Just one week after the British Grand Prix, the teams and drivers returned to action around the Silverstone circuit for the EMIRATES FORMULA 1 70TH ANNIVERSARY GRAND PRIX 2020. The race was won by Max Verstappen, who has been the first non-Mercedes race winner in a season dominated by Mercedes.
Off the line, Max Verstappen took P3 from Nico Hulkenberg, who is back in the Racing Point this weekend to replace Sergio Perez. At the front of the grid, Lewi Hamilton slipped in behind Valtteri Bottas, who maintained his pole position.
Further back, Sebastian Vettel spun in the first corner and fell down to the back of the field. He lost control of the car thanks to some wheel spin on the inner kerb.
When the DRS was enabled on the third lap of the race, Hamilton was narrowly within the DRS zone, although he fell out of range after a couple of laps. Mercedes was potentially looking after their tyres so as not to repeat last weekend’s double tyre failure late in the face.
Alexander Albon was the first car in the race to pit, diving into the pit lane on lap 7. Pierre Gasly did the same the following lap.
Despite having been told to ease off and care for his tyres, Verstappen was pushing onward to chase down the Mercedes. Shortly after the Red Bull was within DRS range of Hamilton, both Mercedes cars pitted. It was Bottas who came in first, with Hamilton pitting the following lap.
On lap 27, Verstappen pitted for a fresh set of medium compound tyres from the lead of the race. He rejoined the race narrowly behind Bottas, but he was able to claw back the lead after just a few corners.
Verstappen and Bottas pitted again after just a handful of laps on the medium tyres. They both changed to new sets of the hard compound tyres. Hamilton pitted around 10 laps later to prevent a tyre failure, which almost ruined his race the previous weekend, giving up the lead of the race. He came out behind Charles Leclerc, but he zoomed past on the fresher tyres.
In the closing stages of the race, Bottas began to struggle with tyre degradation and dropped off the leading Red Bull’s pace. He was caught by the quicker Hamilton and let the Brit by on a DRS straight late in the race.
Hamilton was unable to catch up to Verstappen, who was a clear 11 seconds ahead as he crossed the line. Verstappen became the first non-Mercedes race winner in 2020, a season that has been dominated by the Silver Arrows. Hamilton had to settle for P2, although it was enough to maintain a 30 point lead in the championship. Bottas was on the bottom step of the podium, dropping below Verstappen in the championship table.
There won’t be much time for Verstappen to celebrate his victory, as the teams and drivers return to Spain’s Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, the setting of pre-season testing in February. The race will be held in one week’s time, on the weekend of August 16.
Above results table does not include any post-race penalties
