A dramatic weekend at Silverstone culminated in one of the most entertaining and pulsating spectacles in recent times in a race that had pretty much everything- a horrifying turn-1 accident from which the drivers in question all thankfully came out unscathed, four different leaders threatening to run away at different parts of the race as things changed dramatically, a race full of frenetic wheel-to-wheel driving and overtakes, particularly after the late safety car, a first-time race winner and also the first points for the son of a legend- the 2022 British GP was a breathtaking event.  

So lets pick the bones from this Sunday’s race and identify who came out as winners and who came out as losers from this grand prix.

Also read: British GP: Carlos Sainz seals maiden F1 win, Lewis Hamilton third

WINNERS

FIA’s safety standards and the Halo

We have to address the big moment at the start of the race and commend the brilliant job the FIA has done in the last few years to make Formula 1 a safer sport.

When Chinese rookie Zhou Guanyu went spinning upside-down at 140mph all the way from the asphalt and into the gravel before dramatically somersaulting over the barriers, slamming into the fence mid-air and getting lodged in a perilously awkward position between the safety fencing and barriers, most expected the absolute worst. 

However, the watching world breathed a collective sigh of relief as news filtered in that Zhou had escaped from the horror crash completely unscathed and there was even a smiling twitter selfie soon after from the rookie to drive home that fact. 

This brought the focus, this time in a positive light, on the once controversial halo on the F1 cars that was introduced by the FIA in 2016- something that was initially met with a lot of resistance and criticism. Its no exaggeration to say that it was the halo that saved Zhou from the worst impact, and most possibly the worst possible outcome, and the FIA needs to be given a pat on the back for sticking to their guns and doing the right thing. 

The biggest winner of the weekend is thus definitely the FIA and the halo, for being a life saver! 

Carlos Sainz

Of the four drivers to take the lead, Sainz was definitely not the fastest of them all, nor was he the most flamboyant. But like in qualifying, he played the cards dealt to him with conviction, making it count when it mattered and nailing down a memorable first win in Formula 1. 

Earlier, he showed that he is a selfless team man, giving up the lead to teammate Charles Leclerc who had better pace than him, as the two Ferraris tried to navigate the looming threat of a resurgent Hamilton. 

Ironically, it is this sacrifice that later put him in a better position than Leclerc to pit for soft tyres when the safety car was summoned on Lap 39, and at the safety car restart, he passed his teammate on older hard rubber decisively and claimed a well deserved maiden win.  

Also read: Protestors invade Silverstone track moments after Zhou Guanyu crash: Watch

Sergio ‘Checo’ Perez

Checo’s race seemed to have been ruined after a skirmish with Leclerc following the second standing start left him with considerable front wing damage. He was forced to pit to replace his front wing and duly rejoined at the back of the pack. What followed was an exceptional recovery drive from the Mexican as he made his way up the field with some fine overtakes, and after a prolonged stint, he was in a brilliant position to make an opportunistic pit stop and rejoin without dropping positions when the safety car was called in. 

After the safety car restart, Checo absolutely blitzed past home favourite Lewis Hamilton, who was also on fresh soft tyres. There was some tremendous racing between the two and Leclerc as the three jostled for positions like a bunch of go-kart racers thrilling the watching audience no end. Perez wasn’t in the mood to concede an inch though, and he left Hamilton in the dust, as he took the second step of the podium in style. His tenacious drive also earned him ‘Driver of the Day’ this Sunday. 

Mick Schumacher

Most F1 fans will have been ecstatic to see the young son of an ageless legend finally break the glass ceiling and score the first points of his F1 career. 

Luck has eluded Schumacher this season as a mix of driver mistakes, and car unreliability have seen him drop out of point-scoring positions again and again, and the pressure seemed to be getting intense by the week. But no more! 

This Sunday saw a reinvigorated Schumacher on the attack, as he overtook his senior teammate Magnussen twice- before and after the safety car, as well as his mentor and friend Sebastian Vettel to enter the final laps of the Grand Prix comfortably positioned on 8th, and attacking the ailing car of World Champion Max Verstappen for 7th. Verstappen was in no mood to give way, but Schumi (can we call him that?) displayed commendable maturity in putting the pressure on the World Champion nevertheless, and it was only some borderline defending from the Dutchman that saw him retain his 7th place. Hopefully the first of many for the young man, and a performance his father would have been proud of.

Also read: Why fans at British GP booed Max Verstappen

LOSERS

Ferrari and Leclerc

It’s ironic that the team with the win finds a place in the losers’ category. But such was the shoddy race management from Ferrari, that this is no more than the Italian team deserves. 

