Breathe a sigh of relief in case you were afraid of Mercedes winning every single round of the 2020 Formula 1 World Championship. Especially after the British GP last week, when it looked like luck would be on Lewis Hamilton's side too. A win on merit for Red Bull Racing-Honda and Max Verstappen as Mercedes wilted in the heat of Silverstone for the F1 70th Anniversary Grand Prix.
Winners
Max Verstappen - Super obvious and super deserving. From a starting position of fourth on the grid, the Dutchman was on the hardest compound tyres available. A good choice given how badly both Mercedes drivers, who started the race on mediums suffered with tyre wear. A fast, long first stint and forceful overtaking on Bottas was what sealed the deal for Verstappen who took his ninth career victory in F1. The hot temperatures helped - over 40 degrees track temperature - and it made Mercedes' decision to start the race on mediums seem strange. Especially given the problems they faced last week. Nonetheless, Red Bull and Verstappen can claim to have beaten Mercedes fair and square. About time too, for neutral F1 fans.
Charles Leclerc - If you knew nothing of the reason why Ferrari is suffering such a power deficit to Mercedes, you would wonder why it is such a big deal for Leclerc to be taking a fourth place finish. He took more pole positions than anyone else last year and won races too, after all. However, Ferrari has been dropped into the midfield this year with the likes of McLaren-Renault and Racing Point-BWT Mercedes faster than them. And yet, Leclerc keeps conjuring miracles to get results from the SF-1000 that it doesn't deserve. Despite qualifying in the bottom half of the top ten, Leclerc made a one-stop strategy work to finish fourth and put Ferrari third in the constructors' championship. In fact, Leclerc has scored 45 of the 55 points Ferrari has in the championship, so far.
Alexander Albon - Dragging his Red Bull Racing-Honda to fifth place despite starting ninth was a solid result for the seemingly luckless Thai driver who is trying to match the yardstick set by teammate Verstappen. Brave overtaking moves on some of the fastest corners of Silverstone meant that Albon featured frequently in the race highlights. His fifth place finish along with Verstappen's win gave Red Bull a solid haul of points. It is unlikely that they will relinquish second place in the constructors' championship now.
Nico Hulkenberg - It was just great to see Hulkenberg back in an F1 car and going the full race distance. He didn't convert his third place starting grid spot into a podium but that was a deceptive qualifying performance anyway. He had opted for soft compound tyres in qualifying while others around him were on mediums. A suspicious looking pit-stop late in the race meant that Racing Point-BWT Mercedes teammate Lance Stroll finished ahead of him while 'Hulk' took seventh.
Losers
Sebastian Vettel - We apologize to any Sebastian Vettel fans for making it look like we are picking on the former four-time world champion. But even if Ferrari has focused its efforts on Leclerc, how does such a decorated driver end up finishing almost a minute adrift of his teammate? For F1 fans with a long memory, Vettel getting upstaged by a promising young driver in the same car is not new. It happened with Daniel Ricciardo in 2014 and with Leclerc just last year. With Ferrari opting for a low downforce set up at Silverstone - to make up for their power deficit - Vettel really struggled. Leclerc managed to make up for the reduced aerodynamic grip but the German was all at sea. Vettel needs a car with a planted rear end to be at his best. This was evident with the double diffuser and exhaust blown diffuser Red Bull cars in which he won his four titles. In a car more prone to oversteer, Daniel Ricciardo made him look ordinary in 2014. With much less downforce to play with at the two races in Silverstone, Leclerc made him look like an amatuer. Especially when Vettel lost control of his Ferrari at the start all by himself.
Mercedes - F1's dominant team since the start of the turbo-hybrid era in 2014 still took second and third in the race, but they were comprehensively beaten. Their car's inability to look after its tyres in hot weather cost them victory and some dodgy team tactics cost Valtteri Bottas a chance to finish second. Instead, Hamilton took the runner-up spot behind Verstappen as well as an extra point for fastest lap of the race to extend his advantage over Bottas.
McLaren-Renault - A hot start to the 2020 season seems to be fading for McLaren who have only gotten one of their cars into the points scoring positions in the last three races. The tight midfield battle has left little room for error and Carlos Sainz appears to be dropping the ball. The Spaniard who leaves for Ferrari next year, finished out of the points in both Silverstone races. This has allowed McLaren to lose third place in the constructors' championship to Ferrari. And this is despite Sebastian Vettel being a non-factor for the Scuderia in races.
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