Well, football may not be coming home but, for the three Canadians on the grid, IndyCar certainly is! Those three are last week’s winner James Hinchcliffe, his Schmidt Peterson teammate Robert Wickens and the often forgotten but highly rated Zachary Claman De Melo. Toronto marks round twelve of seventeen, meaning that there will be just five rounds remaining once this weekend has run its course, so the championship is really starting to get serious.
Last time out was at the ‘world’s fastest short track’ at Iowa which is a sharp contrast to the bumpy streets of Toronto for IndyCar’s only non-American round of the year. Back to Iowa for a minute and it was Hinchcliffe who stole the show from Josef Newgarden, who’d looked dominant throughout the weekend. The hardest blow for Newgarden was not being passed by the afore mentioned Canadian on track but the strategic blunder that robbed him of a certain second place and a stab at the victory on the restart. Simple though the situation seemed, the decision whether to pit or not was an incredibly tough call to make, mainly due how late in the race the last caution was.
Normally, the rule to go by is: if there’s a caution, always pit however, since the race didn’t restart, track position became more important than pace so those who didn’t pit were rewarded while the others were punished. This made for an interesting podium of Hinchcliffe, Spencer Pigot and Takuma Sato – certainly not you’d put money on going into the weekend but then that’s the joy of IndyCar this season!
The 2017 Honda Indy Toronto race was won by a Chevrolet, more specifically the then champion-in-waiting Newgarden who trounced the field, leading more than double the laps of anyone else. Following him home were the Honda duo of Alexander Rossi and home hero Hinchcliffe, somewhat restoring the Honda pride at their own race. The pole sitter last year was Simon Pagenaud who didn’t last very long in the lead, being overtaken by Penske teammate Helio Castroneves before the first corner which shows that pole isn’t everything! The other Penske of Will Power was as unfortunate as ever, tangling with Chip Ganassi’s Scott Dixon on the opening lap – ruining both their races.
Castroneves was somewhat robbed of the win by a conveniently timed caution for Newgarden after Tony Kanaan hit the barriers; Newgarden was in the pits just as it happened whereas everyone else had to pit under caution, giving the American all-important track position.
Looking ahead to this year, we have three driver changes to speak of – two scheduled and one less so. Jordan King is back in the #20 Ed Carpenter Racing entry, taking over from the boss as usual while Juncos are back, this time with Rene Binder. The other change is at Harding where Conor Daly takes the wheel from Gabby Chaves as the team asses their options for a second driver next year, reassuring Chaves that he’s not going to be done out of drive.
Scott Dixon at 2017 Round Eleven: Ontario, Canada
I sound like a broken record saying that it’s hard to predict who will be strong but that’s the truth! The home boys have always run well here while Penske, Andretti, Chip Ganassi and co should be up there as normal. What I can say is that the championship is getting tighter with Dixon’s lead reduced to 33 points and, when there’s 50 on offer for a win, that’s not a lot. Newgarden is the man is second while Rossi is close behind in third with those three looking to be the ones to watch – not to discount Ryan Hunter-Reay and Power.
The practice and qualifying action, of which there is plenty, is being streamed by IndyCar as usual, along with all the Indy Lights, Pro Mazda and USF2000 action with the full Mazda Road to Indy programme in tow this weekend. BT Sport 2 have the Toronto race and there will be full commentary on our Twitter account for both qualifying and the race.
If you’re looking to catch any of the action, your timings for the weekend are as follows:
The 2018 German Moto3 Grand Prix could well be the final lightweight class GP to be held at the Sachsenring, as the tight, eastern German circuit looks set to be replaced by the Nurburgring from 2019 onwards, although how long that will be for is yet to be seen – currently the promoters have a contract with Dorna until 2021. Many issues surround the Sachsenring, not least that part of it is owned privately, and part of it is owned by the ADAC; primarily the circuit is a road safety facility, not a race track. Another is one similar to Brands Hatch, as there are many nearby residents who are not the biggest fans of the noise created in the track, no doubt especially on MotoGP weekend. But this merely begs the question: why, if you like peace and quiet, would you decide to live in close proximity to something which, by definition, creates a lot of noise? Anyway, for the Sachsenring, the end of its time on the MotoGP calendar seems to be coming, and just two years after the circuit was completely resurfaced.
Jorge Martin, winner at Assen TT. Image courtesy of Honda Pro Racing
Moto3 is about the only GP category which actually fits Sachsenring, the tight, twisty layout lending itself handsomely to the lightweight, nimble, 250cc, four stroke, single cylinder machines.
Last year, the German track was best mastered by Joan Mir, who took the victory from Romano Fenati and Marcos Ramirez, all three fighting until the final corner for the victory. Of course, 2018 Moto2 graduates, Fenati and Mir, will not be on the Moto3 podium, and with the current form of Marcos Ramirez, it is unlikely that any of last year’s top three will be returning to the German lightweight class podium.
It’s also predictable – on the surface, before a wheel has turned in the weekend – that no KTM will be able to match the leading Hondas this weekend. This is because of the characteristics of the KTM compared to the Honda – the Austrian bike having a strong engine but suffering quite significantly in the corners and the NSF250 having a seemingly far superior cornering performance and with little deficiency in the motor department. Theoretically, the Japanese machine should excel on such an awkward circuit with such a small percentage on the lap with full throttle. That said, Marco Bezzecchi has not been averse to a surprise or two this season.
In his first year at the front – his second in Grand Prix racing – Bezzecchi has been superbly consistent (he has finished on the podium in each of the races he has finished) and infectiously calm, and those two qualities pulled him a nineteen-point championship lead going into the previous round at Assen. However, a crash on the final lap for the Italian, and a win for the fastest man on a Moto3 bike in 2018, Jorge Martin, saw Bezzecchi’s championship advantage transform into a deficit and he now lies two points behind the Spaniard. A response will be important for Bezzecchi this weekend, and the unpredictable German weather could bring him into victory contention, like it did in Argentina.
As for Martin, his points lead comes as little surprise. His speed this year has been rarely matched, bad luck being the largest factor in preventing the number 88 from steaming away with this championship. Of course, a crash out of the lead in Barcelona did little for his championship too, but had he taken the fifty points he likely would have from the two races he was taken out of earlier in the season – Jerez and Le Mans – his position would be a lot more secure. Maybe the recapturing of the title lead will lead to greater consistency from the Spaniard, although for the sake of his rivals, and the championship battle, hopefully that will not be the case.
