Conclusions | Battle between Hamilton and Verstappen forever changed
It is a race which we will be talking about until the end of the season. A dramatic afternoon for Max Verstappen who saw his lead in the championship reduced to eight points. These are the conclusions we can draw after the British Grand Prix.
The championship is far from over
When you can make up 25 points from your nearest title rival in one go it's easy to come to the following conclusion. The championship is far from over for Verstappen. After ten Grands Prix we are not even halfway through the calendar and as Toto Wolff and Hamilton once said: with one DNF of Verstappen the Briton is back in the championship.
That retirement came perhaps even sooner than expected and that too from a direct fight between Hamilton and Verstappen himself. There can be no question of intent, but the gap between Hamilton and Verstappen is now just eight points.
The battle between Hamilton and Verstappen will never be the same again
Until the day of Sunday 18 July, the battle for supremacy between Hamilton and Verstappen had always been a friendly one, but don't expect these two to give each other an inch of space at the Hungarian Grand Prix in two weeks time. Verstappen once said he trusted Hamilton blindly when they clashed on track. That trust has taken a big hit and is unlikely to be restored.
Sprint qualifying is a good start for change
Action on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. That's what Formula 1 wanted, and that's what Formula 1 actually had at Silverstone. The sprint race itself was a great success, but the winner of that race should not receive a pole award. Pole position since the beginning of F1 has always been for the driver who is fastest over one lap and some things you shouldn't change.
The sprint race is a good idea and it is a relief to see Formula 1 trying new things. But instead of making qualifying, maybe it is an idea to give it more points, like is already done in lower classes like Formula 2 and Formula 3. Because it definitely didn't feel like a qualifying session.
Perez is still searching
Sergio Perez is a step up from Alexander Albon, that much is clear. But the Mexican, despite a revival in Azerbaijan and France, has yet to find the right rhythm in the Red Bull Racing car. Britain was a dramatic weekend for him and he just couldn't get a grip on the car. It seems he still needs some time before he can give Verstappen his back every race.
Bottas helps his own chances of a Mercedes seat
For weeks now, Valtteri Bottas ' seat has been one of the main topics of conversation. Will he still be in it in 2022, or will it be George Russell? At Silverstone he increased his chances again. When Hamilton, with ten seconds of penalty in his pocket, wanted to try and win the race Bottas was the good second driver as is expected of him.
The Finn immediately stepped aside after Mercedes explicitly said that it was a team order. No hassle as we saw in Spain. Bottas showed once again that he is the ideal second driver next to Hamilton.
I believe it was a racing incident but because there are those that feel if he wasnt punished for it in some way Christian Horner n Mr Markel would've had a fit. I'm sure if we all agree the past couple of races where they had been racy, Lewis has always given Max enough room even when Max had been more aggressive in defense or attack to him. This time around, Ham was the aggressor which forced Max to continue make more than two moves in his defense. On the later corner Max didnt expect that overtake in that corner as a high speed corner and assumed Ham would brake but this time around Hamilton stood his ground where they were inline going into the corner. Yes he missed the Apex by a small margin but because Max was aggressively defensive caused him to collide with Ham which concluded my opinion as a racing incident. A good example in the same race, Leclerc was under pressure from Lewis going to the same corner but he took a wider line out of that corner because he saw where LH was. Rightly so Lewis was cautious because of the where the Ferrar was as well.
Let's not get emotional about this incident, they were racing, we want them to race. Let's the be fair on each assessment and not let how some view Lewis as the reason to unfairly criticize him and not equally criticize Max the same way because he always makes more than two moves in his defense but no one points that out. Yuki and other rookies get hammered for doing the same but not Max. The rules must apply to all and not some.
The stupid thing about what Hams did is if just decided to force Max into taking a worse line he would have got a better opportunity to pass going into Stowe with that straight line advantage of the Merc.
Instead he attempted an all or nothing hero pass out of desperation at Copse, braked too late missed the apex and plowed into Max at 190 mph. Max gave him plenty of room. The distance Max have from the inside of the track was about the same as what Leclerc gave except Hams was tucked up on the apex against Leclerc. Still Leclerc went off the track so Max could not give any more room.
Hams is unhinged and not thinking straight. He was delirious with emotion after getting position 1 in pre-qualfying for qualifying on Friday.
I think Max has Hams where he wants him now where he's making desperate moves to stay in the championship because he can't beat Max in a straight fight.
RBR will point to Hams having made an error, missed the apex, Max giving plenty of room, and will ram that point home in the media. They will point to the other incidents with Red Bull cars over the past season and a half.
Hamilton got under pressure and made the first mistake in his personal fght with Max this year. He got a penalty for it. Yes he is in denial, but the facts don't lie. Now move on.
The battle between hamilton and Verstappen will never be the same again....A new way of driving from now on!!!.........(Clipping back wheels)
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