Silverstone heralds return of racing’s grand theatre
‘Halo’ proves worth again by saving two lives in four hours Sainz holds off Perez and Hamilton for maiden victory
All hail Silverstone, the purists’ paradise. So often this vast, reclaimed airfield has had its Formula One future questioned, but here, in front of a rapt audience of 142,000, it delivered a race for the ages.
This was a tapestry of theatre, encompassing everything from Zhou Guanyu’s ghastly upsidedown crash to Lewis Hamilton’s glorious double overtake, detonating an ecstatic ovation along the pit straight that bears his name. Even Tom Cruise, a man who choreographs action sequences for a living, looked drained by the drama of it all.
Somehow, Carlos Sainz navigated a path through the maelstrom to secure his maiden win, despite a fierce team orders row at Ferrari and a first-lap incursion of five eco-warriors, where they sat cross-legged on the track until security officials muscled them away.
With the paddock traumatised by Zhou’s first-lap wipe-out – from which he miraculously escaped, despite his helmet scraping along the gravel and his car flipping into the catch fence – Hamilton ensured this British Grand Prix would also be remembered for the racing, waging a fearsome scrap with Sergio Perez and Charles Leclerc until the bitter end. While he was ultimately denied his ninth Silverstone triumph, squeezed into third, this result ranks highly in his collection of 185 podium finishes.
For the final few laps he was less the seven-time world champion than the born racer back in teenage prodigy mode, battling for an edge over Leclerc for all he was worth. Sainz was out of sight, but neither Hamilton nor his Monegasque rival would yield an inch.
No sooner had Hamilton vaulted from fourth to second in a single move than Leclerc wrested back the advantage with a sweeping manoeuvre around the outside of Copse corner. It was the overtake of this or any other season, and the type of spectacle for which F1 cars were redesigned. This back-and-forth scrapping had not been seen at Silverstone in years, and the vast galleries screamed their approval.
This sport can be an unwieldy and imperfect beast, but here it enjoyed one of its finest days. Quite apart from the battle on the track, the “halo”, the wishbone-shaped safety device introduced in F1 cars in 2018 to minimise head injuries, saved two lives in four hours.
First Formula Two’s Roy Nissany had a merciful reprieve, protected by the halo after Dennis Hauger’s car landed on top of his. But it was a mere prelude to Zhou’s horrifying catapult into the barriers, his Alfa Romeo turned on its axis by a collision with George Russell, then smashed to pieces when it hit the tyre wall and flew into a steel fence. Silverstone held its collective breath. Initially, fans in the stand behind the impact rushed for cover from the shattering of carbon fibre.
Soon, though, a mood of bleak foreboding settled over the team garages. In a worrying sign, the broadcasters would not show any replays. Finally, after an agonising 20-minute wait, reassurance arrived over the radio to Zhou’s Alfa Romeo team-mate, Valtteri Bottas. “Zhou is OK,” the Finn’s engineer announced.
It was a reflection of the brutal forces that these cars are capable of withstanding. Even five years ago, pre-halo, Zhou’s potential fate scarcely bears thinking about. This time, within an hour, he was passed fit by the medical centre and seen chatting with team principal Frederic Vasseur and F1 chief executive Stefano Domenicali. Considering the wreck from which paramedics had pulled him, it defied all logic.
It is at times like these that you appreciate the drivers’ fortitude and mental strength more than ever. Having watched Zhou hurled into mortal peril, they had to head out and do it all over again at the restart.
Fortunately the repeat was less harrowing, but still full of intrigue as Sainz fiercely defended his lead from a swarming Max Verstappen. Such was the Dutchman’s race pace, Sainz could not afford to make the slightest mistake. When, under sustained pressure, he slid wide for Verstappen to pounce, the outcome appeared settled.
But the championship leader had problems of his own, having damaged the rear of his Red Bull when he drove over some debris. “The car is 100 per cent broken,” he said. His mood was not helped by the emergency pit stop, Verstappen complaining: “I don’t know why the f--- you put me on these tyres.” Up ahead, the two Ferrari drivers were drawn into deep internal strife, with Sainz struggling to convince Ferrari that he should not make way for Leclerc, far ahead of him in the world title race.
Unless Sainz hit a strict time target, Ferrari warned, they would be “swapping the cars”. “One more lap,” the Spaniard appealed. “Not good enough,” came the reply. It was a mystifying piece of strategy, which threatened to cost Leclerc valuable time and hand the initiative to Hamilton. That impression only sharpened when Esteban Ocon limped off with a shredded tyre, necessitating a safety car. Hamilton took the invitation to pit for a set of softs, laying a platform to attack Leclerc, a sitting duck on 14-lap-old hard tyres.
Cue mayhem as the green flag was waved again. Hamilton was wheel-to-wheel with Leclerc and a resurgent Perez, propelled into second and in the hunt for Sainz. But for all the strides Mercedes have made, their car is not quick enough to reel in Ferrari on the straights.
Third, in the end, was the best Hamilton could manage despite his remarkable racecraft. The glory belonged to Sainz, a winner on his 150th attempt. “It hasn’t quite sunk in yet,” he said. “I’m waiting for the minutes to go by, to realise what has actually happened.”
It was a sentiment shared by the vast human throng who applauded him, struggling to compute a race that beggared belief.