What did you think of today’s race? Share your verdict on the British Grand Prix.
RaceFans has held polls on every F1 race since 2008 to find out which fans thought of each round of the season.
Join in the latest poll and give your verdict on the race: 10 being the highest and 1 the lowest. Please vote based on how entertaining and exciting you thought the race was, not on how your preferred driver or team performed.
What were the best and worst moments of the race? What was the main thing you’ll remember about it? Rate the race out of ten and leave a comment below:
Rate the 2018 British Grand Prix out of 10
- 10 (19%)
- 9 (41%)
- 8 (32%)
- 7 (6%)
- 6 (1%)
- 5 (1%)
- 4 (0%)
- 3 (0%)
- 2 (0%)
- 1 (1%)
Total Voters: 382
Loading ...1 = ‘Terrible’, 10 = ‘Perfect’
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2018 British Grand Prix
- Gasly told stewards he “enjoyed” pass which earned him penalty
- Williams not giving up on 2018 F1 car concept
- Did Grosjean’s crash spare Mercedes’ blushes? Six British GP strategy questions
- F1’s new Silverstone DRS zone not an “unnecessary danger” – FIA
- Renault has received a “wake-up call” from F1 rivals – Abiteboul
Debates and polls
- Will Daniel Ricciardo be racing in Formula 1 in 2024?
- Massa wants “justice” over Crashgate. But what penalty did it deserve?
- Should the stewards have taken action over Russell-Verstappen collision?
- After 25 grands prix, has F1’s ground effect revolution improved racing?
- Do late-race standing restarts belong in F1?
Joe (@jb784)
8th July 2018, 15:42
10/10 excellent
MrKii
8th July 2018, 15:43
Best race end since Brazil 2008 10/10
Jere (@jerejj)
8th July 2018, 15:44
Another exciting race. Not as exciting as the previous one, but the SC-period(s) helped out.
bosyber (@bosyber)
8th July 2018, 16:00
Yeah, and we were sort of entertained by first Hamilton, then Kimi carving through the midfield until then, I gave it an 8/10, but it might have been a 9/10 too (maybe for Ferrari/Vettel fans?). Pity that Leclerc was out, I predicted him to take that 5th spot. But great drive from Hulkenberg, after a not so great saturday for Renault.
Loen (@loen)
8th July 2018, 16:33
A damn good Formula 1 race from lights to flag.
Lots of incidents, some good overtakes.
Nobody got hurt.
Fantastic Mediterranean weather for the fans.
Hamilton did everything a driver possibly
could do to pull out a win. Vettel did everything
he had to do to win. Great shame Verstappen
wasn’t fully involved at the end.
Wow ! More ! More ! More !
DocNuke (@)
8th July 2018, 16:47
After seeing Lewis getting clipped in beginning and the car was okay and it got going again, I stayed glued to the TV. The last race I recall where he came back like he did was in Hungary a few years ago. Despite how dull that race was in the past that race by Lewis I was amazed by. I was expecting something similar with there being no rain, sunshine, great weather for racing. Watching the battles unfold as the race went on you could see that something was going to happen.
As the end of the second safety car period was coming to a close, you could see after the first one that nobody was going to let Bottas get away like he did. Those closing laps is what F1 fans needed. A good solid all out scrap like Ferrari and Mercedes had. Add in the Red Bulls who were coming at a steady pace it had the makings of a dynamite ending.
This race didn’t disappoint.
javier javier (@j3d89)
9th July 2018, 1:44
i dont say it was 10/10 but it was better than last race, the last few laps were exciting… thrilling… amzing!! it was so close
MrKii
8th July 2018, 15:44
Best race ending laps since Brazil 2008 10/10
MrKii
8th July 2018, 15:45
oops, double post because of web lag.
