Our regular Formula One correspondent, Nick van der Meulen, outlines the recent exciting race in his report F1 Review Britain 2022.

The first Grand Prix of the Formula One World Championship was staged at Silverstone in 1950, a circuit built on an old airfield used in World War II. Seventy-two years later, it still hosts the British Grand Prix and the event delivered the race of the 2022 season thus far. It also delivered the 112th victor in Formula 1, and the race result ended a six-win streak from Red Bull Racing. Qualifying on Saturday was wet, which saw a more unusual grid, while race day, despite the threat of rain, remained dry.

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Lucky Escape for Zhou

The race was marred by a huge accident at the start. Pierre Gasly (Alpha Tauri) was caught between Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo-Ferrari) and George Russell (Mercedes) in the charge to the first turn. Russell moved over to prepare to take the racing line and was touched by Gasly.

The Mercedes spun around and pitched into Zhou who careened off the circuit upside down. The kitty litter pitched the Alfa Romeo over the tyre wall and into the fence. As a result the race was stopped. Check out the video here. Thankfully, the Chinese driver was since released from the medical centre with a clean bill of health.

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A Weekend of Firsts

Carlos Sainz had a magical weekend at Silverstone. The Spaniard took pole position and took the opportunity of a late safety car, due to Esteban Ocon (Alpine) grinding to a halt on the pit straight, and pitting for soft rubber. This allowed him to surge past teammate, Chares Leclerc, at the late restart. He then powered away to his maiden victory in F1 in his 150th start. Despite the sweetness of the popular Spaniard’s victory, a big question mark hangs over Ferrari team manager Mattia Binotto’s handling of the team situation in the race.

Click here to read a few interesting facts about the British Grand Prix.

Iffy Calls

The team management on the pit wall made a late switch of the lead between the two Ferrari drivers. They were running first and second, with Leclerc being the faster of the two, when Hamilton was closing fast. They also chose not to pit Leclerc during the safety car period with 11 laps to go, but pitted Sainz instead. Binotto, again, showed his soft management skills and squandered an opportunity to get Ferrari back in the championship running.

Leclerc’s race ended by losing out to Sainz, Sergio Perez (Red Bull Racing) and Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes). The Monegasque had to fend off Fernando Alonso (Alpine) and Lando Norris (McLaren-Mercedes) in the run to the flag. Leclerc’s defense against Hamilton around the outside of Copse was arguably the pass of the season thus far.

Great comeback

Perez ran a lonely fourth for much of the race, after damaging his front wing on the first lap. The safety car brought the field back together and played into Perez’s hands with a switch to soft rubber. He was involved in a massive scrap for second position after Sainz surged past teammate Leclerc at the restart. Perez eked enough of a gap over Hamilton to finish second and consolidate his second position in the world championship over Leclerc. Red Bull Racing team principal, Christian Horner, confirmed in a post-race interview “Ferrari let us a little off the hook today with Charles”…

Damage Control

Max Verstappen had to perform damage control after hitting some debris while in the lead of the race. The move damaged the underside of his mount, crippling his chances of victory. He managed to stave off Mick Schumacher’s (Haas-Ferrari) best intentions to cross the finish line in seventh place. The German was well pleased with his maiden points score in F1.

Birthday Boy

Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin) had a mixed birthday at the GP. His Sunday started with a demo run in a Williams once owned by Nigel Mansell. Seb drove the car, that he owns, much to the delight of the British crowd. At the start of the race he punted Alexander Albon (Williams-Mercedes) into the wall at the first start before the red flag. However, the German still finished in the points with ninth place.

Still leading

Verstappen leads the championship standings over teammate Perez by 34 points. Leclerc is a further nine points adrift. Sainz, following his victory, moves into fourth place, 16 points ahead of Russell. The Brit failed to score for the first time this season. Red Bull leads the constructors standings, 63 points ahead of Ferrari. Mercedes is third. McLaren lies fourth, a massive 131 points behind Mercedes and six points clear of Alpine.

The F1 circus moves to Red Bull Ring, Spielberg, Austria, less than one week away. Needless to say, Austrian fans will be rooting for Red Bull, but the nature of the circuit could see some intense competition between the top three constructors with Mercedes looking back in form.