Once again, a huge crowd turned out for the British Grand Prix 2019 at Silverstone – and they were treated to a thriller. Pole-sitter Valtteri Bottas looked to have done everything right as he led from the front and fought off teammate Lewis Hamilton, but a Safety Car intervention gifted his Mercedes teammate a free pit stop, allowing him to leapfrog the Finn and ultimately a record sixth home win. But the lead battle was just part of the story…
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Behind the Silver Arrows was wheel-to-wheel action galore as the Ferraris and Red Bulls engaged in a tense battle for third. It was eventually won by Charles Leclerc, but only after Max Verstappen had been dramatically punted out of the position by the other Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel…
Bottas led away from pole position and held off a spirited attack from Hamilton in the early laps before the Briton wriggled through at Luffield – to the delight of a packed house at Silverstone. But Bottas wasn’t having any of it, tucking into the slipstream before catapulting his Mercedes up the inside at Copse to retake the lead in sensational fashion.
From there, he controlled the race from the front and was the first to pit, as he was the lead car and therefore was on the optimum strategy, re-joining third, behind Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel. But then Antonio Giovinazzi beached his Alfa Romeo in the gravel, bringing out the Safety Car.
Red Bull had to settle for fourth and fifth with Pierre Gasly and a recovering Verstappen, while Carlos Sainz, who, like Hamilton, had a free stop when he pitted under the Safety Car, took sixth, ahead of Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo and Kimi Raikkonen. Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat was ninth, with Nico Hulkenberg snatching the final point from Alexander Albon on the final lap.
Vettel meanwhile trailed home in the 16th…
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