Formula 1 British Grand Prix 2024 - Results
What a race -- Silverstone delivers, again!
Due to the bouts of rain, it was definitely a race centered around tire and pit stategy. Friends and I were constantly analyzing the tires changes.
Congrats to Lewis Hamilton for P1! 9th victory at Silverstone, and first win in like 2.5yrs. He's not "my" driver, but it's hard to not be happy for him for him! I thought McLaren was going to get the 1-2, but McLaren strategy shit the bed, hard. Just goes to show that speed isn't always everything (unless the team is Mercedes pre-2021).
Checo did not get his amazing performance, which was expected starting from the pitlane, but I imagine he was still valuable by providing data to the team for Max. So that's something. Though I was a little perplexed with Ferrari and Leclerc. At one point Leclerc was right next to Sainz in the Top 10. Then Leclerc pitted too early and never recovered. Maybe just poor strategy. As usual.
Anyway, triple header is over -- Two weeks til Hungary.
Off-topic, but there's an IndyCar race today as well. First showing of their new hybrid engines.
Also, thank you to @EmperorPenguin for posting the Austrian post-race discussion last week.
Next race:
Hungarian Grand Prix
Hungaroring
Sunday, July 21
Provisional Race Results -- SPOILER
| POS | NO | DRIVER | CAR | LAPS | TIME/RETIRED | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | MERCEDES | 52 | 1:22:27.059 | 25 |
| 2 | 1 | Max Verstappen | RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT | 52 | +1.465s | 18 |
| 3 | 4 | Lando Norris | MCLAREN MERCEDES | 52 | +7.547s | 15 |
| 4 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | MCLAREN MERCEDES | 52 | +12.429s | 12 |
| 5 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | FERRARI | 52 | +47.318s | 11 |
| 6 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | HAAS FERRARI | 52 | +55.722s | 8 |
| 7 | 18 | Lance Stroll | ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES | 52 | +56.569s | 6 |
| 8 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES | 52 | +63.577s | 4 |
| 9 | 23 | Alexander Albon | WILLIAMS MERCEDES | 52 | +68.387s | 2 |
| 10 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB HONDA RBPT | 52 | +79.303s | 1 |
| 11 | 2 | Logan Sargeant | WILLIAMS MERCEDES | 52 | +88.960s | 0 |
| 12 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | HAAS FERRARI | 52 | +90.153s | 0 |
| 13 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | RB HONDA RBPT | 51 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 14 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | FERRARI | 51 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 15 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | KICK SAUBER FERRARI | 51 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 16 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | ALPINE RENAULT | 50 | +2 laps | 0 |
| 17 | 11 | Sergio Perez | RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT | 50 | +2 laps | 0 |
| 18 | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | KICK SAUBER FERRARI | 50 | +2 laps | 0 |
| NC | 63 | George Russell | MERCEDES | 33 | DNF | 0 |
| NC | 10 | Pierre Gasly | ALPINE RENAULT | 0 | DNF | 0 |
Fastest Lap: Carlos Sainz
Source: F1.com
Since we're halfway through the season -- though still not at the summer break -- I'll post the WCC and WDC as well.
