Verstappen wins F1’s 70th Anniversary GP; ends Mercedes’ victory streak

Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen became the first non-Mercedes driver to score a race win this year after using a combination of good strategy and masterful tyre management to win the 70^th Anniversary GP at Silverstone.

• Verstappen crossed the line 11.326 secs ahead of Hamilton
• Valtteri Bottas, who started from pole, was 3rd.

Verstappen triumphs as Mercedes struggle in the heat

Polesitter Valtteri Bottas was able to fend off his Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton off the line to hold onto the lead. Behind the pair, Verstappen made quick work of Racing Point’s Nico Hulkenberg to move up to 3^rd place.

The Red Bull driver was the only one in the top 10 to start the race on hard tyres. That’s something that played into his favour as it became evident that Mercedes were struggling with tyre wear in the torrid conditions. At one point, Red Bull even instructed Verstappen to hold back and look after his tyres, only for the Dutchman to snap back with “This is the only chance of being close to the Mercedes. I’m not just sitting behind like a grandma”.

Verstappen eventually inherited the lead when both the Mercedes drivers pitted for fresh rubber. But even on the fresher, more durable tyres, both Bottas and Hamilton started struggling with blistering. In fact, Verstappen was consistently lapping around a second faster on older tyres at the time.

Red Bull then pitted Verstappen for mediums on lap 26. This briefly allowed Bottas to take the lead, but that didn’t last for long, with Verstappen overtaking him around the outside at Luffield. When Bottas was called in to pit a few laps later, Red Bull decided to go for an out-of-the-box strategy and also pitted Verstappen to cover him off.

Hamilton, on the other hand, ran an extended second stint. Wanting to avoid a repeat of the last race, where Hamilton won the 2020 British GP on just three wheels, the team finally pitted him with 10 laps to go. This Helped Hamilton wage a late-race surge and he passed both, Charles Leclerc and Bottas to finish 2^nd overall.

Out at front, Verstappen cruised to victory to hand Red Bull Racing its first win at Silverstone since 2012. “I didn’t see it coming! But after the first stint, it seemed like we were really good on tyres. Of course then there was a question mark on how Mercedes is going to go on that hard tyre. We had a lot of pace in the car, I didn’t really have a lot of tyre issues, we just kept pushing,” he said after the race.

“An incredible result to win here, we had a great day, everything worked out well, we had the right strategy, everything was running smooth and I’m incredibly happy to win.”

Leclerc’s tyre management masterclass

Ferrari may not have had the pace of its closest rivals, but Charles Leclerc was one of the few drivers to make a one-stop strategy work. His 4^th place finish earned some valuable points for the team on a day where his team mate Sebastian Vettel failed to score any points.

Vettel spun at the start after catching some wheelspin on the kerb and could only recover to finish 12^th.

Red Bull’s other driver Alexander Albon once again had to claw his way up the order after starting from 9^th place. But he secured a commendable 5^th place finish after overtaking Lance Stroll on the very last lap.

Podium finish evades Hulkenberg

Hulkenberg’s 3^rd place qualifying result gave Racing Point a reason to cheer in the aftermath of Renault winning their protest against the team. Racing Point was fined €400,000 and had 15 points deducted from its tally as a result.

However, the German driver was unable to convert his qualifying form into a podium finish. After reporting significant vibration towards the end of the race, Racing Point opted to pit him for a third time and he finished 7^th.

Esteban Ocon, Lando Norris and Daniil Kvyat wrapped up the top 10.

What does the F1 2020 drivers’ standings look like?

Hamilton yet leads the championship by 30 points, but Verstappen’s victory has elevated him to 2^nd place overall, four points ahead of Bottas.

Next up is Leclerc (28 points behind Bottas), while Norris stands 5^th overall, a further seven points adrift.

This week’s race – aptly named the 70^th Anniversary GP - was a nod to the first F1 world championship race which was held at Silverstone in May 1950.There’s no break in action as the F1 grid will now head to Barcelona next week for the Spanish GP. With hot temperatures forecast at the venue once again, it could throw in some added challenges for Mercedes.

2020 F1 70^th Anniversary GP results