Max Verstappen has won the first Formula One Sprint this evening at Silverstone after taking the lead from P2 at lights out.
Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton came home in second after struggling to keep up with the Red Bull throughout the 17 laps – he was followed by teammate Valtteri Bottas in third.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc had a great run and finished out the sprint in fourth, followed by the two McLarens of Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo in 6th and 7th.
Closing out the top ten this evening, ahead of tomorrow’s Grand Prix was Alpine’s Fernando Alonso in 7th, Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel in 8th, followed by Williams’ George Russell and Alpine’s Esteban Ocon in 9th and 10th.
Highlights
At lights out Max Verstappen found his way back out front from P2 after overtaking Hamilton for the lead on the medium Pirellis.
Valtteri Bottas managed to stay third on his soft tyres ahead of Charles Leclerc in fourth, who was showing steady speed.
It wasn’t a great day for Sergio Perez, whose ban luck kicked off at the start when he dropped down to eighth before lifting his Red Bull into seventh after overtaking Daniel Ricciardo.
Amid the first lap chaos, George Russell and Carlos Sainz made contact which saw the Ferrari run off track – Russell was down to 10th, while Sainz was now further back in 16th.
By Lap 4, Verstappen had extended his lead to 1.3s, with Hamilton back in P2, just ahead of his teammate Valtteri in third.
Disaster struck the second Red Bull of Sergio Perez once more on Lap 6 when he spun off the track from fourth place into the grass at Maggotts and Becketts and was ultimately demoted to 18th.
On lap 8, the leading Red Bull was now over 2s ahead on the medium tyres, with Hamilton struggling to close the gap ahead of his teammate in third on softs.
Fernando Alonso was putting up one hell of a fight this evening, but with seven laps to go he was beginning to fall back down the order after being overtaken by both McLaren men.
With just four laps left in the sprint, Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton were both struggling with tyre blisters – however, the Dutchman held the advantage of over two seconds.
The speed of the Red Bull proved too much for anyone to challenge and so, Verstappen crossed the line in first place – meaning he will take off from pole position tomorrow afternoon.
Hamilton will be in second, followed by his teammate Bottas in third for the British Grand Prix.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc had a great run and finished fourth, followed by the two McLarens of Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo in 6th and 7th.
Closing out the top ten this evening, ahead of tomorrow Grand Prix was Alpine’s Fernando Alonso in 7th, Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel in 8th, followed by Williams’ George Russell and Alpine’s Esteban Ocon in 9th and 10th.
More to follow.