Majid Khan
8th July 2018, 17:33
Have you forgotten Canada 2011
glynh (@glynh)
8th July 2018, 15:44
10. Drs that worked, especially the challenge in turn 1. Brave overtaking, crashes, wheel to wheel racing and completely unpredictable. Couldn’t ask for more.
ruliemaulana (@ruliemaulana)
8th July 2018, 15:48
Yes. I’d like to see more DRS on fast corner in other track!
erikje
8th July 2018, 21:10
The Drs of Ericsson did it this time. Spiced up the game and helped ham.
MtlRacer (@mtlracer)
8th July 2018, 15:44
I couldn’t think of a reason not to give a 10.
F1 in Figures (@f1infigures)
8th July 2018, 20:42
DRS was way too powerful. There were some nice battles, though.
ruliemaulana (@ruliemaulana)
8th July 2018, 15:45
Good thing Pirelli bring Merc spec tyre otherwise it will be dull Ferrari domination after that first lap incident.
Jammyb
8th July 2018, 15:48
Just stop..Mercedes spec tyre..How in what way..? You mean the same tyre Vettel said works better for Ferrari on these resurfaced tracks than the other spec tyre would?
Jammyb
8th July 2018, 15:50
So no this tyre does not put Ferrari at an disadvantage.
ruliemaulana (@ruliemaulana)
8th July 2018, 15:53
No. Merc wont survive one pit stop if it was the official tyres.
Billy
8th July 2018, 16:15
+1. Merc got abit unlucky today but the merc spec tyre is just too op!
David Not Coulthard (@davidnotcoulthard)
8th July 2018, 18:12
…not what VET said (though doesn’t contradict it either)
Postreader
8th July 2018, 15:52
What Vettel said might not mean what you think it means. Maybe the Ferraris are 0.3 s faster than they would be with the other tyres, but Mercedes are 0.6 – 0.9 s faster. It fits just as well and doesn’t contradict anything we know and which has been said, does it?
Martin
8th July 2018, 16:41
Expect what you are saying is completely made up
Mark Saunders (@mcs1)
8th July 2018, 15:50
yawn … Ferrari just need to keep hitting other cars to win
MG1982 (@mg1982)
8th July 2018, 16:15
And others just need to keep hitting them to win!
MG1982 (@mg1982)
8th July 2018, 16:16
Plus, the winner of the race had nothing with it. Stop filling the site with lies, please.
Billy
8th July 2018, 16:22
In the words of kimi, racing incidents usually balance themselves out. Kimi got hit so many times by max and bottas. Abt time he got his share of luck back. Max and bottas didn’t even get penalised!
Matteo (@m-bagattini)
9th July 2018, 10:19
@ruliemaulana Good thing this debate is finally over
Chaitanya
8th July 2018, 15:46
8 . And Bottas is living example of Murphys law.
Sravan Krishnan (@sravan-pe)
8th July 2018, 15:46
Utterly brilliant! Never seen something like that since I started watching in 2015!
gunusugeh (@gunusugeh)
8th July 2018, 23:58
LOL
Bobby (@f1bobby)
8th July 2018, 15:46
Very good, 8/10. Great to see a track that really stretches the cars and drivers.
Kribana (@krichelle)
8th July 2018, 15:47
Mercedes had the chance to win this. They blew it again. New mediums are always better than old mediums.
Understeer (@abdelilah)
8th July 2018, 15:52
@krichelle I think they made the right choice for Hamilton but not for Bottas, It would have been difficult for Lewis to regain all the positions and retake the lead, for Bottas his tyre where crying out loud, so I think they should have pitted him.
bosyber (@bosyber)
8th July 2018, 16:03
I sort of agree; though it wasn’t quite that clear cut, because at least this way Bottas had a chance at the lead, and for several laps he was able to keep the lead too.
javier javier (@j3d89)
9th July 2018, 1:50
yea but if they pitted bottas, hamilton wasnt going to make it to 2nd and they probably wouldnt switch them specially in front of hamiltons crowd..
Mike Dee (@mike-dee)
9th July 2018, 7:48
I thought Mercedes only had fresh hard tyres let – this would definitely explain the choice of not stopping.
javier javier (@j3d89)
9th July 2018, 17:57
but used soft or used medium with few laps wouldnt be better than really used medium bottas had ??
