complete one lap. It was essentially like a redo of the start of the race.
Carlos Sainz got a good start and was able to hold off Max Verstappen for a few laps. On Lap 10, Sainz accidentally turned wide and ran off into the grass, allowing Verstappen to overtake him. On Lap 12, Verstappen started to slow down after a piece of debris on the track got stuck in the floor of his car. This allowed Sainz and his teammate Charles Leclerc to overtake Verstappen and Verstappen ultimately ended up dropping down the grid and finished the race in P7. The damage that the debris did to the car was not critical so Verstappen was able to continue driving, however it reduced the performance of his car and ruined his chances of a win. If not for a piece of carbon from an AlphaTauri, Max Verstappen would have likely won the British Grand Prix.
Yuki Tsunoda lost control of the back of his car around Lap 11 and bumped into his teammate Pierre Gasly. This lead to both of them spinning (synchronously) and carrying on their race. This incident resulted in a 5-second time penalty for Tsunoda for causing the collision and Gasly ended up retiring later on in the race from damage he suffered in the incident.
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Synchronized diving with Yuki Tsunoda and Pierre Gasly: racing incident edition (except it isn't diving and it wasn't just a racing incident because Yuki got a penalty for it) |
Sergio Perez damaged his front wing during the restart after making contact with Charles Leclerc and he dropped down to P16 when he pitted to repair the damage. With both Red Bulls out of the way, the two Ferraris were free to battle for the win. Carlos Sainz was in the lead, but Charles Leclerc kept telling the team he could go faster. Sainz was told to push harder and drive faster, but his speed wasn’t enough and the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton was catching up to the Ferraris. After pitting both Ferraris, Hamilton was leading the race and Sainz was 18 seconds off in P2. On Lap 31, Ferrari told Sainz that his pace wasn’t enough and had him switch positions with Leclerc. Leclerc, now in P2, was free to charge after Hamilton. Mercedes brought Hamilton in for a pit stop on Lap 33, but a problem with the rear-left tire made it a long stop and put Hamilton out on the track in P3. The Ferraris were once again leading the race.
On Lap 39, Esteban Ocon retired from the race and pulled over on the side of the track. This led to the safety car that changed the course of the race.
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| Esteban Ocon retiring from the British Grand Prix |
Under the Safety Car, Sainz and Hamilton immediately pitted for soft tires while Ferrari left Leclerc out in P1 with his used hard tires. Every driver in the race except for Magnussen and Leclerc pitted during the safety car.
On Lap 43, racing restarted and Ferrari told Sainz to hang back during the restart to give Leclerc room to get away from the other drivers. They wanted Sainz to be the sacrifice and protect his teammate, who was on older tires. Sainz was not very happy with this order and ignored the team, attacking Leclerc into Turn 3 and retaking the lead of the race. From there on, it was smooth sailing for Sainz as he drove off into the sunset to clinch his first ever F1 Grand Prix win!! Sainz proved that he really is the Smooth Operator!
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Carlos Sainz celebrating his Grand Prix win! |
Sergio Perez was able to come back up to P4 after picking up damage and dropping back at the beginning of the race. During the safety car restart, Perez managed to overtake Hamilton to come to P3. From there, Perez and Hamilton closed in on Leclerc and the three gave us some incredible racing in the closing laps. They took turns passing each other, pushed each other wide, and showed some amazing racecraft and respect toward one another. Perez finally managed to overtake Leclerc around Lap 48 and he was off into the sunset with Sainz. The Ferrari of Leclerc and Mercedes of Hamilton were left to fight for P3. Hamilton and Leclerc drove side by side until Hamilton was able to overtake Leclerc with DRS, turning into Stowe corner. The race ended with Sainz P1, Perez P2, and Hamilton P3. After leading the majority of the race, Leclerc had to settle for P4.
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| Sergio Perez, Charles Leclerc, and Lewis Hamilton were battling each other in the final laps of the race |
As stated before, Verstappen finished the race in P7, but not without a fight. Mick Schumacher was in points position and he had the opportunity to overtake Verstappen in the final stages of the race. Everyone – commentators, fans, me, Sebastian Vettel – were all screaming for Schumacher to just not crash. We wanted him to stay in the race and just get the points. He sort of listened. Schumacher continued to push against Verstappen until they crossed the checkered flag. However, it ended up being ok because finished the race in P8 and got his first 4 points in Formula 1!! I was so excited that I celebrated as if it were Mick who had just won his first race, not Sainz!
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| Mick Schumacher put up a good fight against Verstappen |
Honorable Mentions:
Sergio Perez’s dad has always been a great figure in the paddock. Last year, Red Bull got a 1-2 at the Mexican Grand Prix. Since it was Perez’s home race, this was exciting and his dad went around the track and celebrated. He was the happiest man alive that day. After his son’s incredible drive at the British Grand Prix, he celebrated with Lewis Hamilton’s dad as they both watched their sons on the podium. A photographer caught this incredible moment on camera:
Lando Norris has always had a questionable fashion sense. For his home grand prix, he decided to wear a Union Jack bucket hat. I’ll let you guys decide if it was a flop or not.
Sainz got his first pole position and first win this weekend! It is also extra special because the British Grand Prix marked his 150 race start in F1.
For those of you who don’t know, Alex Albon and his family have a lot of pets. I believe it is 8 cats, 1 dog, and 1 horse. He and his siblings run an instagram account called @Albon_Pets where fans can keep up with the everyday shenanigans of the Albon Pets! For the British Grand Prix, Alex wanted a special helmet so he had one made in honor of his pets. I think this is my favorite helmet ever (even better than basketball Lando at the Miami GP).
Mick finally got points!!! Oh my god this was the news of the race! Anyway, with him finally getting points this race, Haas was able to get their first double points in a while! Kevin Magnussen finished the race in P10 and Schumacher was in P8, so the team scored a total of 5 points!
Happy Birthday to Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastian Vettel! They both celebrated their birthdays during the Grand Prix weekend.
That’s the race! The British Grand Prix was a lot, so thank you for bearing with me and reading the article. We learned that Mercedes is back in the fight for the championship after a tough beginning of the season. Their upgrades seem to be working, so soon we might have a VERY unpredictable championship battle. Ferrari will need to prioritize Charles Leclerc’s race in Austria next weekend if they want to get him back into the fight for the championship. After this race, it was great that Sainz was able to win, but Leclerc needed those points to catch up. I’m not sure what’s going on with Williams. They have their new aerodynamics package and it seemed to be working during practice, but then in qualifying Albon wasn’t able to perform as well as Latifi. Due to Albon’s DNF, we weren’t able to judge the actual effects of the upgrades, so I guess we’ll have to wait for Austria!
I’ll be back tomorrow or Thursday for the Austrian Grand Prix!
~ Divya
Where I got these
from:
https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2022/races/1114/great-britain/race-result.html
https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2022/races/1114/great-britain/qualifying.html
https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2022/races/1114/great-britain/practice-1.html
https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2022/races/1114/great-britain/practice-2.html
https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2022/races/1114/great-britain/practice-3.html
Pictures:
https://cdn-1.motorsport.com/images/mgl/YXRJw3x0/s1200/yuki-tsunoda-alphatauri-at03-b-1.webp
https://cdn-1.motorsport.com/images/mgl/0RrPZ5g0/s1200/sergio-perez-red-bull-racing-r-1.webp
https://cdn-1.motorsport.com/images/mgl/YXRJ5mx0/s1200/max-verstappen-red-bull-racing-1.webp
https://image-cdn.essentiallysports.com/wp-content/uploads/tom-1-5.jpg?width=900