For the first part of the 2015 British Grand Prix, it really did look like the Williams team may just be able to pull off a wonderful 1-2 finish, or at least a victory, their first since the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix. After their drivers qualified 3rd and 4th, they both rocketed off the line, Felipe Massa into the lead and Valtteri Bottas into 3rd, which became 2nd after Lewis Hamilton tripped up overtaking Massa after the lap one safety car. But a not so good strategy put paid to their chances, however it was rain that really did for them as they finished 4th and 5th, jumped by not only the Mercedes cars but the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel, in what was one hell of a race.
There was chaos at the start as the two Williams and Mercedes pulled away, the two Lotus cars collided and so did the two McLarens. Both Lotus of Pastor Maldonado and Romain Grosjean were out on the spot, Jenson Button taken out after Fernando Alonso smashed his left rear, although the incident between the Lotus cars had that knock on affect. After the safety car the battle resumed, Bottas getting into 2nd after Hamilton's scruffy attempt at passing Massa, the Mercs and Williams pulling away from a fast starting 5th placed Hulkenburg, Nico Rosberg just hanging back in 4th. He wouldn't be hanging back for long though.
Unfortunatley, after losing the lead to Hamilton, but still running 2nd and 3rd, the Two Williams then lost out to Nico Rosberg, the Mercedes quicker as the rain started to fall and the track got damp. This was when Rosberg was closing right in on Hamilton, taking more than a second out of him and closing to within a second and a half, before Hamilton dived into the pits for intermediate tyres, which Rosberg thought was the wrong call. Ultimately, it was the right call, and in the end he cruised to a third win at Silverstone, Rosberg 2nd and Sebastian Vettel a surprise 3rd, leapfrogging the Williams after an anonymous race for himself and Ferrari, Kimi Raikkonen finishing a lap down in 8th after pitting for intermediate tyres much earlier than he should have done, this debacle including a spin on the start/finish straight, something the TV camera's missed completely.
Behind Vettel and the Williams car's, Daniil Kvyat had a solid race to 6th place, Christian Horner feeling he could have been on the podium had he not spun on his in-lap, as he was right behind Vettel as the Ferrari made his pit-stop for intermediate tyres. Kvyat closed right up to Bottas on the final lap, could he have passed if the race had been longer? If's and buts are what make Formula 1 so good. Nico Hulkenburg was another driver that starred as well. After a blistering start, he ran in the top five before dropping to 7th later on, but it was two places abover where he qualified and a very good debut for the B-Spec Force India, his team-mate Sergio Perez finished behind him in 8th place.
McLaren, despite the earlier contact between their two cars, managed to scrape the final point in 10th place. Fernando Alonso changed his nose on the first lap and then drove consitentley and cleanly to bag a point for the team, his first poin since Abu Dhabi 2014. Whilst at the team didn't go away with nothing for their efforts at Silverstone, it was not what the team or Honda wanted, who earlier on this year had set a target of a podium by this stage of the season. That podium looks like it won't be coming for the team anytime soon. Behind Alonso, Marcus Ericsson just missed out on points, the weather turning against him, and the two Manor Marussia's got their best result of the season in 12 and 13th places, the last runners in the race, Stevens requiring a nose change after going off on the inter's.
As well as the two Lotus cars retiring, Felipe Nasr never even made it to the start of the race, a gearbox issue grinding him to a halt on one of his laps to the grid before the race. Carlos Sainz retired in the second half of the race thanks to a mechanical issue, this bringing out the virtual safety car properly for the first time this year, and the other Toro Rosso of Max Verstappen spinning into the gravel at Abbey just after the safety car, thanks to no grip on his cold hard compound tyres. Daniel Ricciardo was another retirement, parking his Red Bull in the garage witha power unit issue. 9 races gone and the gap between Hamilton and Rosberg is back up to 17 points, but Rosberg very nearly made it a three point gap after showing blistering pace just as the rain started to fall. Don't forget the fight between Ferrari and Williams, seemingly well and truly on after the great showing for Williams. Formula 1 needed a good race, and it got it at Silverstone. Stay tuned. This fight is far from over. Three weeks till Hungary, who will be victorious there? Until next time folks, Ciao.
All images copyright of their respective Formula 1 team's
No comments:
Post a Comment