Var
8th July 2018, 15:47
As a Ferrari fan, I haven’t felt that tension in years! Awesome race, have to say also a monster of a race from Hamilton, this year the championship battle is spot on!
Lauri (@f1lauri)
8th July 2018, 15:48
9 – because I know it can be even better :)
Sravan Krishnan (@sravan-pe)
8th July 2018, 15:48
Won’t feature that high on RTR for interesting reasons, of course.
Understeer (@abdelilah)
8th July 2018, 15:48
8/10, solid race, only Lewis to blame himself for that result, he should have nailed the start and he didn’t.
Ivan Vinitskyy (@ivan-vinitskyy)
8th July 2018, 16:25
@abdelilah I doubt the driver has much control in this. Ferrari just has a better system giving them better and more consistent starts.
ColdFly (@)
8th July 2018, 17:22
Bottas overtook Lewis as well :P
SimRacer (@simracer)
8th July 2018, 17:39
@coldfly @ivan-vinitskyy
And Bottas’ start was better than Kimi’s too.
George
8th July 2018, 18:39
That’s two races this year with incidents following a bad start from Lewis.
In France, Botas nearly overtook Ham, Vet was boxed in and nipped at Botas’s heels.
Here the polesitter was fighting with Kimi, starting P4, and leaving just about no margin of error for the Ferrari man.
Blaming Kimi of doing this on purpose: You can’t do this on purpose in F1 not with these cars & tires.
Lewis sure whines/whinges a lot, these days.
Martin
8th July 2018, 16:44
You spelt Kimi wrong.
Nigel
8th July 2018, 15:50
Perez is becoming painful to watch. This should be his last year in F1. I cannot understand how with his experience he is getting beat by the tallest and heaviest driver in F1. Perez has lost wanting to be in F1. He has become a waste of a seat.
bosyber (@bosyber)
8th July 2018, 16:05
Not sure I’d want to be that harsh, but yeah, Ocon is showing him up at the moment (as we sort of expected last year already).
ZUKMaN
8th July 2018, 16:19
“heaviest driver” – if you are reffering to Ocon he’s now that heavy, just 3 Kg over Perez.
SimRacer (@simracer)
8th July 2018, 16:39
Only a few races ago he did what is basically unthinkable if you’re not driving a Ferrari, Mercedes or Red Bull.
Nigel
8th July 2018, 17:17
And what was that exactly? Because all I see is him getting beat by Ocon repeatedly. Ocon will probably never drive for a top team because he is too tall and heavy for F1 and that makes Perez worthless at this point.
SimRacer (@simracer)
8th July 2018, 17:37
Podium finish?
Matteo (@m-bagattini)
9th July 2018, 10:59
They are 1 point apart and Perez got a podium. And next year the “tall and heavy” thing won’t matter.
Nigel
8th July 2018, 17:22
Perez better days are gone and we don’t want another journeyman wasting space or most importantly our time.
Newfangled (@newfangled)
8th July 2018, 15:50
8. I ended up becoming aggravated by all the unnecessary sound effects Liberty have added to the broadcasts, but once all the pit stops were over and I could concentrate on the racing again, Lap 40+ was epic.
Phylyp (@phylyp)
8th July 2018, 15:53
@newfangled – wait, you don’t like random bleeps and bloops like R2-D2 trying to talk? Shame on you :-P
(As a fellow-sufferer, I totally understand and sympathize)
bosyber (@bosyber)
8th July 2018, 16:07
@newfangles, @phylyp sorry to rub it in; the great thing with F1tvpro is that you can go to ‘FX’ and you don’t have much of a soundtrack added, apart from the cars going around the track; and the onboards have ‘radio’ which is silent until radio to that driver is heard. It is quite therapeutic :)
bosyber (@bosyber)
8th July 2018, 16:08
@newfangled (sorry, typo before).