World Drivers Championship Standings -- SPOILER
| POS | DRIVER | NATIONALITY | CAR | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Max Verstappen | NED | RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT | 255 |
| 2 | Lando Norris | GBR | MCLAREN MERCEDES | 171 |
| 3 | Charles Leclerc | MON | FERRARI | 150 |
| 4 | Carlos Sainz | ESP | FERRARI | 146 |
| 5 | Oscar Piastri | AUS | MCLAREN MERCEDES | 124 |
| 6 | Sergio Perez | MEX | RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT | 118 |
| 7 | George Russell | GBR | MERCEDES | 111 |
| 8 | Lewis Hamilton | GBR | MERCEDES | 110 |
| 9 | Fernando Alonso | ESP | ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES | 45 |
| 10 | Lance Stroll | CAN | ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES | 23 |
| 11 | Nico Hulkenberg | GER | HAAS FERRARI | 22 |
| 12 | Yuki Tsunoda | JPN | RB HONDA RBPT | 20 |
| 13 | Daniel Ricciardo | AUS | RB HONDA RBPT | 11 |
| 14 | Oliver Bearman | GBR | FERRARI | 6 |
| 15 | Pierre Gasly | FRA | ALPINE RENAULT | 6 |
| 16 | Kevin Magnussen | DEN | HAAS FERRARI | 5 |
| 17 | Alexander Albon | THA | WILLIAMS MERCEDES | 4 |
| 18 | Esteban Ocon | FRA | ALPINE RENAULT | 3 |
| 19 | Zhou Guanyu | CHN | KICK SAUBER FERRARI | 0 |
| 20 | Logan Sargeant | USA | WILLIAMS MERCEDES | 0 |
| 21 | Valtteri Bottas | FIN | KICK SAUBER FERRARI | 0 |
Source: F1.com
World Constructors Championship Standings -- SPOILER
| POS | TEAM | PTS |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT | 373 |
| 2 | FERRARI | 302 |
| 3 | MCLAREN MERCEDES | 295 |
| 4 | MERCEDES | 221 |
| 5 | ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES | 68 |
| 6 | RB HONDA RBPT | 31 |
| 7 | HAAS FERRARI | 27 |
| 8 | ALPINE RENAULT | 9 |
| 9 | WILLIAMS MERCEDES | 4 |
| 10 | KICK SAUBER FERRARI | 0 |
Source: F1.com
This was an enjoyable race! I certainly had a lot of tension in the last 7-8 laps there. Happy to see Lewis win. It feels bittersweet to see HAM heading off into his Ferrari sunset. Having been a regular watcher since 2010, I've only seen Ferrari chew up the greats. I have little confidence in the idea that Ferrari will nail things and give Lewis a competitive enough car for the latter stages of his career. Though I'd love to see it happen. I had such great hopes for Seb one or two of his Ferrari years (but as we all know, Germany 2018 destroyed his competitive soul). Anyways. Best of luck to Lewis in the red, may he change their fortunes and have a wonderful final chapter. For whatever reason (probably nothing more than HAM has been on the grid so long) I still want to see him be the person we all look to as the GOAT of the sport ... even though I forsee VER taking all those honorifics as the years fly by.
No real discount of VER. He's a great. And I loved Seb doing the same in his RBR years ... VER was just the young gun that was fan-damn-tastic, supplanting my favorites. I guess to some extent I don't love VER's story, given his father and all. But either way, I'm here to witness greatness, and I won't dispute VER's greatness!
Re: today's race - boy I didn't love the time-biding in the first 15-16 laps, but you could smell the excitement and the hope for a good race. And we definitely got it. Gutted for Lando ... you could read it all in his body language in the cooldown room. He seems to not really believe his moment will come (I know people would disagree with this POV, and that's okay!)
I keep thinking that NOR needs a lot more time at the very sharp edge. It seems like each time some little aspect comes apart for him or the team. I'd hate to see him need to go to a new team (and I don't think that's required) - his win will come. But I don't want to see him become a Herbert, walking around with one win. I just don't know what he needs to gain that last little bit of killer instinct and racecraft a the very sharpest edge. He'll get it eventually, but it just seems like it's taking him awhile to acquire that final edge.
Really enjoyable race today!
I don't think Norris is doing too much wrong, just very unlucky to be competing with other greats, first Lewis and now Max. In my opinion he's been the 'best-of-the-rest' for a few seasons now, both when Mercedes was dominant and then during/after the transition to Red Bull's dominance. In that time period he's been the only non-Mercedes/RB/Ferrari driver to consistently get good points and score podiums.
But this season (and the end of last season) is really the first time that McLaren have been in decent-enough form and ready to fight for some wins (Piastri too is doing amazing given his lack of experience). Competition at the top has been tighter than it has been in a long time, with RB stumbling, Ferrari sorta stagnating, Mercedes slightly improving, and McLaren competing for podiums. He already got his first win this season and it definitely seems like he could get another by the end of the year.
Completely agree! Tire strategy was everything and made it an exciting race at the front of the field.
McLaren got it so wrong on both pit stops. If they had brought Norris in earlier, pitting Piastri a lap later would have worked. Mercedes and Redbull were spot on with their decisions and both Hamilton and Verstappen made the right calls when asked about pitting for tires.
