Deutsche Welle (English edition)
Lewis Hamilton wins thrilling British Grand Prix despite 10-second penalty
Mercedes' driver Lewis Hamilton won the Formula 1 British Grand Prix at Silverstone for an eighth time to reignite his title hopes. Red Bull's Max Verstappen was sent out of the race after a crash with the Briton.
There were thrills, spills and controversy as 140,000 fans at Silverstone witnessed a British Grand Prix for the ages, won by Mercedes' driver Lewis Hamilton at his home track.
The seven-time world champion started behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who made Formula 1 history in Saturday's inaugural sprint race to claim pole in Sunday's main event.
A fierce start to proceedings produced a first-lap incident involving the two when Verstappen spun out into the safety barriers. The 51G crash sent championship leader Verstappen to the hospital for further evaluations, while Hamilton was handed a 10-second penalty that drew boos from the fans in atten
dance at Silverstone.
Hamilton dropped from second to fifth after serving his penalty in the pits. It gave him 11 laps to chase down the leading Ferrari of Charles Leclerc and the final pass was made with just two laps as he roared back to the delight of the home crowd.
"What a great job guys. Thank you so much for continuing to push this year, I am so inspired by you guys. There's a long way to go but I believe in you guys," said Hamilton as he completed a victory lap brandishing the Brit
ish flag to celebrate cutting the gap to Verstappen in the drivers' championship from 33 points to seven.
Talking the press after the race, the defending champion refused to be drawn on the firstlap incident. "I always try to be very measured. Max, he's very aggressive," Hamilton said after the 99th Grand Prix win of his career. "Today, I was fully alongside him and he didn't give me the space, so...
"But regardless of whether I agree with the penalty, I take it on the chin and I just kept working. I wasn't going to let anything get in the way."
British Grand Prix podium Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes)
Drive of the day
Hamilton was pushed hard by the opportunistic Charles Leclerc. The Ferrari driver who only has two Grand Prix wins to his name, none this season, nursed minor engine problems whilst holding off the challenge from his Mercedes' counterpart. He admitted after the race that he could "hear Hamilton's pace" and a P2 finish marks the end of a positive weekend for the 23year-old.
Quote of the day
Red Bull boss Christian Horner on the first-lap incident involving Hamilton and Verstappen: "Max has had an accident at 51Gs. [Hamilton] shouldn't be making manoeuvers like that - it's unacceptable. The biggest result for us today is Max is uninjured.
"To put a wheel up the inside at a corner like Copse... that, you know, you just don't do that. He was nowhere near ahead and then there was contact. Lewis has got more than enough experience to know that is unacceptable. I'm just very disappointed that a driver of his calibre should make a move like that. It's dangerous, it looked desperate."
after
Current standings British Grand Prix
Max Verstappen (Red Bull) — 185 points
Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) — 177
Lando Norris (McLaren) — 113 Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) — 108 Sergio Perez (Red Bull) — 104
of face masks nor insurance. Instead, athletes have had to travel to Tokyo at their own risk and waive any right to compensation in the case of infection with COVID-19.
"The last few years have shown me what the Olympic
Games have become: something which has nothing more to do with values of friendship, respect and sporting excellence," laments O'Donovan.
"I still admire the athletes who hold out and manage to make it on to the podium, and I wish them all the best! It can't have been an easy journey. "But, for me, a gold medal in Tokyo wouldn't be worth much."
particularly problematic in the build-up to the Games. When it emerged in the wake of the doping scandal that World Athletics would only permit ten Russians to compete in Tokyo, concerns grew among the athletes.
A Russian Athletics Federation (RAF) working group under former Vice-President and now President Irina Privalova set about selecting the ten best athletes based on criteria including performance level and medal chances.
Top Russian Diamond League athletes such as high jump world champion Mariya Lasitskene, hurdler Sergey Shubenkov, who has just been cleared of doping, world champion pole vaulter Anzhelika Sidorova and under-23 European high-jump champion Ilya Ivanyuk were easy choices.
But the decisions over the remaining six went down to the wire, eventually falling on: Mikhail Akimenko (high jump), Darya Klishina (long jump), Ilya Shkurenyov (decathlon), Valeriy Pronkin (hammer throw) and race walkers Vasili Misinov and Elvira Khasanova.
Political medal ceremonies
And it's not just in the athletics events that Russia is aiming for maximum success. Even going back to Soviet times, the Olympic medal table has always been of great importance.
RAF president Privalova won gold in the 400m hurdles in Sydney in 2000, and would be happy if Russia's track and field team win one gold medal in Tokyo. But her bosses have higher ambitions: Russian athletes have been set a target of 40-50 medals and should unofficially aim to finish in the top three along with China and the USA.
Among the general public, however, only a few people are interested in Olympic medals. For most Russians, the doping scandal is history; they're tired of the pandemic and have other things to deal with in their daily lives. But the general interest in the Games hasn't disappeared completely.
"I'll definitely watch on television," says pensioner Natalia for example. "It's a shame that the Russian athletes have to compete as neutrals though; they've earned more respect than that."
Vladimir, an interior designer, on the other hand, thinks the sanctions are justified. "I know that Russian athletes doped," he admits. "But I'm sure that other countries do it, too. It's all about politics."
Russian athletes will be under strict supervision in Tokyo, whether in national uniforms or not, and there will be particular focus on their successes. After the doping scandal, it's time for Russia to face the consequences.