The same result as Lewis Hamilton takes a record seventh home win at Silverstone, but after cruising for most of the race the 2020 British F1 Grand Prix Result almost went a different and unexpected way.
But was he the best driver on the day? And what is the quickest way of finding out what happened in between? For all that and a fraction more, our 2020 British F1 Grand Prix result review is here.
In the big review, we include a quick summary of the on track action, rate the race and we also work out who the best and worst of the race was, so we can assign points to our overall 2020 Driver of the year.
2020 British F1 Grand Prix Result – THE LAPS THAT MATTERED
Didn’t see the race live? Don’t have time to watch the whole race? Well here are the top ten laps where stuff happened. Normally it is five, so you know it was a good race if there’s ten.
Lap 0 – Nico Hulkenberg doesn’t make the start of the British GP as his Racing Point fails to fire up. A shame on his F1 return in place of the Covid affected Sergio Perez.
Lap 1 – Lewis Hamilton and Bottas blast away from the line ahead of the pack, but behind there is jostling-a-plenty for positions. Firstly between Leclerc and Verstappen where the ferrari driver gets in front temporarily. Behind them the McLarens, Ricciardo’s Renault and the remaining Racing Point of Lance Stroll argue over 5th to 8th.
Kevin Magnussen clashes with Alex Albon in the midfield on the last corner. The Haas is minus a front wheel after being pushed off the track and into the barriers, Albon continues.
Safety Car makes its first appearance.,
ORDER: HAM, BOT, VER, LEC, SAI, RIC, NOR, STR, OCO, VET
Lap 6 – Safety Car pits.
Lap 13 – Massive crash!!!! Once the dust settles is the Alpha Tauri of Dani Kyvat appears, and it was a big one. He loses it at Maggots and 200km/h+. Appears could be due to a puncture.
Safety car is out again.
Lap 14 – All the front runners have pit by now.
ORDER: HAM, BOT, VER, LEC, GRO (Not pit), SAI, RIC, NOW, STR, VET.
Lap 19 – Safety car pits again. Norris overtakes Ricciardo for 7th in the highlight of the restart.
Lap 23 – Carlos Sainz passes a swerving Grosjean for 5th. Two laps later Norris takes his McLaren past Grosjean.
Lap 36 – Ricciardo finally gets past Grosjean. Stroll takes less than a lap to also get past
ORDER: HAM, BOT, VER, LEC, SAI, NOR, RIC, STR, GRO, OCO
Lap 45+ – Renaults threatening to inject some late race action with a turn of speed. Ocon gets past Lance Stroll.
Lap 50 – Bottas appears on screen in a shower of sparks with what looks like a broken wing, but eventually it is the left front tyre’s fault. The puncture sees Bottas drop through the field. He had earlier been complaining about vibration.
Lap 51 – Verstappen pits, he may regret that in one lap time.
Lap 52 – Carlos Sainz appears on screen with a puncture.
Lewis Hamilton appears on screen with a puncture with half a lap to go. And he just holds on from a charging Red Bull of Max Verstappen.
Lewis Hamilton hangs on and wins, just.
2020 British F1 Grand Prix – RACE RATING
We rate the 2020 British F1 Grand Prix so we know which races to go back and watch in the off season.
SEASON IMPORTANCE – 7/10
We guess the main point of this race in the context of the season is that this was the ultimate realisation that the title race is over for every driver except ones whose surname ends in amilton or ottas. But perhaps the late race tyre failures could lead to another factor to be considered at each Grand Prix.
ON TRACK ACTION – 2/10
Behind the boringly predictable Mercedes sailing off into the distance, the midfield provided enough entertainment. A first lap crash is always going to help keep people slightly interested, as did Kyvat’s off as well.
But at around one third distance, there had only been six laps of racing without a safety car.
Midfield scraps were all that were on offer until the last few laps.
ENDING 8 / 10
Nothing like a bunch of late race punctures to liven up what was otherwise a pretty boring Grand Prix.
When Lewis Hamilton appeared on screen with a puncture it was far enough out to make it interesting.
OVERALL RATING 17 / 30
A certain 1-2 for Mercedes turned into late drama with a bunch of punctures. Great to see car failures still being a factor right to the end.