I wish Ferrari had been more in the mix. It would have been amazing to see four teams fighting for the podium, but they royally messed up Leclerc's race pitting him so early for Inters.
Haas made out with a nice chunk of points thanks to Hulkenburg. I'm excited to see how their car develops for the rest of the season. It'll be nice to have Bearman come into the team next year with a good car under him.
great weekend for motorsport. I am so happy that Lewis won. I didn't think I'd care as much as I do --- its just perfect. This season is shaping up to be truly exciting with Red Bull shitting the bed (which I believe is a deep conspiracy!)
Great weekend, indeed! I think I watched like 7+ hours of racing today between F1, F2/F3, IndyCar, and NASCAR. I don't normally watch NASCAR, but figured I had to watch a street circuit in downtown Chicago. And it was raining, too.
And shaping up to be exciting, indeed! Finally a season, post-2021, where there's a chance we won't know how it ends!
After quali, I told my dad and brother that it was rigged! 3 British drivers, starting P1-P3, while in the UK? Hmmmmmmmmmm...Very sus! /s
hahaha you aren't alone in motorsport consuming your day. MotoGP was awesome, too -- definitely check that out. :)
Conspiracy-wise, I was originally sold that Red Bull was deliberately tanking Checo so they'd get the WDC but give up the WCC to get more wind tunnel time, since they don't really need the money. But now I'm wondering if Liberty asked them to cool it with the winning or something... it seems insane that they'd go from dominating with a loss here and there to a few straight.
I doubt its the case... but would I put it past them? :)
What a great race. Nice to see Hamilton back on the top step, hopefully it gives him a boost for the rest of the season. Mercedes pace was looking strong suddenly so who knows he can be in the mix again.
As a McLaren fan it was a disappointing day. As an F1 fan seeing Hamilton win such an emotional victory was a landmark race. After 2.5 years without a win it's easy to imagine how self-doubt would eat at someone with his record. The relief and joy was palpable and it could not have come at a better track. My girlfriend and I both teared up through the victory celebrations.
On the other hand... McLaren... I suspect what we're seeing is a team and driver both learning how to compete at the top level. The mistakes being made are the types that aren't punished as hard just a couple positions down. But now it's clear they have the tools and what they lack is experience.
Norris/Piastri are my favorite drivers, both them and the team need to close these gaps and they can be real contenders. I hope we see improvements, summer break is coming up it would be a good time to re-evaluate decision making processes.
I feel like Norris needs to be a little bit more of a bastard on track (and off). If it comes down to the line, if Norris is really a threat to Verstappen, I believe Verstappen will race just as hard (right on and over the line, every race, if the stewards allow it again) as he did against Hamilton in 2021. It's why I thought it was the right choice for Norris to accept the crash that Verstappen created in Austria. Sure, he lost out, but perhaps he can let Verstappen know that he is willing to crash out if Verstappen forces it, and that will bear fruit in the long term. Verstappen beat Hamilton because Hamilton played the long game, steadily stacking up points, while Verstappen got to learn that he can push and bully Hamilton off the track without consequence.
Also, what Button said after the race rung true for me. He said that Norris shouldn't let other drivers see how despondent he is truly feeling, that that's going to be seized on as weakness and exploited. I think that's true. What Rosberg did in 2016 was admirable. He gave nothing away in the interviews during the season, he'd always say he was just taking it one race at a time, yadda yadda. Post-win, he said he would agonise, that of course he was aware of every single permutation in every race, he just didn't let anyone know how much the pressure really was getting to him. I think of Lance Armstrong, who wrote that when he passed his competitors on a hill climb (caveat that he was dosed up on PEDs, of course), he'd deliberately grit his teeth and breathe through is note, not letting the other cyclists see that his lungs and legs were screaming in agony with the effort. He reckoned that would break them, being passed by a guy not even gasping, breathing with his mouth closed! I hope Norris can find that Bastard mentality on the track and cultivate a hard exterior off it.
Then, if Mclaren can sort their dogshit strategy calls out, I think he could do it. Having said all of that, I think Piastri will overtake him before he can make this type of change.
There might be something to this, though I think wearing his feelings openly is just part of Lando's personality. I do wish he'd get mad more than just sulk. It's reasonable to be upset that you bottled your own pit stop then picked the wrong tires and cooked them. But get pissed off about it.
