In Pictures: 70th Anniversary Grand Prix
Formula One celebrated its 70th Anniversary by contesting a second race at Silverstone, and contrary to anyone's expectations, it was Max Verstappen and Red Bull taking the honors with a strategic masterstroke.
The weekend started as expected with both Mercedes up front, same followed during qualifying, with Valtteri Bottas claiming Pole Position ahead of Lewis Hamilton and quick Nico Hulkenberg, substituting Sergio Perez for the second weekend in a row at Racing Point. Everyone of the top-ten qualified on Medium (yellow) tires, except Max Verstappen, who qualified fourth on the grid on Hard (white) tires.
The race also started as expected with both Mercedes fighting up front and pulling away from the rest, until they started developing blisters on their tires. In the meantime, and with almost perfect tire management, Verstappen pressured the Mercedes taking the lead from Bottas with a brilliant move around Luffield, going on to win his first race since Brazil last year.
Another one managing his tires to perfection was a very happy Charles Leclerc, finishing fourth for Ferrari.
QUOTES FROM THE PODIUM
“It’s a great day and I’m very happy with the result as we did everything really well as a Team. The race showed we had the right strategy after our decision to qualify on the hard tire and I’m pleased it paid off. I think the length and pace of our first stint was the key to being competitive as the mediums don’t last that long, so starting on the hard was definitely the right call. ”
“It was a really challenging race out there today. Fair play to Max on the win, Red Bull didn’t seem to have the same tire issues we encountered. I’m just grateful that we managed to bring it home in P2 and score some good points. We didn’t expect to struggle with the blistering to the extent we experienced it. The first stint was difficult, in the second stint I was managing the tires like you cannot believe. I was doing everything I could to nurse the tires, but it made no difference to the blistering. I was pushing so hard in those final laps to pass Charles and Valtteri that it felt like I was racing with half a tire at the end. I don’t know if anyone else struggled with the blistering the same way we did, so we’ll have to see what happened today, but I know this team will get on top of it. ”
“That was a frustrating race today. It’s never great to start from pole and finish P3. I think we were pretty much on the back-foot from the moment I lost track position to Max. We potentially could have gone longer in the second stint, the way Lewis did, to be able to push more towards the end of the race on fresher tires. I tried to keep up with Max, but as soon as I started to push in the final stint the tires just fell apart. We really struggled with the blistering today; as soon as you have blisters, you lose the grip and the performance, and it becomes very tough. It seems like the other teams, particularly Red Bull, didn’t have the same problem, so we’ll have to look into that and try and get to the bottom of it. There’s a lot to learn for us today, but as always we’ll move on and try to come back stronger. ”
2020 70th Anniversary Grand Prix Poster by Salracing