There was extra time for the build-up because the drivers' parade would take over fourteen minutes in the Lego go-karts. The crowd roared with laughter after several drivers tried to cut a corner and beached their cars in the gravel. It was all such a novelty to rookie Linblad that when his on-board camera was being used for the feed, he got his phone out to video it on the big screen. Alonso, having sat back to cuise an old man Sunday afternoon drive, finished first.
After that, the Sky team had to fill a lot of time before they could play the VT of Bearman driving one of Senna's cars. It was emotional for him and he had a cry; if I could hazard a guess it's because he realised he will never drive anything as good as that.
Gasly had been moved back on the grid for impeding during Qualifying. Alonso wasn't last on the grid because his team mate took a ten place grid penalty for a new power unit. He ended up there though, going into the pits after coming to a stop on the track during the formation lap.
Mercedes poor starts were back and both Ferraris were past Antonelli off the start. Hadjar got going well but I found it hard to tell which car is which now that McLaren have changed their livery. There were a few incidents on the first lap including Piastri sustaining some damage in a tangle with Lawson, Ocon doing something we never saw and Albon lost control and ran into Bearman and ended up last, with a ten second penalty to come. It was an odd start for Williams with one driver falling to last place and the other getting into the points in tenth.
The starting three's order was changed again when Hamilton was given a five second penalty for moving before the green lights. After eleven laps, Antonelli made an easy pass on him. If the Mercedes were performing better in race conditions, it was an easy boosted pass by Verstappen on Russell, so all did not seem equal for some reason or other. He went straight into the pits after.
Halfway through the race a Virtual Safety Car was set which meant that many drivers should have been able to claim a quicker pit stop but it was an umbrella that had blown onto the track. It was quickly removed by the marshal which was a relief for Red Bull as they had both already pitted.
Hamilton didn't want to pit as his tyres were still good and he would have been doubly angry as they only told him about his penalty as he was coming in. It's no wonder the radio wasn't broadcast. Ferrari gave Leclerc a clean stop. Verstappen and Hamilton fought hard then the Red Bull got past Russell for third. He was keen to fight back but was radioed by his team that he had a puncture.
As Hamilton got past Verstappen for third position, to the crowd's delight, Hulkenberg had to pull off to the side of the track. A Virtual Safety Car was called for and Verstappen, Norris and Hadjar pitted. I was surprised Leclerc didn't risk it from the lead because Antonelli was catching him quickly.
The next time penalty was given to Stroll for exceeding track limits more than five times; this is not a track where it is hard to stay between the white lines. With eleven laps to go, Antonelli radioed in that something was broken on his car. He was asked for more information and spoke in a panicked, rushed way. They replaced the nose which took twenty seconds, coming out in fifth place behind Russell. It seemed strange that they would make that change and permit him to box taking his word for it and then just changing the nose without knowing what the problem is. As he went back out, he reported that the suspension was broken; Antonelli offered to carry on and the team radioed that they thought it was a broken wheel shield. He was struggling to turn the car precisely; they asked him to retire but he begged to carry on. A compromise was reached that he should pit and they would try to rip it off.
It was all go in the last five laps: Antonelli decided to go for it with a broken car, Albon retired and Verstappen crashed. The Safety Car came out and everyone pitted except for Russell, who took second place. The commentators were very keen for the race to restart before it ended but I could only see that they wanted Leclerc to lose the lead and more places so that it would be an all-British podium. It would have been very unfair for Leclerc to lose the place but his tyres were brand(ish) new and Russell's old. Then, just as we were going to see one lap of racing the Safety Car was redeployed. I can see this will be a big controversy after the race. The pundits would have a dilemma - do they get upset that Ferrari pitted Hamilton and so losing the place to Russell? Or should they be pleased for Russell's canny manoeuvre with Mercedes?
The top ten were: Leclerc, Russell, Hamilton, Norris, Hadjar, Lawson, Lindblad (a nice four points for his first British Grand Prix), Bortoleto, Colapinto and Gasly. The Alpines (and Bortoleto) really scooped up the points from the teams who had drivers falling back. Piastri finished eleventh and outside the points. Leclerc was overjoyed and manic over the radio. Hamilton was under investigation for an infringement under the Yellow Flags; it would come to nothing.
At the start of the season, it looked like Mercedes would be dominant but, as in the past, other teams do catch up. Ferrari seem to be there now, helped with better strategy calls and reliability. Red Bull and McLaren now need to do the same. There are two races until the summer break.
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