Nicolo Bulega enjoyed his strongest race of 2017 in Sachsenring last year, and in 2016 it was the first race where he showed his ability in the wet, when he was one of the fastest riders on the track before he made a common mistake in the monsoon conditions that day. The recent form of Bulega has been promising; fighting for the win in Montmelo before being taken out, and scoring his first front row and first points of the season in Assen last time out. After a shocking start to the season, it seems like Nicolo Bulega is back, and this weekend could provide a good opportunity for him to score a second career podium.
The recent form of
Enea Bastianini third, at Assen TT. Image courtesy of Honda Pro Racing
and Aron Canet has also been promising. Both still within reach of the championship lead, and coming back into podium-contending/race-winning form their title chances are not over. You might have expected them to be further back in the championship considering their respectively inconsistent starts to the season, but the similar inconsistency of Martin and Bezzecchi have kept them within reach.
Last year this race was a difficult one for Canet, dropping through the pack after qualifying on the front row, before crashing out of the race at turn twelve. In the case of Bastianini, he was sixth, over thirteen seconds off the win.
In wildcard/replacement news, Darryn Binder has been ruled out of this weekend after a training crash last week. He will be replaced by Moto3 Junior World Championship points leader, Raul Fernandez, who will be racing his second GP of 2018 after wildcarding in Barcelona earlier in the season.
Additionally, Livio Loi has been dropped by the Reale Avintia Academy team, and will be replaced until the end of the season by Avintia’s CEV rider, Vicente Perez.
Also, Ai Ogura will make his third wildcard appearance of the season, again in the Asia Talent Team, after riding in Jerez and Assen already, and acquitting himself rather well, scoring a point in Jerez and taking 23rd on his first visit to Assen.
Finally, World Supersport 300 rider, Luca Grunwald, will be making a return to Grand Prix racing. The German rider has a total of 23 GP starts between 2011 and 2014, scoring all eight of his points in 2012 when he rode a Kalex KTM. He has scored one win this season in the SSP300 World Championship, which is also his only podium. Despite this, he is second in the championship and only sixteen points off Ana Carrasco at the top of the championship.
A win and a second place is apparently all it has taken for Fabio Quartararo to gain the interest of a MotoGP team. Supposedly, foetal Petronas Yamaha team are in talks with the French youngster with the aim of acquiring the double CEV Repsol Moto3 champion to pilot one of their YZR-M1s for the 2019 season. The past two races have been very impressive from Quartararo, and he does have one more Moto2 win than Ecstar Suzuki’s 2019 rookie, Joan Mir. However, should two races grant you a pathway to MotoGP? You would say probably not, but there is no doubting Quartararo’s talent and, if he gets the ride, there is every possibility that he can make it work for him.
Another Moto2 rider in the frame for a Petronas Yamaha ride for next year is Lorenzo Baldassarri. Since his win in Jerez, the tall Italian has been quite inconsistent, but saw a return to form two weeks ago in Assen, where he fought back from thirteenth on the grid to second place, and was closing down race leader and eventual winner Pecco Bagnaia before the rear Dunlop on the back of the Stihl HP40 Pons Kalex let go with just a few laps remaining. Balda re-joined after pitting for a tyre but was one lap down and didn’t score any points. It was a big shame for the number 7, and it probably took him out of championship contention. However, the season is long, and Lorenzo will be keeping that in mind this weekend as he looks to return to the podium to prove that he is capable of fighting for this title, as well as being a solid pick for the satellite Yamaha team for next season.
Francesco Bagnaia at Assen. Image courtesy of Honda Pro racing.
Last year’s Moto2 German GP was won by Franco Morbidelli, but only narrowly. It didn’t look as though it would be that way; when Tom Luthi crashed out of second place early in the race in turn twelve it seemed that Morbidelli would enjoy another comfortable win, but Miguel Oliveira saw to that. The Portuguese rider closed the Italian within a few laps and pressured the eventual 2017 Moto2 World Champion until the final corner, although was unable to make a move stick.
This is positive for Oliveira in respect to this weekend, when he will look to recover from his worst weekend of 2018 in Assen, where he finished sixth, five seconds from winner Bagnaia. At the heart of the issues in Assen was the KTM chassis’ lack of ability to make a fresh soft tyre work on low fuel, which severely compromised both Oliveira’s and Red Bull KTM Ajo teammate Brad Binder’s respective races. In Assen, Oliveira qualified seventeenth, whilst Binder was twenty-first, and for the first time this season he was unable to make a full recovery in the first lap. Furthermore, Oliveira did not have the race pace of Bagnaia for the first time since Le Mans.
This weekend, it will be even more critical for Oliveira to qualify well than in Assen, because the high percentage of time at the Sachsenring that is spent on full lean angle makes it incredibly tough to overtake. If he is not there at the start it could be beyond him to recover and get to the front.
Francesco Bagnaia had no such problems in Assen. In fact, he had no problems at all in Assen. He took his second ever Moto2 pole, from which he took a lights-to-flag win with relative ease. Whilst it was Oliveira who finished second in Sachsenring last season, Bagnaia completed the podium with his third career Moto2 podium. Pecco towed up fellow Italians Simone Corsi and Mattia Pasini to the podium battle with him, but he stood his ground against his more experienced compatriots, and the pace he showed in last year’s race will fill the current championship leader with confidence as he looks to head into the pretty much non-existent summer break on a high.
Alex Marquez, teammate Joan Mir, Marcel Schrotter and Xavi Vierge should be up there this weekend too; the former two just because you’d expect it and the latter two because their recent pace has been quite electric, although a series three mistakes in five corners in Assen led to a crash for Vierge.
Especially Schrotter should be entertaining this weekend, as he looks to make up for a couple of missed opportunities for his maiden Moto2 podium in the last two races. Perhaps he will do as Pasini, and make his first Moto2 podium with a win in his home Grand Prix.
There is only one wildcard; Xavi Cardelus who, considering the action taken by Dorna over Jesko Raffin prior to this season, is perhaps quite lucky that he is still able to compete as a wildcard.
Francesco Bagnaia winner at Assen. Image courtesy of Honda Pro racing
From his second Moto2 pole position, Francesco Bagnaia dominated the 2018 Moto2 Dutch TT, taking a lights-to-flag win to reassure his position at the top of the championship standings.