RACE RATINGS SO FAR
Austrian Grand Prix – 28/30
Styrian Grand Prix – 23/30
Hungarian Grand Prix – 15/30
2020 British F1 Grand Prix Result – Great & Grape
Here we go through the field and highlight the three drivers we think deserve a little extra love, and one driver whose had the weekend of all.
These points get added to our Driver of the Season. 3-2-1 for the Great and minus one point for the Grapest races.
It used to be called the good, bad and ugly, but everyone is using that now.
THE GREAT – 1. Lewis Hamilton
Another Silverstone race, and another sublime Hamilton masterclass. Pole on Saturday was a good one, and with the perfect getaway on raceday was hardly pressured all day on Sunday. Has enough in hand over Bottas again so far this season.
THE GREAT – 2. Charles Leclerc
Dragging the Ferrari home in third was some achievement in a car that maybe fourth best. Well ahead of his World Champion team mate in the end.
THE GREAT – 3. Max Verstappen
Doing all he can with the second best car, and probably should have won the race if not for the late race pit stop for fastest lap tyres.
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
Daniel Ricciardo – fourth place finish brings some joy for Australian fans. Helped by some late race punctures, but also has some late race speed himself after looking after his tyres. Which is more than other drivers could manage.
THE GRAPE – 1. Alex Albon
It pays not to underperform for Red Bull, given Pierre Gasly’s swift demotion last season, but the second Red Bul ldriver is struggling.
He was involved in the crash that brought out the first safety car, nudging Magnussen’s Haas off the track and into the barriers.
A late race charge got him in the top ten, but future races like these won’t save him from the brutal Red Bull axe.
THE GRAPE – 1. Sebastian Vettel
Another horror weekend of poor qualifying result followed by an underwhelming lower midfield race. Retirement now looks the only option. Although, given how the Racing Point underwhelmed, maybe a refreshed Vettel in new colours is what next year’s Aston MArtin team needs.
DIS-HONOURABLE MENTIONS
Nico Hulkenberg – Not his fault but a grape weekend for the German. Struggled in qualifying, then his car doesn’t even make the start.
Lance Stroll – He may have a pink Mercedes, but his weekend certainly underwhelmed.
2020 British F1 Grand Prix – 2020 Driver of the Year – The Martini Trophy
A feature on this website is determining the driver of the year.
This recognises not just the driver with the most amount of points at the end of the year, but factoring performance against their team mate, possibly outperforming the car, and a nod to our Great and Grape above. A full explanation is below the results.
The Martini Trophy is named after one of our favourite F1 drivers of all time, the underrated Pierluigi Martini.
2020 British Grand Prix Results – Martini Trophy
Top qualifiers are awarded 3-2-1
Top finishes are awarded 5-4-3-2-1
Out-Race team mate only applies if they both cars finish
Best of Rest is the top driver not from Mercedes, Red Bull, Ferrari in race and qualifying
FirstLap is 0.2 / -0.2 for every position gained / lost on the first lap.
Good and Grape points are award 3-2-1 and -1 for drivers.
2020 Driver of the Year Points so far
Relevant History Bit – Top 4 Late Race Failures
With all the late race punctures, we cast the mind back to other races where late action happened.
1997 – HUNGARIAN GP – Damon Hill nearly won a race in an Arrows-Yamaha. No wet race full of luck, a great drive in a car that he had dragged up the field well beyond its rightful place. A gearbox failure left Damon Hill stuck in 6th gear for most of the last lap. Jacques Villeneuve overtook him on the grass halfway around. But at least he kept second.
1991 – CANADIAN GP – Nigel Mansell’s car breaks down from the lead whilst waiving to the crowd on his last lap. Old rival Nelson Piquet took the win.
1986 – AUSTRALIAN GP – Not quite the last laps, but nothing will be memorable than Nigel Mansell’s massive tyre failure down Brabham straight in Adelaide 1986.
1982 – MONACO GP – the last lap goes on for nearly five minutes as multiple leaders fail to complete the last lap.
2020 British F1 Grand Prix Result Stats
Here’s a few of our favourite graphs from the first race of the season that we will update throughout the year.
,
[…] British Grand Prix – 17/30 […]
[…] British Grand Prix – 17/30 […]