British GP: Sainz takes maiden F1 win in a chaotic race

Carlos Sainz finally secured his maiden Formula 1 win after a crazy British Grand Prix on Sunday.

A day after claiming his first pole, it was a 150th race to remember for the Ferrari driver, who capitalised on a Safety Car to pass teammate Charles Leclerc in a chaotic final stint.

Sergio Perez saved a bad day for Red Bull in second, this after damage to Max Verstappen’s car took him out of victory contention.

And Lewis Hamilton made it a record 13th podium at Silverstone in third for Mercedes.

Race Review

At the start, Verstappen got the better launch on soft tyres to take the lead from Sainz into Abbey.

Lewis Hamilton also made a great start to jump upto third from fifth on the grid.

The race was soon red-flagged though after Pierre Gasly was sandwiched between George Russell and Zhou Guanyu, with the Mercedes flipping the Alfa Romeo that then came to a halt between the tyre barrier and catch-fencing.

That collision triggered a secondary incident as Sebastian Vettel rear-ended Alex Albon in the cloud of smoke, who then also hit Esteban Ocon and Yuki Tsunoda.

As a full lap hadn’t been completed, the order was returned to the original grid with Sainz on pole ahead of Verstappen.

At the restart, the Spaniard held the Red Bull at bay through Abbey and the first few corners.

Leclerc dived up the inside into The Loop for third, passing Perez and damaging his front wing, requiring an early pit stop for the Mexican.

A mistake from Sainz gave Verstappen the lead entering the Hangar Straight only for an apparent puncture to force the Dutchman to pit.

It was later confirmed as rear brake duct damage on the RB18 costing Max time as he continued in sixth.

At the front, Leclerc put Sainz under pressure with Hamilton closing in behind in third. Carlos pitted to release his teammate but the Mercedes was relentless in its pursuit of the lead.

The Monegasque himself stopped for hard tyres but wasn’t able to undercut Sainz, as Mercedes went long to try the overcut.

Ferrari saw this and released Leclerc up into second place to try and nullify that threat. Hamilton eventually made his stop but a small delay meant he continued in third.

The race took a big twist though as a stoppage for Ocon required the Safety Car to clear his Alpine.

Leclerc missed out on the chance to pit for softs but Sainz and Hamilton did not, giving them a big tyre advantage for the restart.

Sainz wasted little time to pounce, passing his teammate to take the lead as Perez, who was a big beneficiary of the Safety Car, overtook Hamilton for third.

As Carlos pulled away out front and onto victory, Charles began a titanic battle with Perez and Hamilton for the final podium places.

The trio changed positions several times with Checo making a bold move on the Ferrari into Vale, but that allowed the Mercedes up to second.

Perez though immediately repassed Hamilton into Village to take second with Leclerc capitalising to take third.

Lewis would sweep back through at Luffield only for the Monegasque to steam around the outside at Copse to stay ahead.

Ultimately, a relatively easy DRS move into Stowe would secure Hamilton third as Leclerc dropped to fourth.

Fernando Alonso tried his best to attack the Ferrari but had to settle for fifth ahead of Lando Norris in sixth.

Max Verstappen could only manage seventh in his damaged Red Bull, fending off Mick Schumacher, who finally scored his first F1 points in eighth.

Sebastian Vettel was ninth on his birthday and Kevin Magnussen rounded out the points scorers.

Lance Stroll was 11th with Nicholas Latifi 12th, Daniel Ricciardo and Yuk Tsunoda were the final finishers.