Formula 1 at Silverstone – Hamilton wins just ahead of Leclerc – Sport


“Negligent”, “dangerous”, “inconsiderate”: The first big bang between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen caused serious accusations – but in the end there was the comeback of the world champion in the title fight in Formula 1. Hamilton won his home race at Silverstone and celebrated thus the first victory in ten weeks.

Already in the first lap the two alpha animals collided, Verstappen crashed into the boundary wall, Red Bull even demanded a suspension against Hamilton. The race management, however, left it with a ten-second penalty. And while World Cup leader Verstappen was checked through in a hospital for dizziness, the Englishman raced in front of 140,000 fans to his fourth win of the season, ahead of Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari and his teammate Valtteri Bottas. After the tenth race, Hamilton is only eight points behind in the classification.

How the important victory came about, however, will remain a topic of conversation for a long time. “If Hamilton touches Verstappen’s rear wheel with his front wheel in the fastest bend in this way, it is no longer a racing accident,” enthused Red Bull’s motorsport advisor Helmut Marko at Sky: “This is negligent, dangerous behavior, it is inconsiderate and belongs with a lock fined.”

Sebastian Vettel made an early turn, fell far behind and even had to give up in the end due to technical problems. Things didn’t go much better for Mick Schumacher, who finished 18th and last in the defeated Haas.

“Lewis knows that it won’t work there,” complains Red Bull team boss Christian Horner

The eagerly awaited duel between Verstappen and Hamilton did not even last a lap: Hamilton got off to a better start and put Verstappen under pressure, several times he attacked the rival hard and was carried by the loud cheers of the fans. Hamilton was in a hurry, because he only saw an opportunity to overtake at the start or via the strategy. So he used the slipstream for another attack in front of the fast-paced Copse corner, conquered the inner lane, then the wheels touched, Verstappen crashed into the tire wall.

The rescue work lasted, the race was interrupted for more than half an hour – and during this time the wires ran hot. Mercedes sports director Toto Wolff sent emails to the race management, went to the control room to defend Hamilton. The Red Bull representatives were already standing in front of the cameras and complaining. “Lewis is in one of the fastest corners of the season there, he knows this circuit by heart, he knows that it won’t work there,” said team principal Christian Horner: “Thank God we don’t have a seriously injured driver or anything worse to complain about today.”

And the stewards at least saw the world champion to be responsible for the accident, the ten-second penalty was confirmed shortly after the restart. Hamilton was now also behind the surprisingly strong Leclerc, who had passed right after the crash. Together they both expanded their lead, but Hamilton couldn’t get past the Monegasse and still had to pay the penalty. The pit stop lasted correspondingly long, and behind his team-mate Bottas he came back on the track in third place. As a result, Hamilton was the fastest man in the field, with twelve laps to go he passed Bottas without much resistance. In the final phase, Hamilton’s Mercedes in Leclerc’s rear-view mirror grew bigger and bigger, and it passed on the third to last lap.

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