Early on, it did not look like Bagnaia would be able to break away as had looked likely in free practice – Marcel Schrotter, Alex Marquez and Joan Mir were capable of keeping the Italian in sight. Or, at least they were for the first five or so laps. From that point, Bagnaia began to stretch his advantage, tenth by tenth, meter by meter, until he appeared out of reach. And so it proved, Bagnaia went unchallenged for 24 laps of the TT Assen circuit, and won without seeing so much as a wheel on his inside. It was a great way for Bagnaia to bounce back from his tyre-woe-induced eighth place in Barcelona, and it extended his championship lead over Miguel Oliveira to sixteen points. We knew Pecco loved Assen anyway, hence his tattoo of the circuit map, but with this result his adoration for the Dutch circuit is surely only increasing.
Francesco Bagnaia leading the moto2 race at Assen. Image courtesy of Honda pro racing
A win in Barcelona did little to prove the return of Fabio Quartararo to the front-running pace, but with a stunning second place in Assen, the affirmation of his rediscovered pace is assured. After a grid penalty for riding too slowly in qualifying dropped him back to tenth on the grid. There was something of a fight on for Quartararo who hadn’t been slow in Holland but equally hadn’t enjoyed the field-blitzing pace he had in Barcelona. And, for most of the race, Fabio looked like a top six rider, but in the last five laps he turned up the wick and rose from sixth place to second, cutting the gap to leader Bagnaia from over six seconds to 1.7 in those laps to take his fourth Grand Prix podium, his second in Moto2 and second in succession. This is impressive form from the Frenchman, who is beginning to remind people why he was twice CEV Repsol Moto3 Champion, and equally impressive from Speed Up who suddenly seem to have the chassis which is kindest on tyres – an important quality in such a tightly controlled class.
Alex Marquez got lucky. He would have missed the podium had Lorenzo Baldassarri’s rear tyre not let go. That was a tough blow for Balda, who had come from thirteenth place on the grid to second in supreme style, scything through the pack sideways-on, and by the end he was even closing Bagnaia and looked like he could potentially win his third Grand Prix. However, a puncture with three laps to go cruelly ended his chances.
But, as aforementioned, Baldassarri’s loss was Marquez’ gain, as he took his second consecutive podium, following on from his trophy at home in Barcelona. Whilst you cannot deny Alex’s consistency this season, you also cannot deny that third places are not enough. Eight races into 2018 and Marquez is still without a win, and that needs to change if he is to get back into the championship frame.
Alex Marquez takes a 3rd place at Assen TT. Image courtesy of Honda Pro racing
Just like in Barcelona, Marcel Schrotter was unable to convert what looked like pace for the podium into a top three in the race. This was quite a surprise, especially as early on it was Schrotter who was keeping Bagnaia in check. Equally, probably not many people, myself included, counted on the brilliant pace of Quartararo. However, the scene is set quite well for Schrotter to take his first Moto2 podium finish at home in the Sachsenring and considering his pace over the last few weekends it is definitely a possibility.
Joan Mir disappointed. He finished fifth. This is good, though, for the Spanish rookie – not many Moto2 first-years are able to say they disappointed with a fifth place. Still, he looked very strong early on, so far as to say it looked like Bagnaia should have worried about the #36 Marc VDS Kalex, but as the race went on his pace slowly slipped. Two races without a podium almost feels like a dramatic form dip for the reigning Moto3 World Champion, and he will hope to return to the box in Germany.
If the race was a little disappointing for Joan Mir, it was deeply so for Miguel Oliveira. Normally, going from seventeenth to sixth in one race is quite good – superb, in fact. However, this is not the case when you are fighting for the World Championship. Oliveira’s poor qualifying is ruining his hopes of taking a first world title, and KTM have to work hard now in the next races to ensure that he can actually use his strong race pace by allowing him to be able to make the most of a fresh tyre in qualifying.
The same can be said for Brad Binder, about the necessity for KTM to support him in qualifying. It was 20th on the grid for Binder, who could only manage to recover to seventh place. Since Binder is not fighting for the title this year it is not such a big deal, but the point remains: KTM have to improve in qualifying.
Brad Binder at Assen. Image courtesy of Philip Platzer /KTM
From his first front row start in Grand Prix racing, Luca Marini could only manage eighth. On paper this does not seem like such a good result, but the Italian will be contented by his ability to hold the pace of the leaders in the early laps. Marini is not used to fighting at the front and, as his half-brother proved in 2013, it is not easy to run at the front just because you have a strong bike and a strong team, the rider has to adapt and get used to fighting with the front runners, who do not make mistakes. But make no mistakes, Marini is improving, and by the end of the season it shouldn’t be such a surprise to see him at the front more consistently, as long as he stays fit.
Sam Lowes, after such a strong ride in Barcelona which took him from last to ninth, will be disappointed with the same finishing position from a second row start. He was the only KTM to qualify in the top 16, but failed to do anything with it. In Barcelona it looked like he had found something, but after Assen it seems like his search for the right feeling in the races continues.
The top ten was rounded out by the incredibly impressive Andrea Locatelli who, with the rise of Quartararo, has gone quite under the radar with his sudden improvement, but his first top ten in a Moto2 race shows a big step for the Italian, and something to build on for future races.
It was Locatelli’s teammate, Mattia Pasini, who was eleventh. Since his crash in Mugello, Pasini has fallen away, and must bounce back. It seems a long time ago that he was pushing his hopes of the championship. Augusto Fernandez had a good showing in twelfth place, ahead of Jorge Navarro, Domi Aegerter and Simone Corsi who came from last to round out the points scorers.
Sixteenth went to Iker Lecuona, ahead of Bo Bendsneyder, Remy Gardner, Khairul Idham Pawi, Steven Odendaal, Joe Roberts, Isaac Vinales, Jules Danilo, Eric Granado, Federico Fuligni and Lorenzo Baldassarri who pit for a new tyre after his puncture but came out a lap down.
Danny Kent was the first retirement on lap one at turn three, then Stefano Manzi fell, and they were joined on the side lines by Xavi Vierge and Romano Fenati.
Jorge Martin is a special rider. He began the 2018 Dutch TT weekend with a big crash in FP2 on Friday, which saw him have to use an altered right boot for the rest of the weekend. But that did not prevent him from taking his fifteenth pole position in Grand Prix racing, and from that pole (a Moto3 record breaker) he went on to take his fourth win of 2018. Not only that, but once again he displayed pace in the early part of the race which was enough to split the pack.
