Formula 1 British Grand Prix Live: Lewis Hamilton wins British GP again

Formula 1 British GRAND PRIX LIVE – Lewis Hamilton wins a absolute thriller vs Charles Leclerc, Verstappen crashes out: Lewis Hamilton won his home British Grand Prix for a record-extending eighth time on Sunday despite a 10-second penalty for a first-lap collision that sent Red Bull rival Max Verstappen crashing out of the race.

After winning, Hamilton to his team on the radio – It’s a long way to go but let’s keep pushing guys. I believe in you.

F1 Season Standings: The Mercedes driver, now is only eight points behind Verstappen after 10 races, passed Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc for the lead with two laps to go as a capacity 140,000 crowd rose to cheer him. Hamilton’s teammate Valtteri Bottas was third.

The win was the 99th of seven times world champion Hamilton’s career.

Formula 1 British Grand Prix LIVE: Charles Leclerc leads Hamilton, Verstappen crashes out- Follow Live updates

Lewis Hamilton has won the British Grand Prix at Silverstone for the record eighth time. Leclerc finishes second, while Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate Bottas is third.

In the points

Hamilton
Leclerc
Bottas
Norris
Ricciardo
Sainz
Alonso
Stroll
Ocon
Tsunoda

FINAL LAP: Hamilton crosses the line and starts the final lap of what has been an absolutely thrilling Grand Prix here at Silverstone. Leclerc is second, Bottas third. Verstappen of course, will not score today after crashing out on the first lap.

LAP 50/52 Lelrec vs Hamilton – Oh my goodness – Hamilton you beauty, Hamilton passes for the lead

Hamilton leads with less than three laps to go He’s got him, ironically at Copse where he had the incident with Max Verstappen.

The majority of 140,000 people go crazy at Silverstone.

Down at Copse, Leclerc makes a mistake! Under pressure he runs wide and allows Hamilton to sweep past. Replays show it was close to a repeat of the incident between Hamilton and Verstappen from the first lap – but this time Hamilton backed out and went again at the next corner.

LAP 49/52 The gap is down to 1.4s now, and Leclerc and Hamilton have now caught those back-markers. This one is going right down to the wire.

LAP 48/52 Lelrec vs Hamilton – Gap is now just 2.26 Seconds

LAP 47/52 Lelrec vs Hamilton: Its getting closer by every lap – but does Hamilton have enough at his end?

“Lewis you are looking strong man,” Bono tells his charge, as Hamilton wipes another second off the gap. But the laps are ticking down, and Leclerc could well have been saving some rubber with which to defend here…

LAP 45/52 Lelrec vs Hamilton is hotting up – Ferrari man further loses seven tenths to Hamilton last time around – Ferrari out front – 4.8s the gap now

Heading for a grandstand finish here. Behind the top three, Norris is holding on to fourth, Ricciardo has dropped way back but still has Sainz for company. Alonso is still heading that DRS train, with Stroll, Gasly and Ocon behind.

Perez is trying to recover after that second pit stop – he has climbed from 16th to P12.

LAP 43/52: Lelrec vs Hamilton: Leclerc has the lead but Hamilton closing in – Hamilton has taken another second out of his lead the last time around, with the gap down to 7.6s. But with only ten laps to go and tyre wear likely to be an issue, can Hamilton preserve enough rubber to catch him and then pass?

LAP 40/52 – Ferrari still leads – after long time we are seeing this, Leclerc really building the pace here

Meanhwile RED-BULL has released the statement about Max Verstappen – Following an assessment by the trackside doctors at Silverstone Circuit Medical Centre, Max Verstappen has been taken to a local hospital for further precautionary tests.

LAP 39/52

A new fastest lap of the race for Hamilton as he closes on Bottas, who is nursing his tyres. Surely with the Finn struggling, Mercedes looking to swap their drivers

LAP 37/52

Another personal best lap for Leclerc, as he continues to maintain a comfortable gap to Bottas in second. With Perez down in ninth, this will be a decent gain in terms of points for Mercedes in the constructors’ today – but Hamilton will want a bigger swing in the drivers’ standings than he’ll get from p3.

Lap 34/52 : It’s Leclerc @ 1 / Bottas @ 2 / and Hamilton @ No. 3

Lap 33: Hamilton is up to third and flying….. Hamilton is the quickest driver out there right now, breezing past Norris to take third place. It’s now Bottas up ahead, so it’ll be interesting to see what Mercedes do with 20 laps to go. Hamilton is a lot quicker than Bottas, so surely we’ll see some team orders.

LAP 33/52 – Leclerc, running in fresh air, has extended his lead last time around. He’s been absolutely brilliant today, he could well be on for a famous victory today.

LAP 31/52

Hamilton has wasted not time tracked and closing down the gap to Norris – and he is almost into DRA range already. If he can pick his way past Norris quickly, you’d imagine his team mate will jump aside – leaving the home hero free to chase down Leclerc for the win.

Hamilton breezes past – down the inside on the old main straight.

