Status: 07/18/2021 6:04 p.m.
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton wins the British Grand Prix. The Formula 1 race on the Silverstone circuit is overshadowed by a violent crash between Hamilton and Max Verstappen. The Dutchman has to finish the race shortly after the start.
After Max Verstappen’s high-speed crash in Silverstone on Sunday (July 18th, 2021) with Lewis Hamilton, the Englishman made the Formula 1 world title fight exciting again. While Verstappen was unable to continue after the first lap, his biggest opponent in the championship fight was still up on the podium. Verstappen was in shock and continued medical care in a hospital as a preventive measure.
With a spectacular overtaking maneuver shortly before the end, Hamilton caught the leading Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc. After the early retirement of Verstappen, Mercedes driver Hamilton reduced the deficit in the title fight to just eight points with his eighth home win in England, despite a ten-second penalty.
Wolff: “The thing is not done yet”
“It’s such a proud moment for me,” said Hamilton: “I tried everything with the team to get the car back there. Today it worked.” Commenting on the race scene, Hamilton said: “Max is aggressive in situations like this, I was absolutely next to him.”
Mercedes motorsport director Toto Wolff radioed his star driver: “We never give up, this thing is still hot.” Wolff later said: “We just see two drivers fighting with a knife between their teeth.” There are two top pilots “fighting for supremacy”.
In front of around 140,000 fans, Hamilton’s team-mate Valtteri Bottas came third. Sebastian Vettel turned around at the end of the field after a spin and later had to park his Aston Martin early due to a defect. After an almost 40-minute break in the race because of the Verstappen-Hamilton accident in his defeated Haas, Mick Schumacher was only the last to cross the finish line.
After one lap there was a crash
After nine Mercedes poles in a row, Verstappen broke through the Silver Arrows series at Silverstone. Verstappen and Hamilton dueled side by side after the red lights went out.
After just one lap, there was a crash. In the “Copse” curve, where a speed of around 290 km / h is driven, the leader Verstappen and Hamilton touched the tires. The Dutchman lost control, shot off the asphalt into the gravel and crashed into the tire wall. Obviously he was able to get out of the car himself and then waved to the audience.
Horner: “Tremendous accident”
“He was in shock and was really shaken,” reported Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko. He rated Hamilton’s maneuver as “negligent to dangerous behavior” and called for a ban. Verstappen’s team boss Christian Horner scolded: “It’s an enormous accident and it was 100 percent Max’s corner, Hamilton should never have been in this position.”
51 g (xxxx) would have prevailed on the impact. For comparison: In Formula 1 cars, when driving around bends and driving normally, the drivers can be exposed to 5 g. The safety car came out, but then the tenth race of the season was interrupted. Verstappen’s car was badly demolished and the scene of the accident had to be secured.
Standing start
The spectacle continued with a standing start – this time with Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc in the lead directly in front of Hamilton, whose car had also been damaged in the collision. Vettel promptly made a driving error, spun off the track and was thrown back from sixth place to the end of the field.
Hamilton now had to accelerate, as he had been given a ten-second penalty by the race stewards. Before him, Leclerc complained several times about power failures in his engine. On lap 28, Hamilton pitted, served his penalty and resumed the chase after standing for 14.2 seconds. Vettel and Schumacher meanwhile struggled at the end of the field.
Leclerc’s stop two laps later went smoothly, with Monegasse setting the pace up front. Hamilton attacked vehemently and was again on the last kilometers – and even grabbed the acclaimed home win in front of Leclerc.
Source: sportschau.de