4
Lewis Hamilton has stretched his advantage at the top of the Formula 1's drivers' championship, as he took a dramatic race win at the British Grand Prix.
Mercedes dominated for much of the race as both Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas stretched out ahead Max Verstappen in third place.
However, the Brackley-based team's prospects were put in major danger as Bottas sustained puncture with three laps to go, before Hamilton's tyre gave up on the last lap.
Bottas dropped out of the points after making a pit stop, however Hamilton was able to take the chequered flag with Verstappen bearing down on him on the final lap.
Carlos Sainz was also hit with a puncture in the closing stages, eliminating him from a top-five finish.
With Bottas' puncture, Charles Leclerc managed to secure his and Ferrari's second podium finish of the year, crossing the line in thrid place.
The Monegasque driver endured a quiet race and was running in fourth for much of the race, while Daniel Ricciardo benefitted from Sainz's woes to inherit fourth on the last lap.
Mercedes' dominance in the race was tested on a couple of occasions as two safety cars were called during the opening 20 laps.
At the end of the first lap, Kevin Magnussen and Alexander Albon made contact at the final corner, sending the former into the wall - Albon received a five-second time penalty for his troubles.
A second safety car was deployed when Daniil Kvyat was involved in a major crash at Maggotts, with a suspected failure behind the incident.
After Kvyat's crash, much of the field pitted for the hard compound, while Haas opted to keep Grosjean out on the medium tyre, which promoted him to fifth place.
Grosjean slipped down the order as the race went on, however he recovered criticism from some of his fellow drivers for moving more than once while battling.
The Frenchman made a late pit stop but the last driver to cross the finish line at the end.
Nico Hulkenberg failed to take the start as a power unit problem halted him from completing a race comeback as he was called in to replace coronavirus-positive Sergio Perez.
Lando Norris was fifth for McLaren ahead of Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly. Albon crossed the line in eighth place despite his issues during the race, while Stroll was only ninth for Racing Point.
A difficult race for Vettel saw him end the event in tenth place, only just holding off Bottas who was recovering following his puncture.
Grand Prix of Belgium
G. Zhou
66 members have this team as their favourite
Snooky
Posts: 121
Such an odd race! What happened to racing point?! Strong showing for Alpha Tauri and Renault... next weeks race should be more interesting given should be a 2/3 stop race with the softer tyres. No idea what’s happened to Seb Vets weekend, seems like they never truly managed to fix the issues wi... [Read more]