Formula 1: Hamilton wins with a flat tyre, and lousy luck hits Sainz
Published by Soamas
August 3, 2023 2:26 pm
In a chaotic finish full of punctures, Hamilton crossed the finish line with a blown-out wheel. He was able to take the victory ahead of Verstappen. Bottas also got a hole and ended up out of the points.
The seventh victory for Lewis Hamilton in the Formula 1 British Grand Prix fell in the most chaotic way possible. A puncture-filled finish sank Valtteri Bottas and Carlos Sainz. They miraculously saved a Hamilton who crossed the line with a blown-out tyre. Reality is that the Briton dominated from start to finish, and with his victory. He struck a blow at the world championship after his teammate finished out of the points. Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc finished on the podium. The Spanish driver finished 13th.
When Carlos Sainz was about to finish fourth, he saw one of his front wheels punctured. And he lost a position that he had won thanks to a spectacular start. The Spaniard had to give everything at the beginning of the race to achieve a great result after suffering a hard blow on Saturday against his teammate. The Spanish driver had an acceptable start. He started defending himself in the first metres of the Renaults outside the first corners, but as the edges went by, his McLaren seemed to fly over the track until he ended up attacking Lance Stroll, whom he overtook at once.
Sainz didn’t settle for sixth place, he went all out and took advantage of the better starting performance of his soft compound to make a spectacular overtake on the outside, in turn, nine on his teammate Lando Norris. The Spaniard had a fifth place in his hand, but a puncture on the last lap ruined everything. Even so, Carlos once again proves that he is one of the best starters.
The other significant loss due to the punctures was Valtteri Bottas. The Finn was already facing the last two laps to finish in second place, but a hole, just like the Spaniard, made him fall out of the points. He finished 11th and saw as his maximum rival for the world championship, Hamilton, was not running the same misfortune. The Briton punctured a lap later and gave him time to cross the finish line first. All because Red Bull decided to look for the fastest lap and stopped Max Verstappen, who had to settle for second place. Charles Leclerc found another unexpected podium for Ferrari.
Hulkenberg’s Drama
The other drama of the day was for Nico Hulkenberg. The German arrived at the circuit with a big smile on his face. After a stop for eight months after losing his seat last year, he had the opportunity to show his talent with Racing Point for the positive COVID-19 of Sergio Perez. But bad luck struck with Hulkenberg, who couldn’t even do the training lap.
The mechanics detected that something wasn’t right just when he had to get on the starting grid. Hulkenberg already prepared, but they ended up taking the car apart. At first, he was going to come out of the pitlane, but they couldn’t even start him. From the team, they were “absolutely shattered” on the abandonment confirmation tweet.