Newfangled (@newfangled)
8th July 2018, 16:12
That sounds blissful! Feel somewhat to know that not everyone is having to put up with the gradual shift toward a full-on ambient intergalactic OST accompanying each race.
Newfangled (@newfangled)
8th July 2018, 16:12
*relieved
Phylyp (@phylyp)
8th July 2018, 16:18
@bosyber – I can’t wait for that to land on my shores. The only reason I keep a cable package is F1, I’d be happy to cut the cord.
Todfod (@todfod)
8th July 2018, 20:25
@phylyp
You and me both! Although with the absolutely horrendous timing of ad breaks on tv, I also have it running on my laptop simultaneously so I can’t catch the action between the ad breaks.
Miltiadis (@miltosgreekfan)
8th July 2018, 15:53
Solid race,8
The safety car spiced it up a lot, much like in 2013 & we finally saw good on track battles between the top 4 guys!
krxx
8th July 2018, 15:55
Yesterday England won, but didn’t put up a show. Today they lost, but what a show it was.
hahostolze (@hahostolze)
8th July 2018, 15:56
Easily another 9/10, yeah it was helped by the safety cars but the action was incredible. This is what racing can be.
Pratyush P (@pratyushp276)
8th July 2018, 15:57
Wow.
Alex Bkk (@alex-bkk)
8th July 2018, 16:00
Most exciting race I’ve seen in many years! Well done!
HUHHII (@huhhii)
8th July 2018, 16:01
8/10. Farcical direction spoiled it a bit. Would’ve been fun to see other drivers than Hamilton on screen from time to time…
Sravan Krishnan (@sravan-pe)
8th July 2018, 17:26
Indeed, they never showed a replay of Raikkonen passing Ricciardo on Lap 1. Verstappen cutting across at the safety car restart wasn’t shown either from what I remember.
Adam (@rocketpanda)
8th July 2018, 16:04
Great race. Vettel looked pretty untouchable there. Though what happened between the two Haas cars? Did we ever see that? What happened about Gasly/Perez hitting each other? Why did Magnussen lose so much time right at the end? So many questions.
Cristian (@panzik)
8th July 2018, 18:06
Grosjean out with sainz and magnussen has been overtaken by alo
Sridhar
8th July 2018, 16:13
Hamilton’s diva moment at the end of the race said it all. Sore loser
MG1982 (@mg1982)
8th July 2018, 16:13
6/10.
Wanted to give it an 8, but this GP proved to be some sort of an “english joke” in my opinion. The race director/stewards did not know what do anymore to favour HAM. 1st)., they penalise RAI without reason for doing a “VER-in-2018-Austria” move against HAM. HAM went wide (just like RAI in Austria) and RAI went for it (just like VER in Austria). Racing incident. “Weird” decisions indeed. 2nd). bringing the SC out first time wasn’t necessary at all, Ericsson crashed like 50m from the track, more than far enough not to be a real danger. A VSC would have more than enough, but it’s obvious to me they brought it out just give a helping hand to HAM by cancelling all the gap to the leaders. Another weird thing, they didn’t find necessary to send the SC when VER spinned and did not manage to rejoin the race anymore… more than sure to leave on the table enough laps for HAM to try attack the leaders after seeing he can keep up with them on harder and older tyres.
Sridhar
8th July 2018, 16:17
+1
formevic (@formevic)
8th July 2018, 16:17
+44
Ben (@1nkling)
8th July 2018, 16:23
Verstappen recovered from his spin and then pulled off safely further along didn’t he?
John H (@john-h)
8th July 2018, 16:33
Yep, indeed.
I do agree with the VSC comment though, not sure why it needs to be a full safety car?
However for @mg1982 to claim it is to help Hamilton though is of course ridiculous, and Kimi himself admitted he deserved a penalty.
Warheart (@warheart)
8th July 2018, 17:39
According to Charlie Whiting, they punish the action and not the outcome of the action.