Ferrari seemed ready to capitalise after Verstappen’s run in with some debris left them with a weakened car and lost in the midfield. Sainz inherited the lead and Leclerc was hot on his heels, inspite of some front wing damage himself. What followed was almost comedic indecisiveness from the Italians as they failed to act with conviction and undermined their position of strength as Hamilton chased them down. After an early pitstop for Sainz to get him out of Leclerc’s way, he ended up in front of Leclerc anyway after Leclerc himself pitted- to bring in round 2 of Ferrari indecision. A furious Leclerc was making his feelings felt on the radio and Ferrari belatedly swapped positions as Hamilton closed them down. 

When the safety car was brought out, Ferrari could have brought in both Leclerc and Sainz for fresh tyres. Instead the team was caught napping and only Sainz could pit. 

This resulted in Leclerc becoming a sitting duck when the race restarted as his old tyres were no match for the fresh softs of those behind him, all of whom had pitted. It must be noted that Leclerc nevertheless fought for his corner like a lion providing some amazing racing, and even forcing Hamilton to take him on the Copse corner, this time with more discipline than he had done last year against Verstappen. Leclerc, in spite of his gritty defence couldn’t outlast the tyres of the Mercedes and had to settle for 4th place. 

A sure shot 1-2 for the Ferrari evaporated because of the Maranello team’s tactical naivety- something they’ll need to erase if they want to retain 2nd in the constructors, let alone battle Red Bull for 1st. 

George Russell

This was Russell’s first home grand prix with his new team, and he must have been itching to have a race to remember in front of a raucous home crowd. He did have a race to remember- for all the wrong reasons, however.

It all started off with a poor Q3 performance in qualifying. Starting from 8th in the grid on hard tyres, Russell got off to a poor start, and before the first corner, a miscalculation of his positioning saw him bump into Guanyu Zhou and trigger the horrifying accident that led to an immediate red flag, and also saw his car tumble out of the race in the ensuing melee. 

He immediately rushed out of his car to check on his counterpart, but couldn’t really do anything about it, and to top it all off, the stewards barred him from the race restart, because his car had been helped back to the paddock, and the rules do not allow a car to rejoin in those conditions. 

A first DNF for the Brit, at his home GP. 

Also read: F1: Winners and losers from the Canadian GP

Yuki Tsunoda and Alpha Tauri

Yuki seemed to have put his frequent missteps on the race track from his debut season behind him, or so we thought. 

After a horrendous pit exit that ruined his race in Montreal, at Silverstone we saw Tsunoda going in to make an ill-advised overtake attempt on teammate Pierre Gasly while both were steadily in the hunt for points. But instead of the glory of outmaneuvering his teammate, Tsunoda instead had to settle for making contact with him instead, causing the two Alpha Tauris to spin about hilariously like a pair of synchronised swimmers, thus ruining both their races. A 5-second penalty followed for young Yuki for causing a collision, and he’ll be feeling the pressure as Red Bull, his sponsors, won’t be amused like we were, watching the comedy unfold!

Daniel Ricciardo

Alas, the bubbly Australian is becoming somewhat of a regular in this end of the list, and this was another woeful day, rather weekend, at the office for him. 

He seemed completely at sea in the McLaren right from Friday practice to the chequered flag, and teammate Lando Norris’ strong performance merely casts him further in a darker light. 

There were mitigating circumstances- his DRS malfunctioned for half of the race, but let’s be clear, that wasn’t going to be changing much for a driver who just doesn’t seem to be able to unleash any convincing pace in his McLaren.
Also read: What is porpoising, the aerodynamic issue plaguing Formula1 drivers?

AND LASTLY.. 

Max Verstappen

Can he be classified a ‘loser’? A 7th place finish behind all his closest competitors would make it appear so. But the circumstances in which things unfolded offer a far more nuanced view. 

Firstly, Max didn’t put a foot wrong all weekend. It was luck that had set its heart on wreaking havoc with his weekend- as everything that could go wrong for him went wrong.

First, he was the fastest man on Saturday throughout qualifying but a Charles Leclerc spin robbed him of a sure shot pole. 

On race day, he made a brilliant start passing Sainz for the lead at the very start, before the Red Flag and the curious call to restart with the initial grid demanded that he repeat his first corner heroics. Sainz was in no mood to be bypassed again, and so in the restart, Max held on to second and chased after Sainz. After a relentless chase, Verstappen forced an error from the Spaniard and looked all set to move on and stamp his victory, but that wasn’t to be, as debris on the track from Tsunoda’s comedic crash caused damage to the Red Bull underfloor and the car lost significant downforce, and thus performance. He thus spent the rest of the race with one arm tied behind his back, figuratively of course! 

At one point, he looked set to drop out of the points, but the safety car offered some relief and after pitting for fresh tyres, Max was able to consolidate 7th place, holding off the exuberant Mick Schumacher in the dying stages. 

At the same time, his main rival for the Championship who looked primed to nail the win ended up dropping to 4th, and thus a weekend where everything went wrong for him saw Max maximise his weekend and come out of it relatively unscathed. So while he wasn’t a winner, for obvious reasons, a loser he surely is not either! 

On to the next weekend in Austria!