Five Formula 1 Winners & Losers: British Grand Prix

Photo by Peter Cziborra from Reuters

There’s a few tracks in Formula 1 that always deliver, and Silverstone is definitely one of them.

The track is great. The racing is excellent. The fans are rabid.

It’s a blast.

Sunday was no different.

Here are the winners and losers from the British Grand Prix.

Losers

5. George Russell

George Russell’s pole position on Saturday was electric, and he led for a lot of the race as well.

But unfortunately, a fault ended his race early and meant he was unable to fight for a win at his home track.

Brutal luck.

4. Pierre Gasly

Speaking of brutal luck…

Pierre Gasly changed his entire engine before this race and took a 50 place grid penalty, only for the gearbox to not function and prevent him from even starting the race.

He basically just had a weekend vacation in Britain.

3. Charles Leclerc

Leclerc finally broke the curse and won his home race, the Monaco Grand Prix.

Since then, his season has been an absolute disaster, with a terrible strategy call completely ruining his race.

That win was surely amazing, but the cost is extremely pricey, as it turns out.

2. Sergio Perez

Checo underperformed, got a two year extension, continued underperforming, and is now at risk of losing his seat after qualifying 19th due to a crash on his out lap and a terrible strategy that had him finish 17th.

What was the point of even giving him the extension?

It’s beyond me.

1. McLaren

McLaren had the pace. They had the chance to get a win at their home track.

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were flying.

But once the rain picked up, they put Norris on the intermediate tires while leaving Piastri out a lap, effectively ruining his race.

Then, the track dried, and while everyone else put on slick tires, McLaren left Norris out on the intermediate tires, effectively ruining his race.

Two poor strategy calls change a possible battle for the win to being far behind in 3rd and 4th.

The margins are slim, and the strategy simply wasn’t good enough.

Winners

5. Williams

Alex Albon ended up 9th and getting two points, while Logan Sargeant fought for 11th to get his best finish of the year.

It was a great drive from both drivers, and crucial for Logan Sargeant who’s fighting to keep his seat.

4. Oscar Piastri

His team may have screwed over his race, but Piastri was faster than Norris for significant chunks of the grand prix and almost stole a podium off of his teammate.

Not his fault he was left out to dry.

Or…get rained on more?

You know what I mean.

3. Max Verstappen

What looked like a tough weekend for Verstappen came dangerously close to a race win, due to clean driving and, crucially, smart strategy calls of when to go onto certain tires.

Just one week after going over the edge to get a win, he showed his composure to almost steal one.

Just one lap short…

2. Nico Hulkenberg

Nico Hulkenberg is driving the hell out of that Haas car, bringing home 8 points in back to back weekends for the team and putting them firmly into 7th.

He’s red hot right now.

1. Lewis Hamilton

It was the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in 2021 when Lewis Hamilton last took the checkered flag, one week before a race that he likely should have to get his 8th championship.

Since then, it’s been a lot of pain.

A car not quick enough for race wins. Unable to battle for championships.

Lewis Hamilton went from 2008-2021 winning at least one race a year, but was now on a two and a half year stretch of not winning a single one.

That streak has finally, finally come to an end, and at his home grand prix of all places.

Not only did it end a drought, it also broke another record for the most wins at one circuit with 9.

Hamilton was overcome with emotions after the fact, as if everything weighing on him was finally let off his shoulders.

He and Mercedes are still far off fighting for championships, but the 2024 British Grand Prix showed that Lewis Hamilton, for sure, still has it.