With that said, I hardly think both situations can be compared. RAI made a mistake and was penalized for it.
Ryan
8th July 2018, 16:25
Yawn. At least watch the races before commenting on them so you can have some semblance of fact in your posts. 1) They were nothing alike. Raikkonen got touched slightly whereas Hamilton was spun around. It should have been a 5 second penalty to keep in-line with Vettel vs Bottas in France. 2) They don’t want another issue like Jules. If there is any risk to drivers/marshals the Safety Car is brought out. Putting the SC out to remove a car from a 180mph corner makes total sense when Ericsson was the 2nd driver in those barriers this weekend. Verstappen did rejoin the race after spinning, but then got stuck in 4th gear and couldn’t carry on and pulled over later around the track on a straight away from the track.
Billy
8th July 2018, 16:26
Well said. To add to that, brundle being more biased on commentary than usual.
PMR
8th July 2018, 16:27
He did rejoin the race but parked it at a marshals post a few corners later because he was stuck in 1e gear
Martin
8th July 2018, 16:46
I think the tinfoil is on too tight there MG
Kim Philby (@philby)
8th July 2018, 16:52
@MG1982 There are race summaries and race summaries and this is one of the great ones. Spot on. Racefans.net should make you a job offer to balance out the anti-Ferrari bias.
George
8th July 2018, 18:55
While being a Ferrari fan, I firmly disagree: MG1982 must have seen another race.
I agree on the Rai penalty, because, imho this was a racing incident, but the SC’s were needed when they were deployed, and not needed when they weren’t. That it helped Ham isn’t a consideration.
formevic (@formevic)
8th July 2018, 16:15
Solid 9, too much SC time otherwise would go for 10. Let’s hope two contenders will keep high grit till the end.
Billy
8th July 2018, 16:18
10/10 cause max ruined his gearbox by running off the track! Oh yeah!
ZUKMaN
8th July 2018, 16:22
Horner will give his kidney just to keep Ricciardo in the team. Verstappen is still unconsitent.
Billy
8th July 2018, 16:32
I hope you are right. I unfortunately sense that he favours max to ric. Would love ric to stay at Redbull and prove that he is better than max but he needs to find a team that will make him their number 1 driver.
George
8th July 2018, 18:57
He might go to Mclaren, and swap with Stoffel… I believe Stoffel would be more than glad to risk another Honda year
Patrick (@anunaki)
8th July 2018, 16:59
Max’s brake by wire failed that’s why he spun. After that his gearbox was stuck in 1st
JI
8th July 2018, 17:26
Ruined his gearbox because he went of track? Watch his onboard video….his gearbox MADE him spin…nitwit
Billy
8th July 2018, 17:39
@JI I was referring to him running off at stowe(if im not mistake)when he had his brake issue you muppet, when he was still in front of kimi. Don’t tell me what to watch dimwit.
Bas
8th July 2018, 17:49
No, max’s comment after the race: brake failure. That’s why he spun.
Had this fsilure at the beginning of the race 2
Dave
8th July 2018, 16:24
Definitely better than what we had 4 years ago.
Alex (@arobbo)
8th July 2018, 16:29
9/10. For those who missed this race just watch those last few laps, It’s not quite a 10 since we didn’t get the Seb vs Lewis duel for the win but I guess we’ll get soon!
Poor Valtteri, Merc messed up his strategy again.
Still, great race!
John H (@john-h)
8th July 2018, 16:36
Diasgree. Valterri should have kept the door closed into Luffield like he had done so the previous laps and he had a chance to win that. He drove pretty well though, but it was a little disappointing to see Vettel pass from that far back. Had it been on Hangar straight then fair enough.
sl300forf1 (@sl300forf1)
8th July 2018, 16:48
I voted 8…. The tension was maximum for the win… The gap between Ferarri and Mercedes to Red Bull and the rest was huge
Patrick (@anunaki)
8th July 2018, 17:00
Great race but a huge disappointment to see max DNF with a failed car
Psychotext (@textuality)
8th July 2018, 17:05
Reminded me why I love F1. It’s been a while.