Finally, it was a five-rider group which fought for the win, with Martin, Enea Bastianini, Marco Bezzecchi, Aron Canet and John McPhee. All riders showed strength at some point in the race, they all looked like they could win at some point, but it was Martin who timed his bolt to perfection in the final stages to put himself out of reach of the chasing riders. It is possible to say that we have never seen in Moto3, a pace advantage of one rider like the one Martin has over the rest of the 2018 crop and his speed warrants a title, but he needs to match it with consistency if he wants to make that a reality.
Aron Canet took second place from Enea Bastianini in the final chicane, which represented the end to a podium drought stretching back to Argentina for the Spaniard. He lies now twenty four points behind the top of the championship, which is now occupied by Jorge Martin, but if he can continue this podium form there is still a championship opportunity for the number 44.
Enea Bastianini took the final podium position, to move himself twenty-one points away from the lead of the championship. It was the first time Bastianini has taken consecutive podiums since Misano and Aragon 2016 and finally it looks like he has found the form most people expected him to have from the word go. I guess you could say the same thing about Canet but in last year’s championship winning team and in his fifth season in the World Championship it is perhaps more expected of Bastianini to perform at the front week in, week out.
Fourth place went to Jaume Masia, his best result of the season, who led the chasing pack across the line ahead of Jakub Kornfeil, Lorenzo Dalla Porta and Darryn Binder who also enjoyed his best 2018 finish with the KTM Ajo team. Eighth place went to Gabriel Rodrigo, ahead of Fabio Di Giannantonio who did his championship hopes few favours with such a result. The top ten was rounded out by Marcos Ramirez.
Nicolo Bulega has transformed his first front row start since Sachsenring last season, to a typically poor start and first lap, and finally ended up in eleventh place, although at least he finally has some points on the board. It has to be said that the ability of Martin to split the pack did Bulega no favours in this race, but you would have thought that after nearly two-and-a-half seasons of starting badly he and the Sky Racing Team VR46 would have been able to rectify the problem. As it is, work still needs to be done, but anyway it is good to see Bulega back on the pace. Sachsenring was his best race last season, so hopefully the Italian can continue this form at the circuit on 15th of july.
It was Bulega’s teammate, Dennis Foggia, who took twelfth place. It was perhaps Foggia’s best weekend of the season, and at some points in the race he was one of the fastest riders on track. Unfortunately for Foggia, the twelve place grid penalty he got for riding slowly cost him any chance of a top ten, but the signs are positive for the Italian with a view to the future.
Tatstuki Suzuki was thirteenth, ahead of Le Mans winner, Albert Arenas, and Niccolo Antonelli, who had a tough time all weekend, rounded out the points.
Sixteenth place went to Kaito Toba, ahead of Tony Arbolino, Philipp Oettl, Ayumu Sasaki and Kazuki Masaki who completed to top twenty. Twenty first went to Adam Norrodin, ahead of Nakarin Atiratphuvapat, wildcard Ai Ogura, Livio Loi, Alonso Lopez, Andrea Migno, Makar Yurchenko’s replacement Stefano Nepa, and finally Ryan van der Lagemaat who was the only rider to finish a lap down.
Marco Bezzecchi and John McPhee both crashed out in the final stages of the race. They were the only retirements and the only KTM riders in the front group, which perhaps says something about the motorcycle, most notably that it wears the tyres and especially the front tyre, at least from observation, as both riders seemed to be struggling in the twisty sections of Assen, the Austrian motor keeping them in contention. The crash for Bezzecchi was a particularly important one, as it ensured he gave up the championship lead to Jorge Martin. A slightly twisted positive for Bezzecchi, though, is that he has still not finished a race outside of the top three. Furthermore, Bezzecchi has proven in the first races this year that he can fight for the title, his consistency proving his biggest strength. With that in mind, Marco has to ensure that this is his final unforced error of this season, otherwise he has no chance to beat Martin’s outright speed.
Having followed F1 for pretty much as long as I can remember, I finally got the chance to attend my first race at the British Grand Prix. It was something that I’d been looking forward to for months and it did not disappoint, by any means! The weather was glorious all weekend and there was a huge number of things to do, both on and off track.
Max Verstappen kicks a football. Image courtesy of Dan Istitene/Getty Images via Redbull Content Pool
I was there with four other members of my family and we decided, wisely or not, to camp at the Camping F1 campsite. This was brilliant for the atmosphere of the weekend and being surrounded by people who are attending, all for the same reason, meant that we had plenty of F1-related conversation with people who would’ve otherwise been complete strangers. It gives you a different perspective on the experience as a whole when you’ve spent time talking to strangers (who seemed like anything but that) about all things F1, whether it’s what Alonso should do next, Red Bull going to Honda, Leclerc’s potential Ferrari move or the new direction of F1 – to be surrounded by people who knew about all that was just amazing. There was one drawback of camping though, basically, don’t do it if you want to sleep as the music is going strong until at least midnight!
Away from the campsite, we had a short walk to the track and were immediately greeted by numerous food and drink outlets where we must have spent an absolute fortune over the course of the four days! Around the grounds, there were lots of merchandise stores and Fan Zones, all aimed at adding to the whole experience of the weekend. We spent the majority of our time away from the track action in the main F1 Village which was around the main stage. Here there was the large F1 Store with plenty of merchandise for all teams (of which I bought a lot!) as well as, for the first time in a long time, a store selling official Michael Schumacher merchandise while the Ayrton Senna stores also returned, meaning there was pa lot to choose from.
Daniel signing autographs. Image courtesy of Charles Coates/Getty Images via redbull content pool
Along with this, there was a row of 16 simulators which you could queue up to have a go on as well as the pit stop challenge where, in a team of three, you could see how quickly you could change an F1 tyre. Another part of the pit stop challenge was the leaderboard; over the course of the weekend, fans competed to have the quickest time – the top six times were then invited back for the final on Sunday morning where the fastest on that attempt would win paddock passes, a nice way to immerse fans in a more obscure part of the sport.
It was at the simulators that we met seven of the current F2 drivers: Artem Markelov, Sean Gelael, Jack Aitken, George Russell, Lando Norris, Roy Nissany and Roberto Merhi. The drivers each selected a fan from the gathered crowd to take part in a race with them which Nissany got disqualified from in about 5 seconds and Russell won in dominant fashion. Following this, the staff there came and handed out sheets of paper to the crowd and Sharpies to the drivers, meaning we could all get autographs and photos with them which was one of my highlights of the weekend.