Lap 29: Charles Leclerc still leads

Lap 22: Norris has a poor stop – Formula 1 British GRAND PRIX LIVE:

That was a very poor pit stop for Norris, as it took six seconds. That’s great news for Hamilton, who’ll have to stop for 10 seconds whenever he comes in. It’s a real shame for the McLaren driver at his home Grand Prix.

Formula 1 British GRAND PRIX LIVE: Lap 20: Leclerc’s engine issues seem to have passed

It looked problematic for the Ferrari, but Leclerc‘s engine issues now seem to be behind him. Hamilton closed the gap significantly, but Leclerc remains in front and still leads the race. Further back, the first pit stops of the race have started to take place.

Lap 15: Leclerc’s engine is cutting out!

There’s more drama at Silverstone, as race leader Leclerc has problems with his engine. He claims it has been cutting out, but the race engineers insist that the problem can be fixed. Hamilton smells blood and catches up. Maybe the Englishman could win this race still, even with his penalty.

CLASSIFICATION: F1 SPRINT

Confirmation of the win for @Max33Verstappen, who takes an extra three championship points and claims pole position for Sunday’s race #BritishGP 🇬🇧 #F1 pic.twitter.com/ll7JWDX5jj

— Formula 1 (@F1) July 17, 2021

The Red Bull driver finished the 100km dash ahead of defending champion Lewis Hamilton with Valtteri Bottas in the second Mercedes in third place.

MAX: “I got off to a really good start and that was a great fight with Lewis early on. You could see we were pushing hard as there was lot of blistering on our tyres.

“I think tomorrow will be a very exciting race and we’re looking forward to it”#BritishGP 🇬🇧 #F1Sprint pic.twitter.com/mBVVDZ8FBr

— Formula 1 (@F1) July 17, 2021

Verstappen went into the weekend with a 32-point lead over seven-time champion Hamilton who is hoping to capture an eighth British Grand Prix triumph on Sunday.

Saturday’s sprint race was the first of three planned for this year with the Italian Grand Prix in September and another race to be confirmed.

Max Verstappen takes P1 in the first ever #F1Sprint! 🏁

He took the lead from Lewis Hamilton at lights out and never looked back!#BritishGP 🇬🇧 #F1 pic.twitter.com/BtXqDG8I7v

— Formula 1 (@F1) July 17, 2021

Formula 1 British GP LIVE FP 2: Final Practice

Red Bull’s Formula One championship leader Max Verstappen was fastest in final practice for the British Grand Prix although lap times were largely meaningless as teams focused on preparations for Saturday’s first-ever sprint qualifying.

One of the finest sections of tarmac in all motorsport 🤩#BritishGP 🇬🇧 #F1 pic.twitter.com/vlJmes6FWf

— Formula 1 (@F1) July 17, 2021

Formula One is trialling a new format at Silverstone, with a 17-lap race deciding the starting grid for Sunday’s headline Grand Prix.

The grid for the sprint was decided on Friday, with Mercedes’ seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton taking the top slot and Verstappen alongside on the front row.

FP2 – DONE!

Next up… #F1Sprint 🙌 (Lights out 15:30 UTC)#BritishGP 🇬🇧 #F1 pic.twitter.com/vJuF7gEj7I

— Formula 1 (@F1) July 17, 2021

Verstappen’s lap of one minute 29.902 seconds, set early on a sunny afternoon with a big crowd in attendance, was 0.375 quicker than Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, whose Spanish teammate Carlos Sainz was third fastest.

Hamilton was eighth, with teammate Valtteri Bottas ninth, but the focus was on long runs with more fuel onboard. McLaren’s Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo were sixth and seventh respectively.

A little bit of post-session drama as Valtteri Bottas goes sideways following a practice start! 😮

The Finn’s tyres won’t be in great shape but otherwise no damage done, it appears.#BritishGP 🇬🇧 #F1 pic.twitter.com/n53OWoER2A

— Formula 1 (@F1) July 17, 2021

Verstappen is 32 points clear of Hamilton after nine races but that could change on Saturday, with three points awarded to the sprint winner, two for second and one for the third finisher.

Sunday’s race is as normal, with 25 points for the winner plus one for the fastest lap.

What are the changes? The 1-hour qualifying session that is broken into three part will move to Friday instead of Saturday(s). The session will take place later in the day to ensure working people can watch the LIVE action. Among major chances, only soft tyre will be permitted throughout. The drivers will be free to start on Sunday on any compound without the need to run on tyre in which they qualified on qualifier 2.

Pic credits: formula1.com

There will be only two practice sessions comprising 1 hour each. The first race will take place on Friday lunchtime. The cars will enter FP1 before FP2, which will take place on Saturday morning. They will return to Parc Ferme ahead of F1 sprint where they will be placed in quarantined environment ahead of Sunday’s race.

Also Read: Formula 1 Australian GP 2021: Bad news for fans, Australian Grand Prix & Moto GP cancelled due to Covid-19

For more sports news, F1 updates, follow us at insidesport.com

Formula 1