ColdFly (@)
8th July 2018, 17:12
10/10 for having a real Ferrari/Mercedes fight at the end. Less 1 point for the gap to the midfield which made the Lewis charge through the field ‘boring’, and less another point for the fast guy who couldn’t climb the tyre wall.
8/10
ColdFly (@)
8th July 2018, 19:16
*Fat guy.
After the Grosjean Sainz incident.
Jorge Lardone (@jorge-lardone)
8th July 2018, 17:49
8/10. But we see again that FIA work alongside Mercedes for make Hamilton champion.
David Not Coulthard (@davidnotcoulthard)
8th July 2018, 18:17
@jorge-lardone wait….Mercedes International Assistance, out of all things?
javier javier (@j3d89)
9th July 2018, 18:04
think about it.. in the past have been ferrari… but right now is clearly mercedes international assistance and also PirellisBenz
Ricky mah boy
8th July 2018, 18:10
Pirelli as well
Niefer (@niefer)
8th July 2018, 18:44
Good solid… 9!
It’s been a long time since I’ve enjoyed so much a Silverstone race.
Very good action, nice overtakes, a thrilling ending… This one was really worth it.
Now the downs:
– 10 seconds on RAI shows once again the inconsistency of the stewards;
– Shame on Leclerc’s DNF;
– IMHO I think a VSC would fit ERI’s crash better;
– HAM’s claims after the race were just disgraceful.
hyoko
8th July 2018, 18:55
Not bad, could have been much better without those awfully long SC periods. And MIA is working full-time again
Tifoso1989 (@tifoso1989)
8th July 2018, 19:13
9/10 for me an insane race especially at the end. It was a sprint to victory for both Ferrari and Mercedes. The speed all the 4 cars were carrying through Copse and Beckets while racing for the race win was mind blowing.
Michael Brown (@)
8th July 2018, 21:02
Safety car came out around the time the race was starting to lose excitement. Great race all around, but I can help but feel disappointed for what could have been with Hamilton.
NewVerstappenFan (@jureo)
9th July 2018, 5:16
10. This is the best we can hope for within these regulations on a dry track.
ferrox glideh (@ferrox-glideh)
9th July 2018, 13:04
Even the practice sessions were entertaining this week!
Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
9th July 2018, 23:28
8/10 for me.
There was something of interest happening most of the time. There was some good overtaking and the fact the cars were out of the standard order after the start really helped. They did not get too strung out either.
On the not so good side, I think it was far too easy for Lewis to climb back through the field with the aid of DRS. Most of us want to see him near the front but this kind of action used to be much more difficult and interesting a few years back.
Without the two accidents and safety car periods, I think this race would have gotten a much lower rating as to that point it had not been edge of the seat stuff. Those last 10/11 laps with the top 4/5 so close were electric though!
Esploratore (@esploratore)
10th July 2018, 3:09
I would’ve given it 8,5, I decided for 8 and I see that the majority voted 9, it had even more 10 than austria had, so this has been deemed the best race of 2018, it would’ve been the 2nd for me, after austria.
It was imo a bit less unpredictable, I wouldn’t have expected a bad start from hamilton, but after that I’d have expected him to recover till 3rd or 4th, was pretty much easy to guess (given the slow red bulls and raikkonen’s penalty), it’s always a good thing when a member of the top 3 cars comes back from the bottom, but several overtakes seemed like they let him through.
Red bulls weren’t really able to stay with ferraris and mercedes, however the fight ferrari, merc, ferrari, merc reminds me of the times in 1999 and 2000, only with mclaren instead of mercedes, irvine, schumacher and barrichello vs hakkinen and coulthard!
93% voted either 8, 9, 10, 99% voted anything between 7 and 10, however the total votes go over 100%!
PJA (@pja)
13th July 2018, 22:09
I gave the race an 8 it was entertaining but some of the points others are praising it for didn’t excite me as much.
