New format: Hamilton wins Formula 1 British Grand Prix after first ever sprint race

Qualification

Whichever way the British Grand Prix ended this year, it definitely had to go down in Formula 1 history.

The management of the series decided to experiment and change the usual format of the stage, including the so-called sprint - a mini-race for distributing pilots on the starting grid.

For decades, every race weekend has followed an established pattern.

First, for two days, the pilots ran in the cars and got acquainted with the track at three free practice sessions, then they conducted qualifications to decide who would start from what position, and then took part in the race.

This format had its drawbacks - the fans were not interested in watching the training for several hours, and high positions at the start were often taken by those who were simply more fortunate in qualifying.

Since 2017, the new owners of Formula 1 have consistently carried out reforms, trying to attract a new audience and make the competition more spectacular. In accordance with this logic, they tried to change the traditional Grand Prix routine, choosing for this the race at Silverstone. On Friday, instead of an evening free practice, a qualification was to pass, the results of which determined the order of starting in the Saturday sprint. The 17 lap race formed the final grid for Sunday. This format should be applied at two more stages in 2021, after which it will be decided whether to use it in the future.

Before Friday's qualification, the riders had only one hour of free runs to break in the new, harder tires.

The leader of the World Championship Max Verstappen felt most confident on them.

The circle at Silverstone was 0.779 seconds faster than McLaren's Lando Norris and another thousandth faster than Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton.

For the pilot of the German team, who won seven times at home, this was a very alarming sign.

But in the evening, Hamilton was able to please his fans, who could watch the races from the stands without any restrictions.

In the first qualifying session, he reduced the gap to Verstappen to 0.035 seconds, and in the second he was already faster.

The final round of their confrontation ended again in favor of the British pilot.

True, this victory did not bring him pole position.

It was necessary to defend it in the Saturday sprint.

And the Silverstone crowd goes wild!

🙌 # BritishGP 🇬🇧 @ LewisHamiltonpic.twitter.com / K0at1gYJLY

- Formula 1 (@ F1) July 16, 2021

Sprint

The start of the historic Formula 1 race remained with Verstappen.

He managed to immediately overtake Hamilton and successfully repulsed his counterattacks.

Valtteri Bottas remained the third behind the Mercedes partner.

Fernando Alonso showed a very impressive start - the Alpine pilot climbed from 11th place to fifth.

The new order of competitions promised him the most generous benefits.

In a racing format, Hamilton could not impose a fight on Verstappen and gradually began to lag behind him.

He could not try to outplay the Dutchman at the expense of pit stops, since it was not necessary to carry out them, and the tires were quite enough for 17 laps.

In Red Bull, they could be calm for their leader, but his partner did not cause such confidence.

Sergio Perez turned around on the fifth lap and flew into the grass.

He returned to the track not seventh, but 19th.

If there were at least another hundred kilometers of distance ahead, the Mexican could re-engage in the struggle, but he did not have such an opportunity.

In addition, it soon became clear that Perez's car had received too serious damage, with which it was impossible even to reach the finish line of the shortened race.

The pilot of Red Bull retired, on Sunday he had to start from the pit lane.

Verstappen confidently won the sprint and won the fourth pole in a row and the eighth in his career.

At the same time, he received three points in the classification of the world championship - small bonuses are due to all the top three.

Before Sunday's race, he was 33 points ahead of Hamilton.

Bottas got another point.

Behind the Finn on the grid are Charles Leclair of Ferrari, Norris and his team-mate Daniel Riccardo.

Nikita Mazepin from Haas, thanks to the departure of Perez from the 20th line, moved up to 19th.

Watch highlights of the first ever F1 Sprint, which thrilled fans at Silverstone on Saturday 🍿🎬

And @alo_oficial was one of the stars of the show 👀 # BritishGP 🇬🇧 # F1Sprint

- Formula 1 (@ F1) July 17, 2021

Race

After the start of Sunday's race, all the fans' attention was again directed to the confrontation between Verstappen and Hamilton.

But this time it didn't last long.

The Briton tried to attack several times and in the ninth turn hit the opponent's rear wheel.

The Red Bull car turned around, flew into the gravel and stopped only after hitting the protective barrier.

For the leader of the World Championship, the race ended immediately.

Verstappen and Hamilton collide!

The title rivals come together at Copse, pitching Verstappen into a high-speed crash.

The Dutchman was able to walk away but he has been taken to hospital for precautionary checks # BritishGP 🇬🇧 # F1pic.twitter.com / ol1s9dRJoa

- Formula 1 (@ F1) July 18, 2021

The damage to the car was so severe that the pilots had to stop and wait while the track was cleared of debris.

By that time, Hamilton, who himself broke the front fender, let Leclair go ahead, but remained in front of Bottas.

The pilots waited almost half an hour until they were still allowed to continue the race.

After the restart, Hamilton was unable to impose a fight on Leclair, while Bottas dropped Norris to third place.

Soon, the stewards told Mercedes both good and bad news.

Hamilton received a ten-second penalty for his maneuver against Verstappen.

With such a punishment, when almost the entire race was still ahead, he could still claim victory.

Ferrari hasn't won the 2019 Singapore Grand Prix, and Leclair has worked hard to correct this.

He kept a short distance from Hamilton, who still had to stay at the nearest pit stop.

On lap 15, the Monegasque got worried when he complained about a loss of power, but the problem was quickly resolved.

He soon set the best lap in the race and was 1.6 seconds ahead of the Brit.

Norris was the first of the leaders to enter the pits.

Hamilton's penalty was also very beneficial to him, but all thoughts of a possible second place quickly disappeared when the mechanics could not quickly replace the wheel.

The McLaren pilot returned to the track after Bottas, and when Hamilton served the penalty, he lost quite a bit to his compatriot.

Even worse, the pit stop was with Leclerc's partner Carlos Sainz. He could not be screwed on the wheel for more than 12 seconds. The second mistake was not made in Ferrari, and the Monegasque was changed tires much faster. He remained in the lead with more than seven seconds over Bottas and over 12 over Hamilton, who quickly moved up to third.

Leclair pulled away from Bottas with each lap, but Mercedes did not think to give up. Hamilton showed an excellent pace in the second half of the race, so that the management even ordered the Finn to skip a faster partner. When Lewis got rid of this obstacle, he began to rapidly approach Leclair, sometimes playing more than a second on a circle. Monegasque squeezed the maximum out of his car and showed the best time for himself at the next cutoff, but this was still not enough. Nine laps before the finish, there were already a little more than six seconds between them.

Finally, on the third lap from the end, Hamilton took the lead.

He passed Leclair in the same ninth turn, in which he knocked Verstappen out of the fight.

Only this time, the Ferrari pilot himself touched the curb and was forced to slow down.

Hamilton rushed to the finish line and won the first victory in six stages.

In his entire career in Formula 1, he has won 99 races.

In the World Cup, the Briton reduced the gap to Verstappen to eight points.

Hamilton could have been closer, but Perez took away the bonus point for the best lap at the last moment.

The Mexican sacrificed his position in the top ten, which he had been striving for for a long time, for the sake of making the teammate who got into an accident feel at least a little more confident at the head of the overall standings.

For Mazepin, the British Grand Prix was better than almost all previous races. Throughout the distance, he did not lag far from Schumacher, and after the pit stop he was just a second away from the German. The Russian pilot got a chance to attack and took advantage of it, climbing to the final 17th place - this was also helped by the departure of Sebastian Vettel from Aston Martin.