The track action may have only gotten underway on Friday however, there was a very large crowd assembled for the Sky Sports F1 Show which took place on Thursday evening. This was a great event as we got to see the majority of the F1 grid come out onto the main pit straight and have a go at football darts, won by Nico Hulkenberg, with rather amusing consequences. Plenty of t-shirt cannons were also brought out during this with some drivers being more successful than others at firing them over the catch-fence!
For the actual track action itself, I think this year was one of the best showings for Silverstone – every race had a close battle for the lead, from GP3 and F2 to Porsche Supercup and even F1, all the racing was absolutely brilliant. For pretty much every race, bar one which we’ll get to in a minute, the grandstands were nearing full and the atmosphere in them was something else. The only exception to that was the first F2 race which clashed with England’s Quarter Final match in the World Cup so, while we stayed in the stands to watch the race, most of the spectators flocked to the big screens to watch the match. We certainly knew when England had scored by the cheering that actually drowned out the cars!
Sunday brought the race everyone had waited for – F1. Hamilton was obviously the home favourite, so he got a massive cheer on the formation lap, every time he overtook someone and every time he just came past the stand! The tension before the start was tangible while there was a collective disappointment when Hamilton got passed on the start. Our grandstand was Village B so the Hamilton/Raikkonen collision happened directly in front of us and meant that Raikkonen became the pantomime villain for the entire race.
After the race, some of the drivers went up onto the main stage to greet the very large crowd. Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne were the first to make an appearance, followed by the Williams duo of Sergey Sirotkin and Lance Stroll, Renault boss Cyril Abiteboul and Hulkenberg. Last up in the main slot was the hilarious pairing of Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen, accompanied by team boss Christian Horner, which involved a lot of jokes and even some singing from Ricciardo… he should definitely stick to driving! Hamilton didn’t show up until after Mel C’s set on the stage which was a bit frustrating but fitted with what he’d been doing all weekend.
Overall, despite a few minor frustrations, a complete lack of sleep and at times unbearable heat, the weekend was incredible – all the negatives were completely eclipsed by the positives, the amazing track action, meeting some of the drivers and being waved at by them on the cool down lap. We enjoyed it so much that we’ve already booked our tickets for next year which, we, along with the 340,000 who attended over the weekend, hope beyond all hopes won’t be the last British GP. The contract has been terminated but there are ongoing negotiations to save the British GP because we can’t lose it, it’s far too good to go!
Fourth place in race one gave Michael van der Mark pole position for World Superbike’s second race of the weekend in Misano, and with the pace he displayed in Saturday’s race one the Dutchman had a prime opportunity to take his third World Superbike win.
But it was Xavi Fores, from third on the grid, who made the holeshot, and took the early lead in race two, and in the early stages he led well, until his Barni Racing Ducati expired on the second lap of the race. It was a tough blow for Fores, who returned to the front in Rimini after a few difficult races since Donington, and a podium – which was on the cards, it would have been the perfect way for the Spaniard to go into the eternal summer break.
The retirement of Fores let Van der Mark into the lead, a position which he relished. Battling behind between Jonathan Rea, Tom Sykes, Marco Melandri and Chaz Davies – especially between Rea and Melandri when the Northern Irishman was trying to take second place from the Italian – allowed the Donington double winner to create an advantage, and before too long the #60 Pata Yamaha was over one second up the street.
It was about at this point that Rea finally dispatched Melandri and with nine laps to go set on after the 2014 World Supersport Champion. It took the reigning champion all of about three laps to catch Van der Mark, but unlike the other seven riders he had fought past in the race to this point, Magic Michael put up a defence strong enough to keep Rea behind. Rea had been making moves in turn three, turn six and turn fourteen almost with ease to this point in the race, but Van der Mark rode superbly to keep him at bay for a number of laps.
The battling at the front allowed Marco Melandri to catch the two leaders, at which point Rea dealt with Van der Mark. Melandri then had the opportunity to take second place from Van der Mark and challenge Rea for the win, but was unable to set something up. It was a tense ending to the race, but with each of the three riders in the front group having just enough to keep them out of range of the rider behind, it was a stalemate from the beginning of lap nineteen to the flag; Jonathan Rea leading over the line from Michael van der Mark and Marco Melandri.
WSBK 2018 Misano race 2 Podium. Image courtesy of Ducati
Rea’s victory was an important one, as it was his third double in the last five rounds and took him 92 points clear at the top of the championship – out of range. It’s difficult to find words for Jonathan Rea anymore. He controlled the first race of the weekend from lights to flag, and then made a perfect start in the second race which was followed by some tough battling and sublime overtaking. Once again, he showed his knowledge of the Pirelli tyres and how to get the maximum out of them, hauling the bike up on the exit of every corner like no other to minimise spin without too much electronic intervention. This has been a common trait of Rea’s riding since he arrived at Kawasaki in 2015 and realised that, whilst the overall package of the ZX10-R was an improvement over his previous machine, he wouldn’t be able to run the corner speed of the Honda with the Kawasaki. Instead, Rea changed his style to break hard and late, trail braking deeper into the corner than any other rider – somehow without ever losing the front – and then using the power of the Kawasaki to fire him out of the corner. This style has only been exaggerated this year with the rev limits which have been placed on the Kawasaki limiting both its top speed and, more importantly, its acceleration. These limitations which have been placed on the Kawasaki this year have basically made it essential for their riders to make all their lap time on the brakes, and this is where the difference is between Rea and teammate Tom Sykes, because Rea is more confident braking late and on angle than Sykes, and even when the reigning champion gets out of shape in the braking zone, he can still make the apex. This is in part because Rea has tremendous front feel, but also because the bike is quite clearly set up in a way to suit this style perfectly. Rea’s advantage in this area has been visible all season, especially on Sunday in the second Misano race, and for the most part it is why he is able to win so many races.
Michael van der Mark’s second place was an important one after a tough Laguna Seca round, and being hampered by a poor Superpole for the first race. It could have been a win had it not been for the mastery of Rea, but then, without Rea, the championship fight would actually be, well, a fight. Either way, Van der Mark rode beautifully and in the laps where he was being challenged by Rea his replies were superb, his answers to Rea’s probes were ones which no other rider could imitate. He adapted his lines to match Rea’s attacks, and whilst he was overcome in the end, his performance was perhaps the best of any pilot in the field in this race.