Hamilton coming from the back of the field to finish second is impressive on paper but in reality Mercedes and Ferrari were in a league of their own this weekend, even Red Bull couldn’t challenge them, it meant most of Hamilton’s overtakes were straightforward with a lot of drivers not even putting up much of a fight as they knew it would be futile and only cost them more time in the long run. Then it was only because of the safety car that he managed to get on the podium in the end.
Also the battle at the front in the final laps after the safety came in, because Vettel was on fresh tyres I always thought he would be able to retake the lead from Bottas, so there wasn’t any suspense there for me, it was more a question of how far down the two Mercedes would drop after they didn’t stop under the first safety car.
I notice quite a few have rated this race a 10, I simply have different criteria for rating a race,
I don’t think I have ever given a race a 10, my criteria for awarding a race a 10 would have to be that it was a perfect race and could not be improved in anyway.
If I had to write fictional report on what my perfect race would be I am not sure how it would all pan out but there would have to be interest throughout the race, never being sure who would win it until the end with a sustained battle for the victory late on between equally matched drivers, but the result would have to be decided on merit and not on the luck of the draw of when a safety car is called.
Part of the trouble I have with modern F1 is that it either feels that drivers can’t get close enough to the car in front to challenge or that overtakes are too easy because of DRS or the difference in tyres and car performance.
Back to 2018 British GP itself, I think the Raikkonen and Hamilton collision at the start was similar to the Vettel and Bottas one from a few races ago, in that it was a clumsy mistake that years ago probably would have been put down to a racing incident with no penalties issued.
Although some enjoyed watching one of the championship contenders having to recover from the back of the field, I think there was the potential for a good battle at the front if Hamilton had made a decent start and led after the first lap, but the danger as ever would have been that either the leader has the pace on everyone to have a comfortable race or if the driver behind is quicker he can’t get close enough in the dirty air to make a move, the Mercedes seems more sensitive to following other cars which is why I thought it would have been better if Hamilton had led at the start.
I have been critical of Mercedes strategy with regards to pitting under safety car conditions this season but I actually understand their reasoning this time round regardless of what was best in hindsight. If they had stopped when everyone else had stopped for another set of tyres when the safety car first came out then they would have stayed in the same positions and definitely not won the race, they decided to gamble by staying out on older tyres but gaining track position in the process.
I don’t like the interviews in parc-ferme straight after the drivers have got out of the car, the interviews on the podium can be hit and miss in terms of quality but at least it means they are done in front the fans at the race after they are let onto the track.
I can see what the powers that be are trying to do interviewing the drivers as soon as they get out of the car, they think they will get more controversial comments as the drivers would not have had a chance to calm down if something had happened during the race.
Because of this I have no problem with a driver who tries to skip this interview and goes to the podium, I thought Hamilton did this so he could gather his thoughts and not say something he may regret even though he still managed to say some unwise comments, however he claimed it was because he was exhausted which is fair enough.
Rather predictably some fans took his actions in missing the first lot of interviews as another opportunity to criticise Hamilton, it is probably something that if Raikkonen had done it people would be praising him for his don’t give a **** attitude.
I have mentioned this in previous years, but again it stood out when watching the coverage on TV that the design of the Silverstone podium is rather poor, especially when it and the pits/stand it is located in is relatively new.
The podium doesn’t seem to be facing the main stand and when the fans are eventually allowed onto the track after the race they are still too far away, especially with that second section of Armco barriers between the pitlane and the track/run-off in that area. Even if they didn’t want to copy Monza with a podium over the pit straight, which for me is the best podium on the calendar, they could have down something better, I feel that a podium should be close to the fans for the celebrations.
Also I normally don’t pay any attention to who present the trophies but I noticed that this time they included a couple of politicians, maybe I noted them this time because I am British, I understand why this is done in other countries considering their races are funded by their governments but considering the British GP, quite rightly in my opinion, does not receive government subsidies I don’t see why government ministers should present the trophies.