Picture via Ferrari F1 Media

F1 News

Vettel WINS British GP!

Vettel WINS British GP!

08-07-2018 15:40
1
Author profile picture

Adam Newton

Editor

Sebastian Vettel won the British Grand Prix for the first time since 2009 as Lewis Hamilton produced a fabulous comeback drive to finish second. Kimi Raikkonen completed the podium.

Vettel got a lightning start from second on the grid, overtaking pole sitter Lewis Hamilton before the first corner. At turn three, the home favourite was tagged from behind by Vettel’s Ferrari team mate Kimi Raikkonen, putting him into a spin and P18.

Raikkonen received a 10 second penalty for causing the collision, and the recovery started for Hamilton.

Meanwhile, Vettel was extending his lead over Valtteri Bottas at the front of the pack, in a style reminiscent of the German’s Red Bull days.

The race seemed to be Vettel’s but after Marcus Ericsson’s scary crash at Abbey on lap 32 which brought out the safety car, Ferrari opted to bring their drivers in and swap to a two-stop strategy, with Mercedes leaving theirs out on older tyres.

Once the race got underway, the safety car was back out as quickly as it had gone in, after Romain Grosjean and Carlos Sainz tagged each other on the way into Copse, spinning both drivers into the barriers.

This gave new leader Bottas and third place Hamilton respite and a chance to save their tyres.

Vettel attacked the Finn ferociously on the second safety car restart, and eventually passed him and retook the lead at Brooklands.

Bottas’ tyres soon could not compete any longer, as he was overtaken by his team mate and Raikkonen and finished fourth.

Verstappen spun in a tangle with his team mate Daniel Ricciardo in a battle for fifth, and then was forced out of the race in a disappointing weekend for him after such a good one last time in Austria.

Vettel extends his lead in the championship to eight points over Hamilton, but if not for some fantastic driving from the Brit, it could have been much, much worse.