Who were the winners and losers of the British Grand Prix?

With a booming atmosphere of a full Silverstone crowd basking in the British sunshine, Lewis Hamilton had more than his fair share of fans watching on, and his controversial collision with title rival Max Verstappen was certainly the major moment, but that wasn’t the only piece of action that occurred on track.

If you want a more in-depth look at THAT incident at Copse corner, then check out GPblog’s official YouTube channel today, and if you want to take a look at our race report, you can find it here, but in this article, it’s time to delve into the winners and losers of the British Grand Prix.

Winner - Lewis Hamilton

Like it or not, Hamilton had an excellent race at a track he knows so well. Having lost pole position in the sprint race, he was desperate to take the lead on the opening lap, and it was desperation to impress a rousing home crowd that led to the Turn nine incident. Whilst the stewards deemed Hamilton “predominantly at fault”, it could’ve been judged as a racing incident as Verstappen did turn in on the Brit, expecting him to back out.

However, having served his 10-second penalty, and hence negating the issue of the crash in the eyes of the stewards, the seven-time world champion displayed his class. He caught teammate Valtteri Bottas, who graciously let him past, with ease, before closing in on long-time leader Charles Leclerc.

After overtaking the Monegasque driver, victory was secured, and the gap to Verstappen in the championship is now just eight points.

Sure, the circumstances of the win and his celebrations have been a contentious issue, but Hamilton simply did his job on track once the incident was dealt with. With Verstappen failing to score a point, it was certainly a weekend in Hamilton’s favour.

Winner - Charles Leclerc

Although he was denied an actual win in this race, Leclerc most certainly deserves to be included in this section. He led almost every single lap of the Grand Prix having leapfrogged Bottas off the line, and passed the leaders after their incident. However, he was there on merit quite frankly. On the mediums, he kept Hamilton at bay, with the gap steadily around the 1.2 second mark, only dipping below 1.0 seconds when he suffered slight engine problems, and this was extended once the Brit served his penalty.

However, on the hard tyres, Hamilton simply had more speed. But, for Leclerc to seal his first podium of the season, he’ll consider it a job well done, and so he should.

Ferrari have been up and down with their race pace all season, but after excelling in Monaco and now at Silverstone, they’ll be hoping it’ll be a smooth run to the end of the season.

Constructor Winner - Mercedes

In a crucial weekend in the title fight, it was Mercedes who gained the upper hand. Sure, Verstappen’s DNF played a big part in their result, but they still needed to deliver. Leclerc’s presence in P2 will annoy Toto Wolff, but to win the race and have both drivers on the podium is a great result for them.

Having failed to win any of the previous five races before Silverstone, the Silver Arrows will be relieved their winless run has come to an end.

Red Bull’s poor weekend played into Mercedes’ hands, and the gap in the Constructors’ Championship is now just four points, whilst Verstappen is only eight points clear in the Drivers’ Championship.

Loser - Red Bull

The only losers this week are Red Bull. Sure, Sebastian Vettel had a poor race and deserves to be in this category after his spin and subsequent DNF, but it’s all about Red Bull.

Things were looking so good on Saturday, before Sergio Perez spun, and after that, things just derailed. Perez started in the pit lane and ended up finishing outside the points after a late pit-stop to secure the fastest lap, whilst Max Verstappen spun out after contact with Hamilton. The team are furious with the decision to only award the Mercedes driver a 10 second time penalty, but they’ll need to refocus their attention on the Hungarian Grand Prix soon.

After five successive wins, the scales were tilting completely in the Austrian outfit’s favour before Silverstone, but after just three points, accumulated during the sprint race, they now only hold a narrow advantage, of four points, over their championship rivals.