Marco Melandri at Misano. Image courtesy of Ducati
Third place for Marco Melandri was partly disappointing, but also very positive for the Italian. Firstly, it was disappointing for Melandri because he could have won. This was not only because he was there in the front trio, but also because he suffered a lot on Friday, and losing both FP3 and FP4 was critical for his weekend, as it cost him time to adapt for the new front tyre which Pirelli took to Misano, and was the popular choice amongst the riders for both races. The first race turned into a test for Marco, trying to work out what he needed to make the new tyre work, and the warm up was in the same vein. In the end, it worked for Melandri, as he was able to fight for the win, but the point is that had he not lost the third and fourth sessions of the weekend he may well have been able to challenge harder for the win. But, this is racing. Unfortunately for Melandri, he has to hold onto the positivity of the progress made between Saturday and Sunday in Misano for 9 weeks before World Superbike returns in September at Portimao.
Chaz Davies ended the race over two seconds off the win, which will be a disappointment after he made such a positive start, making moves on many riders and looking like he had the pace. However, the longer the race went on, the longer it became clear that Davies would be without a second trophy from Misano. Being 92 points back in the championship, it’s pretty much rostrum or hospital now for Davies, not because he can still win the title if he does that but because no one goes racing to not come home with a cup.
It was a second fifth place of the weekend for Tom Sykes. After the Kawasaki garage exploded in Brno, and the scything words from Sykes aimed towards both Rea and his crew chief, it was to be expected that the 2013 World Champion might have put up a bit of a fight against Jonathan Rea, but that never came. It looks like Sykes has lost a bit of motivation, and to me it seems like the best thing that can happen for Tom right now is for him to get this season over with, get out of Kawasaki, to a new manufacturer where he feels more comfortable and then perhaps we can see him back at his unbeatable best.
Sixth place went to Alex Lowes, who was looking for pretty much anything after two crashes in the first race. Finishing six seconds off his teammate won’t have pleased him too much, but coming from twelfth was always going to be difficult, as he noted himself both before and after the race. Now Lowes goes to Japan, and the Suzuka 8 Hour along with his Pata Yamaha teammate, Michael van der Mark and many other World Superbike riders, as well as about half the British Superbike grid, to try to win for the fourth successive time in the biggest single race of the year.
Lorenzo Savadori took seventh place, beating teammate and Saturday’s third place man, Eugene Laverty, over the line. Laverty put his downturn in both pace and result between Saturday and Sunday down to the rear tyre, which he claimed had no grip in the second race. It has been the target of Aprilia and SMR all season to give Laverty a bike which has some rear grip. They finally arrived at that point in Laguna, and continued that in Misano, at least until the end of the first race, and the podiums that arrived when they found him some rear grip served as proof that Laverty is still a top runner when he has what he wants, so to lose that on Sunday to what seems like a tyre problem was a big shame for Laverty. But Portimao is next for the Northern Irishman, and his target there is to win – he has nine weeks to think about how to do that.
Ninth place went to Loris Baz, and he finished ahead of Leon Camier who rounded out the top ten. Camier is another of the riders heading out to Suzuka. Leon is riding the first full factory HRC Honda there has been in a long time, as they look to end Yamaha’s winning streak at Honda’s home circuit.
Michael Ruben Rinaldi at Misanso 2018. Image courtesy of Ducati
Michael Ruben Rinaldi showed a big improvement in race two compared to the rest of the weekend, but could still only manage eleventh place, whilst the injured Toprak Razgatlioglu was twelfth. Nicolo Canepa scored thirteenth in his third wildcard race of the season, as he beat Jake Gagne home, whilst Roman Ramos rounded out the points.
Yonny Hernandez was sixteenth, and Leandro Mercado re-mounted his Orelac Racing Kawasaki after a crash early on to be the last of the seventeen finishers.
Jordi Torres retired at the end of lap one when his MV expired, and half a lap later Fores’ Panigale blew. Karel Hanika’s replacement, Alessandro Andreozzi, retired with six laps to go and PJ Jacobsen went out with two to go.
Now the Superbike World Championship heads for its nine-week-long summer break, after which it heads to the Autodromo do Algarve in Portimao.
It was Tom Sykes who qualified on pole position, his seventh consecutive Misano pole position, for the Rimini Riviera round of the 2018 Superbike World Championship. However, it was Jonathan Rea who, believe it or not, looked fastest on the race pace. Sykes had to make a start to try to hold Rea in the early stages of the race to try to keep the Northern Irishman in reach, but the reigning champion got a great jump from the middle of the front row, and got to turn one first.
From there, Rea edged out his lead and, whilst there was a reasonable amount of battling behind, none of it was any trouble for Rea, who did not see another rider’s front tyre for the whole race. It was vintage Jonathan Rea, and a perfect illustration of a few things, notably what can happen when bike and rider are working perfectly in unison, that the combination of Rea and ZX10-RR is the best one on the grid, and also that Jonathan Rea is the best rider of the current crop. Of course, many times in the last three years, these things have been displayed by Rea and Kawasaki, but this one was particularly worrying for everyone else thanks to Rea’s admission that, in reality, he was nowhere near the limit.
Chaz Davis at Misano 2018. Image courtesy Ducati media
Closer to his limit was Chaz Davies. He only qualified seventh and, throughout the weekend, had been struggling with pace on the fresh tyres. However, he made a brilliant start, almost passing Eugene Laverty for third into turn two, but going round the outside in the middle of the Variante del Parco was never going to work for the Ducati rider, so it was fourth place after lap one for Chaz. However, after five or six laps, when Tom Sykes started to struggle, he was passed by Laverty and once this happened, Davies was right on the rear wheel of the number 66. It didn’t take much longer for Davies to pass Sykes, taking third place away from the Kawasaki rider in turn eight with a beautiful, sideways-on move. He then struggled to catch Laverty, but with a drop in pace and ultimately a mistake from the Northern Irishman at the final corner, Davies was through. From there, it was a fairly comfortable five or so laps for the Welshman, and second place it was in the end at the second home round for Ducati. A win would be the goal for Chaz and Ducati, but with the searing pace of Rea, even when he isn’t pushing, the struggles of Ducati and with both of them coming from row three. After the 1st race it is hard to imagine that the Fratelli d’Italia will be aired on the 2nd race’s podium.
Despite a broken sensor, which caused the drop in pace and the mistake which let Davies through, Eugene Laverty managed to bring the Aprilia home for a second consecutive podium finish. It was another brilliant ride from Laverty, and at a circuit which he was concerned about ahead of the weekend due to the number of heavy braking zones and the difficulty in getting the RSV4 stopped. However, his fears were clearly unnecessary, as his pace was good enough for second. Thus, he will be disappointed with third, but a podium seemed a long way away a few weeks ago and all of a sudden he has two in two races. Coming from row three will be a tough task for Eugene in Race two, especially considering who is on pole, but his pace means you cannot rule him out of yet another podium fight.