I fear you're right that Piastri may just overtake him before everything clicks.
Didn't Red Bull renew Checo's contract a few months ago? I thought it was strange then and I think the last few races have all but cemented that thought. I feel bad for the guy but something clearly isn't working out lately. Max is always either first or thereabouts, meanwhile Checo has been sinking lower and lower in the standings and race finishes.
They did which was after a couple good performances. I wonder if this is another situation where his contract is with Red Bull rather than RBR and they have the flexibility to demote him and swap in someone from VRB.
What is absolutely odd to me is their treatment of Tsunoda. I like the guy, he is scrappy and has some variability but he's shown up for this team. But Ricciardo has one decent race (Austria) and Horner is out there floating his name again. We never hear about opportunities for Tsunoda. I want to see Tsunoda ditch Red Bull and start his own thing. Put him in Haas or Alpine. If Papa Stroll really wanted to build the team Aston would replace Lance, I think Tsunoda/Alonso would be a bangin' line up for Aston.
I agree that Tsunoda has been better than Ricciardo (who has been pretty underwhelming since he came back). But I don't think Stroll is going anywhere anytime soon unfortunately.
I'm curious what ends up happening this off-season with all the driver changes (and given that there were 0 changes from last year). When Lewis to Ferrari was announced, I thought for sure Red Bull would drop Checo and pick up Sainz given his Red Bull history and recent performances compared to Checo. But then they renewed him and now I have no clue where Sainz would even go. He'll probably end up on a team like Haas, Alpine, or Williams, but I think he's got the ability to be fighting it out at the top like he already is. If Red Bull and Ferrari don't want him, McLaren seems set with Norris and Piastri, that just leaves Mercedes with a spot for him at the top, but I don't believe there's been much talk about that other than speculation.
It's honestly crazy that Sainz hasn't signed anything. He's done pretty much everything he can to market himself and he should be an easy replacement for Perez. I doubt he'd play the second seat role like Perez and maybe they don't want the drama. But Sainz has demonstrated he's worth making moves for.
Yeah that's the same thing I thought of, that maybe RB preferred Checo who has shown that he understands his role as the number 2 driver, rather than bring in Sainz who could potentially cause conflicts with Max at the top. But recent performances for Checo have been dire while Sainz has been solid his entire time at Ferrari, even in the height of their shitshow period.
Another thing I thought of was the financial backing and marketability that Checo has in a market that's rapidly growing in North America, but I don't know enough about Red Bull or F1's finances to do more than speculate.
I reckon Perez's contract renewal did include some pretty powerful performance break clauses. There's no reason to sign up a guy who is demonstrably mediocre. Team heads know it's only a matter of time before the performance pendulum swings - no team gets to keep a huge performance advantage for long, and Perez seems to need that gap to reliably finish well. My heart wants Ric in, but he's also been a let-down. The ruthless Red Bull of old would dump Perez, not let Ric get a look in, and overlook Tsunoda for being a Honda man. Where they go from there, I'm not sure. But if they were making tough choices, I feel like those three drivers are out of it.
I have a couple theories on Yuki. But first: He's an excellent driver. I know he gets heated -- that move on Daniel at beginning of the season was obviously stupid -- but they all do at times. I hope he gets a crack at the 2nd Red Bull seat. And if not, to get a seat elsewhere in F1.
Anyway, I wonder if he's not getting a chance because of RBR & VCARB's relationship with Honda. Maybe Honda wanted a Japanese driver as a concession. Since RBR/VCARB is parting ways, with Honda headed to Aston Martin, maybe the group is hesitant to move Yuki up. He's currently signed through 2025, but no further at this time. Why move him up if they're going to release him after 2025?
Secondly, and unrelated to my first, I do wonder how well a Yuki-Max pairing would work. While I don't foresee a Yuki in the second seat immediately mixing it up at the front with Max and Lando and the other usual suspects, what happens if/when he does start doing that? Is he going to want to play second fiddle to Max until Max leaves? Checo, when he's performing, is a good partner. He knows his place in the team. I assume Daniel would, too. Hell, Botta could do it. But I don't know if Yuki would be OK with that.