ROUND 12: 🇬🇧 Great Britain
FORMULA 1 QATAR AIRWAYS BRITISH GRAND PRIX 2024
Circuit stats
- First Grand Prix: 1950
- Number of laps: 52
- Circuit Length: 5.891 km
- Race Distance: 306.198 km
- Lap record: 1:27.097 Max Verstappen (2020)
- 2023 winner: Max Verstappen
Track Map
That was a great race. Especially because of the rain and the high reliance on tire strategy. Which McLaren shit the bed at 😑
But good for Lewis for taking it home, at home. Would’ve preferred a Max win, but I’m happy for Lewis. That was much deserved.
Would’ve preferred a Max win
I know. When will the poor lad start winning some races?
Nando was a lap too late, hardly shit the bed. Lewis did amazing at calling no slicks in the early part of the race
I think they talk about the second pit-stop when McLaren decided to not double-stack and pit Piastri first then Norris next lap.
Edit: And the choice to use Soft tires when Mediums were available which would probably have ended faster than both Hamilton’s Softs and Verstappen Hards near by the end of the race.
Soft tires when Mediums were available
This is the one I can’t figure out either. Not sure if that one is on the driver or team, because Lando fumbled his way into “any kind of slick would be better” over the radio. I haven’t had a chance to watch it back to hear the entire exchange yet though so maybe there was a more defined call made at some point that wasn’t broadcast on the main feed.
The softs were used and the mediums were new. McLaren has long carried the trait of quick tire switch-on and should have known it was more or less a sprint to the finish at that point.
Very confusing.
Holy shit, best race in the last 3 years. Wildly tricky conditions, clean overtakes up and down the field, it really had it all.
Yeah really enjoyed the action moving to the front - no shade on mercedes but the mclaren threat is shaking things up. Having Perez seemingly unavailable when the other teams are able to get both drivers in play is another neg for Redbull. Lando man - why the softs… esp after Piastri making the med call earlier. Lewis’ comment - leave me to it mate, and Max’s charge really made it feel like the drivers skills were going to win the race.
Phenomenal race, as is usual for a dry-wet-dry mixed conditions race with multiple crossovers between slicks and inters.
Huge blunders by McLaren and you have to sort of question their operational department at this point. They’ve built a great car (probably the fastest over a race distance right now) and have two amazing drivers. They need to overhaul their strategy to keep up. Why are they still letting Lando make so many decisions himself when the pitwall has the data and should be making the calls? The fresh medium they had available at the end was obviously the right call and would have had Norris win, most likely. They also should have double stacked, which (all other things being equal) probably would have given Piastri the win. I guess I’m extra mad because Norris cutting Max’s points lead by any amount would help me pretend there is potential excitement for the championship for longer.
Still, super happy for Hamilton. Almost fairytale-esque that he gets his long awaited win at Silverstone of all races. Great drive from him, especially keeping those softs alive long enough at the end to hold off Max’s charge.
Haas was quietly impressive again and their upgrades actually not just worked but were a homerun it seems. Not used to saying that.
Aston got some good points but the elephant in the room is Fernando. I love him so it pains me to see him flounder week after week. No clue what happened since he actually started the season driving just as well as last year, but after China his performances have just dropped like off a cliff. Has father time finally caught up? He did get a hand injury right after China but surely that has healed by now.
Lastly, the less said about Perez the better. Probably used him as a guinea pig for going on the inters early? I guess they might as well, I never expect anything from Checo in the wet these days either.
All very well said. McLaren is not acting like a front running team at the moment, despite the car that is absolutely a front running (I would argue the best) car out there. Their aerodynamic grip looks phenomenal (just check the first few laps in the damp when they both walked away from the Mercs), tire life is excellent (always striking back late in a race), and it seems the best over one lap these days.
But mix that with letting the driver be the strategist, Lando’s lesser experience racing for wins than the likes of Max and Lewis, some very late calls on strategy, and you’re left with many opportunities that feel squandered.
Of course, losing out to both Max and Lewis is not a bad place to be, but they had a win on the table here, as we’ve said before this season
I’m impressed that despite tricky conditions we had nor SC nor VSC.
I wonder if Gasly (and eventually Sainz) still believes Alpine can compete at the front of the midfield with their lack of performance and reliability.
McLaren completely botched what would’ve been their win.
Hulk with a mega P6.
Sargeant drove well for a respectable P11.
Perez drops to 6th in the drivers’ championship, didn’t drop to 7th because of Russell DNF.
Leclerc 💀