The rider on pole position in race 2 is Michael van der Mark, who made a brilliant recovery from a difficult Friday and a difficult SP2 session, in which he qualified P11 only, to finish fourth. He nearly had a podium, but he just needed a little bit more time to catch Laverty. But, anyway, Magic Michael, from pole position in Race Two, has a great opportunity to take a podium, or maybe even a victory.
Tom Sykes could only manage fifth place from pole position in Race One. After five laps his pace dropped and, although he could keep pace with Davies for a couple of laps after the Welshman passed him, he was unable to stay there for long, and once Van der Mark was in range, Sykes had nothing left to fight with. It seems the situation inside Kawasaki is having a very negative effect on Sykes.
Sixth place went to Xavi Fores who has had a good weekend in Misano. The Spaniard, riding for the Italian Barni Racing Team, was sporting a special Tricolore livery and with it he beat the factory Panigale of Marco Melandri, who was seventh, and a disappointing seventh at that. However, Melandri did put a stunning move on Lorenzo Savadori between turns twelve and thirteen for that seventh place, although it was a shame that the move was for P7, and not, say, the lead. That left Savadori in eighth place, having shot his tyre by the end, and just ahead of Leon Camier in ninth place. Leandro Mercado rounded out the top ten.
PJ Jacobsen. Image courtesy of Honda ProRacing
Toprak Razgatlioglu was eleventh place – impressive considering his discomfort – ahead of Nicolo Canepa the Yamaha wildcard; Roman Ramos, Jake Gagne who raced much better than he qualified, Alessandro Andreozzi, PJ Jacobsen, Michael Ruben Rinaldi who had many problems during Race One and ended up pitting and re-joining the race three laps down; and finally Jordi Torres who was four laps down after a crash and a trip to the pits.
Loris Baz, Yonny Hernandez and Alex Lowes (with two crashes) were the only retirements.
It’s the dream of every racing driver: getting into Formula 1 one day. For many people that dream just stays a dream. For some people, it becomes reality. Other people get into Formula 1 too, although not in real life. They get into Formula 1 in another world: the world of professional gaming. Monday July 9th saw the inaugural Pro Draft for the F1 Esports Series 2018, where nine real-world Formula 1 teams chose their drivers for the Pro Series Championship. The drivers were selected by representatives from the Formula 1 teams, with no other than Red Bull Racing driver Max Verstappen, Toro Rosso driver Pierre Gasly, Chairman and CEO of Formula 1 Chase Carey and Managing Director of Commercial Operations Sean Bratches attending the Pro Draft event in London.
Before this event took place though, all initial forty Pro Draft Qualifiers had to go through a three-day assessment that took place at Silverstone ahead of the Grand Prix. Here all drivers were tested intensely through a series of challenges and interviews. These challenges tested their fitness, reaction times and real-world driving so the teams could get a better impression of who to hire and who not. The Esports Series thus is not just about fun. It is a very serious business and only the best get chosen to compete on the highest level. What the drivers get in return for their efforts however, is very rewarding. Real-world Formula 1 teams hire people who started playing racing games for fun, and give them the opportunity to show the world that it definitely is not easy what they are doing and most of all: they can show the world who is the best of them all.
With a roster of forty qualifiers, it was surely not easy for the nine Formula 1 teams to choose their drivers for the F1 Esports 2018 Pro Series Championship, but eventually they had to choose and that was very interesting. Two of the nine teams chose both their drivers from the Pro Draft. Renault Sport Team Vitality chose Swedish Kimmy Larsson and British James Doherty, whilst Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 eSports Team with Allert van der Wal from the Netherlands and Salih Saltunc from the United Kingdom might have the strongest line up of them all. The other seven teams chose at least one diver from the Pro Draft. From the forty qualifiers only sixteen got chosen.
The drivers will represent their teams during the three live events this F1 Esports Series which will determine the 2018 F1 Esports Series Teams and Drivers World Champions. The teams will really hope they chose the right driver, as there will be a prize fund of $200,000 to be divided over the teams based on their position in the team standings.
With more than 850,000 people worldwide watching the two-hour event via live streaming, the interest in the Esports Series definitely was affirmed. Max Verstappen showed his interest as well, saying: ‘’I’ve recently got back into gaming and I know some of these guys and know how talented they are. It’s very exciting and you can see lots of sports embracing Esports – so it’s great that F1 are doing it as well.’’
Now the ‘easy’ part has ended, the drivers can focus on the next challenge: winning the 2018 F1 Esports Series.
Full list (pending confirmation of contracts) of the 2018 F1 Esports Series Pro Championship
Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 eSports Team: Allert van der Wal & Salih Saltunc & Sonuc Saltunc
Haas F1 Esports Team: Martin Stefanko & Michal Smidl
Hype Energy eForce India F1 Esports Team: Fabrizio Donoso Delgado
McLaren Shadow: Olli Pahkala
Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport: Daniel Bereznay
Red Bull Racing eSports Team: Joni Tormala & Graham Carroll
Renault Sport Team Vitality: Sven Zurner & Kimmy Larsson & James Doherty
Toro Rosso Esports Team: Patrick Holzmann & Cem Bolukbasi
Formula One hosted it first ever triple header, which concluded at round 10 The British Grand Prix at Silverstone. Silverstone normally produces drama and excitement and this year was no exception.
‘Homeboy’ Lewis Hamilton started the race from pole as he claimed his 76th career pole with a lap he called himself ‘’the toughest lap ever’’. Behind him was Vettel with a small gap of only +0.044s. It was a tense battle for pole. For many teams like McLaren and Williams the British Grand Prix is their home Grand Prix as well. They didn’t impress the home crowd like Lewis did, as Stroll caused a red flag for spinning into the gravel. Sirotkin did the same, but he managed to get back to the pits to try another flying lap. Vandoorne was almost a second slower than his teammate Alonso in qualifying. He ended up in P17 as Alonso started from P13. Was it really coming home for the Brits?
