Lewis Hamilton won the 2020 F1 British Grand Prix after a dramatic ending

Lewis Hamilton managed to win the British Grand Prix for a record seventh time after last lap drama. Max Verstappen finished second and Charles Leclerc finished third.

Starting Grid

Lewis Hamilton started in P1 as he claimed another pole position. Valterri Bottas was alongside his Mercedes teammate. Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc were on the second row P3 and P4, Lando Norris and Lance Stroll were P5 and P6. Carlos Sainz and Daniel Ricciardo started P7 and P8 with Esteban Ocon and Sebastian Vettel rounding off the top ten in P9 and P10 respectively.

Pierre Gasly started P11, Alex Albon started in P12, Kevin Magnussen started in P14, Antonio Giovinazzi started in P15, Kimi Raikkonen started in P16, Romain Grosjean started in P17, Nicholas Latifi started in P18 and Daniil Kvyat and George Russell started in P19 and P20 respectively after five-place grid penalties handed to the two drivers.

Nico Hulkenburg on his brief return to F1 did not start the British Grand Prix as his car had problems which Racing Point team were unable to fix.

And its lights out and away we go!

It was a great start by the two Mercedes drivers with Hamilton was infront and teammate Bottas in second. Verstappen and Leclerc were just behind.

Sainz got into fifth place with Ricciardo making up places on Norris with a good overtake into Copse corner.

Magnussen released the safety car after Lap One when the Haas driver collided with Albon and became the first driver to retire from the race.

The race restarted on lap six with Hamilton leading, Bottas was in second and Verstappen in P3.

Albon stopped for a new set of tyres as he complained of vibrations, the Red Bull team sent him out on hard tyres.

After ten laps of the British Grand Prix, Hamilton stretched his lead to 1.5 seconds ahead of his Mercedes teammate with Verstappen five seconds behind Hamilton.

Kvyat passed Giovinazzi down the Wellington straight and moved himself into P12 after the AlphaTauri driver started in P19.

The Safety car was released yet again as the Russian got off the track at Maggots – his great start to the race was completely ruined. The drivers got racing again on Lap 19 after Kvyat’s car was cleared off the track.

Albon got a five-second time penalty for a clash with Magnussen, while Norris made a move on Ricciardo moving the Brit up to seventh.

Sainz made his way past Grosjean and into fifth place as the McLaren driver made the most of having fresher tyres.

Norris made the move on Grosjean going into Stowe moving the British driver into sixth place.

At the half-way point of the race, Hamilton was in first, Bottas second with Verstappen in third, Leclerc in fourth, Sainz and Norris in fifth and sixth, Grosjean in seventh, Ricciardo in eighth, Stroll in ninth and Ocon rounded off the top ten.

Albon served his five-second time penalty through another pit-stop which roped him to the bottom of the standings.

Giovinazzi was also handed a five-second time penalty for a Safety car infringement on lap 36.

Ricciardo was able to get past Grosjean at Brooklyn’s corner when Grosjean moved dangerously under braking. Stroll also got passed the Frenchman at Stowe and the Haas driver pitted after that move.

With ten laps to go, Hamilton led Bottas by 2.7 seconds, Verstappen in third, Leclerc in fourth, Sainz and Norris in fifth and sixth, Ricciardo in seventh, Stroll in eighth, Ocon in ninth and Gasly was tenth.

Albon did recover following that five second penalty, he moved past Raikkonen, Russell and Giovinazzi moving him into P12.

Ocon got past Stroll at Brooklyn’s after the Canadian driver was waved the black and white flag. With Stroll struggling with his new tyres, Gasly also moved into 9th place.

The drama kicked in in the final few laps. Bottas was struggling with visibility as Verstappen started catching the Mercedes driver. Then Bottas had a damaged front-wing and a puncture on his front left tyre which allowed Verstappen to get past the struggling Mercedes driver. Bottas had to pit and came out in P12 a long way away from the points. Verstappen also pitted with his team thinking second was all but secure .

But it was a move that would backfire, Hamilton’s tyres went in the final lap, and Verstappen was unable to catch him. Hamilton took the British Grand Prix for a seventh time.

Final Grid Standings

P1- Lewis Hamilton

P2- Max Verstappen

P3- Charles Leclerc

P4- Daniel Ricciardo

P5- Lando Norris

P6- Esteban Ocon

P7- Pierre Gasly

P8- Alex Albon

P9- Lance Stroll

P10- Sebastian Vettel

P11- Valtteri Bottas

P12- Antonio Giovinazzi

P13- George Russell

P14- Carlos Sainz

P15- Nicholas Latifi

P16- Romain Grosjean

P17- Kimi Raikkonen

Nico Hulkenburg, Kevin Magnussen and Daniil Kvyat were the retirees from the race.

Driver of the Day

Max Verstappen drove a stellar race in P3 for the whole race and managed to finish second but Daniel Ricciardo drove a fantastic race for Renault finishing fourth and we give the driver of the day to the ‘Honey Badger’ for a great finish in the British Grand Prix.

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