Formula 1 British Grand Prix: Sainz won the first race of his career

Silverstone – Chou Kuan-yü, the Chinese driver of Alfa Romeo, suffered a huge accident. He is conscious, his condition is stable.

Carlos Sainz Jr., Ferrari’s Spanish driver, won Sunday’s Formula 1 British Grand Prix at Silverstone, which resumed after an hour-long forced break due to a massive accident after the start.

The 27-year-old Sainz triumphed for the first time in his 150th Formula 1 race.

Behind the Spaniard, Sergio Pérez, the Mexican driver of Red Bull, finished in second place, while the seven-time World Cup winner Lewis Hamilton, the British driver of Mercedes, in front of the domestic audience, finished third.

Defending World Cup champion and overall leader Max Verstappen (Red Bull) was seventh, and Charles Leclerc brought the other Ferrari to fourth place. Mick Schumacher (Haas) scored his first World Cup points in his career, finishing eighth.

Verstappen, starting from second place, immediately overtook Sainz at the start, first Hamilton moved up from fifth to third place, but further back, Chou Kuan-ju, the Chinese driver of Alfa Romeo, had a huge accident. The 23-year-old driver’s racing car went airborne and overturned, colliding with Pierre Gasly’s Alpha Tauri and George Russell’s Mercedes.

Csou’s Alfa Romeo slid on the roof of the first corner for several hundred meters, then fell through the rubber wall and crashed into the metal fence protecting the spectators.

The match was immediately interrupted with a red flag, and it was almost 15 minutes before it became clear that Csou was in a stable condition, conscious, and not seriously injured.

The race was restarted after an almost one-hour break, with a standing start, and the competitors started the British Grand Prix for the second time according to the original starting line-up.

At the new start, Sainz kept the first place against Verstappen in a big fight, Leclerc ranked third behind them. Sainz made a mistake on the 10th lap, he slipped off the ideal curve in one corner, so Verstappen easily overtook him, but the defending Dutch champion had a problem with his car two laps later, so he was forced to pit.

At the end of the 20th lap, Sainz stopped for a tire change, and five laps later Leclerc also got fresh tires. Then Hamilton took over the lead, while Verstappen, who had a technical problem, struggled with his car in eighth position.

Twenty laps before the start, Sainz and Leclerc switched places, the latter moving up to second, and a tire was changed on Hamilton’s car. At that point, Leclerc was in the lead, Sainz was second, and Hamilton returned to the track in third.

With twelve laps to go, the race car of Esteban Ocon (Alpine) broke down, but the French driver could only stop in a dangerous place, so the safety car drove onto the track. Sainz and Hamilton immediately drove to the pits for a tire change, but Leclerc remained on the track.

With the Safety0 lap, he gave way to the field in front, and Sain, on the fresher car tires1, immediately passed Leclerc, while Pérez overtook Hamilton for third place. Nothing threatened Sainz’s success from here on, but Leclerc, Pérez, Hamilton, Fernando Alonso (Alpine) and Lando Norris (McLaren) fought a spectacular and exciting battle for the podium positions. In the end, behind Sainz, Pérez, Hamilton, Leclerc, Alonso, Norris were the top six.

More than 400,000 spectators visited Silverstone during the four days of the British Grand Prix weekend, which is a record.

The World Cup will continue in Austria next year.

British Grand Prix, Silverstone (52 laps, 306,198 km, the scorers):

1. Carlos Sainz Jr. (Spain, Ferrari) 1:21:20.440 hours
2. Sergio Pérez (Mexico, Red Bull) 3.779 handicap
3. Lewis Hamilton (British, Mercedes) 6.225 mh.
4. Charles Leclerc (Monaco, Ferrari) 8.546 sec h.
5. Fernando Alonso (Spain, Alpine) 9.571 sec h.
6. Lando Norris (UK, McLaren) 11.943 sec h.
7. Max Verstappen (Dutch, Red Bull) 18.777 sec h.
8. Mick Schumacher (Germany, Haas) 18.995 sec h.
9. Sebastian Vettel (German, Aston Martin) 22.356 sec h.
10. Kevin Magnussen (Denmark, Haas) 24.590 sec h.
fastest lap: Hamilton (1:30.510 minutes, lap 52)
pole position: Sainz

The World Cup points standings after 10 races (12 more to go):

competitors:
1. Verstappen 181 points
2. Perez 147
3. Leclerc 138
4. Sainz 127
5. George Russell (British, Mercedes) 111
6. Hamilton 93
7. Norris 58
8. Valtteri Bottas (Finnish, Alfa Romeo) 46
9. Esteban Ocon (French, Alpine) 39
10. Alonso 28
11. Magnussen 16
12. Pierre Gasly (France, Alpha Tauri) 16
13. Vettel 15
14. Daniel Ricciardo (Australian, McLaren) 15
15. Juki Cunoda (Japan, Alpha Tauri) 11
16. Chou Kuan-yü (Chinese, Alfa Romeo) 5
17. Schumacher 4
18. Alexander Albon (Thailand, Williams) 3
19. Lance Stroll (Canadian, Aston Martin) 3

teams:
1. Red Bull 328 points
2. Ferrari 265
3. Mercedes 204
4. McLaren 73
5. Alpesi 67
6. Alfa Romeo 51
7. Alpha Tauri 27
8. Haas 20
9. Aston Martin 18
10. Williams 3