Sebastian Vettel leads the 2018 British GP. Image courtesy of Ferrari
The start of the race was a bit chaotic for Toro Rosso, as the car of Brendon Hartley wasn’t ready during the parade lap, as mechanics were still working on his car in the garage. He did manage to start the race though from the pits, but after already one lap he returned to the pits to retire. Hamilton had an awful start as Vettel overtook him into turn 1. To make things even worse, Lewis spun in turn 3 after he got hit by Kimi Räikkönen who locked his brakes. Kimi eventually got a 10-second time penalty for the incident. Hamilton thus had to start from the back. After two laps he was back up to P14 after overtaking some slower drivers. Perez had a difficult start as well as he spun in turn 1, almost collecting both the Williams cars that started from the pit lane.
Meanwhile a great battle between Max Verstappen and Kimi was unleashed, just like in Barcelona 2016. Max defended heavily whilst Kimi was looking for a move. Vettel took the lead and extended it by almost a second per lap on Bottas in second place. Renault did a good job, with Hülkenberg and Sainz making up some places at the start. Hamilton was in P8 by lap 9, catching up the Sauber of Leclerc and eventually overtaking him that same lap. Hülkenberg was his next target, but that wasn’t a problem for him as he got him in lap 10 using DRS on the Hangar Straight. Kimi was frustrated at his team as he was struggling to get past Max. His team reminded him of his penalty whilst he was ‘’just trying to help, but I probably shouldn’t be thinking’’. He clearly was unhappy as the pressure from behind of Ricciardo increased. As a result of this all, Räikkönen ended up being the first to do a pit stop in lap 14, putting on the mediums.
Williams and McLaren battled each other, but only for their honour as the points were out of reach. Force India had mixed feelings with Ocon in the top 10 but Perez in last place after the incident at the start. Haas impressed in Austria, but seemingly struggled at Silverstone as they were just fighting for the last few points.
Max Verstappen ahead of Kimi Raikkonen. Image courtesy of Charles Coates/Getty Images via Red Bull Content pool
Max Verstappen went into the pits in lap 18, changing to the medium tyre which meant that Lewis passed the Dutchman. Hamilton however still had to make his pit stop. He was up to P3 when Daniel Ricciardo went into the pits, followed by Charles Leclerc to make his stop too. The team made an impressive 2.3 second pit stop, but it already looked too good to be real as he had to stop the car after exiting the pit lane.
Bottas passed Hamilton as he was on a new set of mediums, whilst Lewis was still going on his old softs. Valtteri was closing the gap to Vettel as he really pushed his new tyres to the limit. The only team that gave the new ‘Ice Blue’ hard tyre a try, to probably make it to the end of the race. With the exceptional high temperatures at Silverstone this didn’t seem like a bad idea. This was confirmed in lap 31 as Ricciardo made his second pit stop of the race, going back to the soft compound which meant he came back at P6 behind Hamilton who made his first and only pitstop in lap 25.
In lap 33 Ericcson crashed heavily in the first corner at full speed after using too much of the outside kerbstone. This brought out the yellow flag and eventually the Safety Car, as his car was deep into the tyre barriers. Luckily he could climb out of his car on his own. The Safety Car situation got the strategists thinking into overdrive: should they pit their cars now or wait. Bottas didn’t take a second pit stop, but Verstappen, Räikkönen and Vettel did. Bottas now led with his old mediums, whilst Vettel was in P2 with his new soft tyres and surprisingly Hamilton in third position. He didn’t make another pit stop too, which led to complaints from the British driver as he was worried he ‘’wouldn’t make it’’ on these tyres. His team assured him that he was the fastest driver on track and that he shouldn’t give up. Ricciardo didn’t get lucky during the SC, as he ended up in only P6 after he already had made his second pit stop. The team told him that ‘’the timing of the Safety Car was unfortunate’’.
The Safety Car went into the pits in lap 37, starting the fifteen lap sprint race to the finish flag. At the restart Vettel wasn’t focused as Bottas drove away. Kimi overtook Max in turn 6, which led to a massive fight between the two. This fight ended early as another Safety Car occurred for a crash between Sainz and Grosjean at Copse Corner. Sainz was at the outside, cutting to the inside where Grosjean already was. The Frenchman did have a moment of oversteer and crashed into Sainz. It thus looked like a racing incident.
The second Safety Car situation of the race ended in lap 41 of 52, shortening the sprint race from fifteen laps to just ten. These SC situations meant that Hamilton could manage his older tyres to the end. The second restart went horrible for Kimi as he went wide but he could get his P5 back. Vettel tried to overtake Bottas at turn 6 as he was very close but he had to lift, otherwise they would probably collide. Alonso had a good restart overtaking Magnussen for P9, but Magnussen took back his place the same lap. Max made a mistake coming up on Hangar Straight, making an overtake easy for Räikkönen. Vettel and Bottas had a legendary fight for the victory. Hamilton was under pressure from Kimi, whilst Lewis was increasing the pressure on Vettel who put Bottas under pressure. It was a massive fight for the podium between the four drivers, as the camera helicopter captured the top four in just one shot.
The problems for Max Verstappen got worse as he spun in lap 46, eventually leading to his retirement from the race as he had problems with the brake-by-wire system. Meanwhile Vettel overtook Bottas into turn 6 with an amazing speed and a lap later Hamilton also overtook Bottas, taking an impressive P2 after a terrible start. With just five laps to go Lewis was just two seconds away from a victory on home soil. Bottas went down from P2 to P4 in just three laps, he was really struggling for pace. He even had to defend his P4 from Daniel Ricciardo for the last three laps, which he did successfully because the Red Bull just wasn’t fast enough. In the end it looked like Hamilton was happy to take P2, losing some time on Vettel and probably more thinking about defending his position from Räikkönen.
The 2018 Formula One British GP winners; (left to right)Lewis 2nd, Seb winner and Kimi 3rd. Image courtesy of Ferrari
Sebastian Vettel took his 51st career victory at the 2018 British Grand Prix, whilst Lewis Hamilton got voted Driver of the Day by the fans after a heroic drive saw him finish in second place in front of his home crowd. It wasn’t meant to be for Lewis to win his sixth British GP, but at least he brought home some very important eighteen points. Vettel extended his championship lead by a small margin because of this victory. After an exciting race, the British fans should be very happy to see Hamilton on the podium. Lewis himself didn’t look happy though as he skipped the post-race interview. He later on said that Ferrari “used some interesting tactics”, probably suggesting that Räikkönen hit him on purpose to give Vettel the win. Mercedes teamboss Toto Wolff went even further, saying “it was deliberate or incompetence”. It’s an all out warfare between Ferrari and Mercedes this year. Will Lewis still bring it home this year?
