With a free choice of tires for the 2021 British Grand Prix, as a result of the new experimental format, almost ever Formula 1 team did the same in Silverstone. For a long time everything pointed towards a Ferrari victory, but unfortunately Lewis Hamilton was unstoppable on the hard tires, in the second part of the race. And Charles Leclerc had to pull out of the gas at the end of the straight because of the engine cuts.
This British Grand Prix was divided into three sections. The first only lasted one lap but made for more conversation than the other two put together. When the two championship favorites get into the car, one ends in the tire wall and the other wins despite the penalty, then the rest of the action on the track has a hard time attracting attention.
So let’s start with the race scene. Somehow those involved saw it coming, because the sprint race the day before gave everyone a foretaste of what would happen in the main race. Red Bull had a car in racing trim that was a bit faster. One tenth per lap according to internal calculations. Mercedes was faster on the straights, Red Bull in the corners.
After the experience on Saturday it was clear that Hamilton had to be first after the starting lap to be able to win, no matter how. Later he wouldn’t get a chance to overtake Max Verstappen. The undercut would only have worked if he was one second behind but even in the Mercedes box there were doubts as to whether they would still be that close to the Red Bull after almost 30 laps.
In Copse, Verstappen was vulnerable
In this first round, Hamilton had exactly three chances. First, the Brooklands corner and Copse corner. The opportunity in Copse was the greatest because the Mercedes had better traction out of the Luffield corner and wanted to benefit from a weakness in the Red Bull Honda that had already been discovered in the sprint race. In contrast to all others, the MGU-K switched off at Red Bull when approaching Copse Corner.
Which makes perfect sense. This is where you can easily do without the additional power. The corner is just about full. At Mercedes they suspected that Red Bull did not want to overheat the tires in the 290 km / h fast right-hand bend and that Honda geared its power management to other priorities. But that made them vulnerable to a Mercedes, where the full power was deliberately delivered exactly at this point and which also drove with lower wings. Hamilton was specially reminded of this in the strategy meeting. Motto: there or never.
The Englishman barely made it alongside, but no further. Verstappen held against it in the tried and tested style. Where no one gives in, there has to be contact. It was just a graze that dented the rim on the left front of the Mercedes and split the wheel on the Red Bull on the right rear. Hamilton drove on and was lucky enough that the red flag gave the team the opportunity to replace the damaged part. The rim probably wouldn’t have made it to the planned pit stop. But the Red Bull was a total loss. With all its consequences in times of budget constraints.
Charles Leclerc best on medium tires
The collision gave Ferrari the lead. Charles Leclerc defended it as best he could. The longer the race progressed, the more the Ferrari surprised everyone, as Charles had an answer to every fast lap of his pursuer. And that had not only something to do with the fact that Hamilton slipped around more in the turbulence of the red car than was expected anyway because of the top-speed-heavy set-up. Slipping meant blisters on the front tire.
The SF21 was at least equal to the Mercedes on medium tires, to the point that Hamilton didn’t even benefit from Charles Leclerc’s engine problems. The Monegasse complained of engine curs when upshifting. His engineers instructed him remotely which buttons to press on the steering wheel to solve the problem. The command to the driver “Go Alpha default 5.6” made you think you were in the space shuttle. Shortly before the pit stop, Charles Leclerc’s lead increased to 2.488 seconds.
Mercedes advised Hamilton to be patient. “We told him to concentrate on driving as long as possible with the first set. Ferrari knew about our penalty. So it was clear that Charles Leclerc would wait for our pit stop.” After 27 laps, a completely worn left front tire put an end to the first stint.
Mercedes also wanted to make the tire delta to Lando Norris as large as possible. Despite the slow pit stop, the McLaren driver was in the pit stop window of Hamilton, who still had to wait ten seconds before changing tires. Hamilton should pass the McLaren as quickly as possible with the freshest possible tires so as not to lose time chasing Charles.
Lando Norris pitted in the 21st lap to prevent Valtteri Bottas from getting an undercut. The Englishman lost six seconds because the wheel nut jammed at the rear right. That also determined Bottas’ pit stop. Mercedes responded immediately. Such a gift has to be accepted, even if the plan was different. “This made my second stint longer and I couldn’t drive the pace I wanted,” complained Bottas.The Finn’s job this weekend was different. He had to help his team captain. A brief arrangement of “invert positions” was enough, and Bottas willingly slid aside to make way for Hamilton. “Had we let them fight, Lewis would have lost too much time on Leclerc,” it was said from the pit wall.
Red Bull has meanwhile also made things clear. Sergio Perez drives for Verstappen and no longer for himself. A few points was stolen from the Mexican so that he could take a world championship point away from Hamilton. With four laps to go, the team brought Perez from 10th place in order to send him back out on soft tires for the fastest lap, which until then belonged to the defending champion. Perez had none of it because he finished outside the top ten, but Hamilton lost his bonus point. And that mattered more. After switching to hard tires, Charles Leclerc had 23 laps to defend 12.8 seconds ahead of Hamilton. But the Mercedes caught up with one second per lap, with an incredible pace on the hard tires. The engineers explained: “The harder the tire, the more resistant it is to blistering. So you can attack more. We had problems with the medium tires because Lewis drove too hard and the tires overheated. Ferrari has the cards played into the hand. “Leclerc, on the other hand, felt a restlessness in the rear on the hard soles, especially in traffic. Mercedes sees a second reason why Hamilton was able to catch up so fast. “We had the impression that they had not filled the tank with enough fuel. During the phase in which Lewis was catching up, Leclerc was repeatedly told to Lift and Coast. They only stopped when our car was right behind them.” Ferrari disagrees. Lift and Coast was therefore a measure to avoid the problems with the fuel supply that had caused the cuts in the middle of the race.
Scuderia Ferrari clearly had the third fastest car at Silverstone. But if, with a free choice of tires, almost everyone starts with medium tires and ends with hards, it is difficult to get ahead of a good car. Carlos Sainz paid for his bad starting position. Ferrari tried to guide the Spaniard past Daniel Ricciardo with an overcut and an eight-lap offset. That would have worked if the wheel gun had not failed at the front left during the pit stop. Carlos Sainz had to wait for 12.8 seconds. When he turned into the pit lane, he was 22.5 seconds ahead of the McLaren.
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