The British Grand Prix was not short on action, which was a happy outcome after the shock of the first-lap crash from which Zhou Guanyu and Alexander Albon happily emerged unscathed.
However the red flag triggered by that crash deprived us of an interesting tactical battle. This arose to begin with thanks to F1’s well-judged off-season rules change allowing all drivers to start the race on whatever tyre they choose.It was unfortunately undone by a combination of the first-lap carnage and the resulting red flag, under which teams are allowed to change their drivers’ tyres (even fulfilling the requirement to use both compounds, though that wasn’t a factor on this occasion).
While most drivers took the start on mediums Max Verstappen, second on the grid, opted for softs, giving him a clear shot at passing pole-winner Carlos Sainz Jnr. He duly did exactly that, shooting past Sainz’s wheel-spinning Ferrari, but after the massive turn one crash drivers were instructed to resume their original positions.
Having inevitably tipped Ferrari off to their strategy Red Bull – perhaps suspecting Ferrari would react by putting Sainz on softs – switched Verstappen back to the mediums. Meanwhile George Russell, who had started on the hards, was out of the race. But while these intriguing choices never got the chance to play out, it’s an encouraging sign that front-running teams are finally starting to experiment with the freedom F1’s tyre rules have given them this year.
Ferrari’s decision not to pit Charles Leclerc during the final Safety Car period was hotly debated. He was leading the race at the time, and while he did not come in, Sainz, Lewis Hamilton, Sergio Perez and Fernando Alonso behind him all did. All bar the Alpine driver were able to attack and pass him.
Team principal Mattia Binotto justified the decision, pointing out Mercedes had done the same for Hamilton in the championship-deciding Abu Dhabi Grand Prix last year. Does that comparison hold?
The wisdom of not pitting from the lead when the driver immediately behind can stay out and overtake is obvious. This was particularly so in Hamilton’s case, as there was so little time left to the end of the race Mercedes could reasonably assume the race would either be red-flagged (allowing them to change tyres without pitting), or conclude under the Safety Car, or restart without the many lapped cars between Hamilton and his pursuer being moved aside. Of course what they did not foresee was an outcome in which the rules were not followed and none of these scenarios played out.
But in Ferrari’s case there were key differences. There were more laps to go until the end of the race and marshals only had to remove an intact but stationary car, not a crashed, smouldering one. That said, the possibility one Safety Car can be quickly followed by another – ‘cautions breed cautions’ – always has to be taken into consideration.Even so, it was never likely Leclerc was going to be able to hold off his fresh-tyred team mate in that situation, and the team’s attempt to tell Sainz to hold back shows they knew it. In Ferrari’s defence, they had a tiny window of time to make this decision in.
Ferrari faced a similar situation in the same race four years ago. On that occasion their driver Sebastian Vettel was leading when the Safety Car came out, and they pitted him, which allowed Valtteri Bottas to take the lead for Mercedes. On that occasion a second Safety Car period delayed Vettel’s effort’s to retake the lead, but he managed to get by with five laps to go. Nonetheless it shows there is always a risk factor in these decisions when the Safety Car comes out late in the race.
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2022 British Grand Prix lap chart
The positions of each driver on every lap. Click name to highlight, right-click to reset. Toggle drivers using controls below:
NB. The order in lap one shows the order in which the cars returned to the pits after the red flag, before they were re-ordered for the restart.
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2022 British Grand Prix race chart
The gaps between each driver on every lap compared to the leader’s average lap time. Very large gaps omitted. Scroll to zoom, drag to pan and right-click to reset. Toggle drivers using controls below:
Position change
| Driver | Start position | Lap one position change | Race position change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lewis Hamilton | 5 | 2 | 2 |
| George Russell | 8 | ||
| Max Verstappen | 2 | 1 | -5 |
| Sergio Perez | 4 | -2 | 2 |
| Charles Leclerc | 3 | -1 | -1 |
| Carlos Sainz Jnr | 1 | -1 | 0 |
| Lando Norris | 6 | -1 | 0 |
| Daniel Ricciardo | 14 | 4 | 1 |
| Esteban Ocon | 15 | -2 | |
| Fernando Alonso | 7 | 2 | 2 |
| Pierre Gasly | 11 | 0 | |
| Yuki Tsunoda | 13 | -3 | -1 |
| Lance Stroll | 20 | 6 | 9 |
| Sebastian Vettel | 18 | 5 | 9 |
| Alexander Albon | 16 | ||
| Nicholas Latifi | 10 | 2 | -2 |
| Valtteri Bottas | 12 | 3 | |
| Zhou Guanyu | 9 | ||
| Mick Schumacher | 19 | 4 | 11 |
| Kevin Magnussen | 17 | 5 | 7 |
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2022 British Grand Prix lap times
All the lap times by the drivers (in seconds, very slow laps excluded). Scroll to zoom, drag to pan and toggle drivers using the control below:
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2022 British Grand Prix fastest laps
Each driver’s fastest lap:
| Rank | Driver | Car | Fastest lap | Gap | On lap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1’30.510 | 52 | |
| 2 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Ferrari | 1’30.813 | 0.303 | 44 |
| 3 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | 1’30.937 | 0.427 | 47 |
| 4 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1’31.282 | 0.772 | 52 |
| 5 | Fernando Alonso | Alpine-Renault | 1’31.609 | 1.099 | 47 |
| 6 | Lando Norris | McLaren-Mercedes | 1’31.645 | 1.135 | 47 |
| 7 | Mick Schumacher | Haas-Ferrari | 1’32.109 | 1.599 | 48 |
| 8 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1’32.135 | 1.625 | 45 |
| 9 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin-Mercedes | 1’32.379 | 1.869 | 52 |
| 10 | Sebastian Vettel | Aston Martin-Mercedes | 1’32.471 | 1.961 | 52 |
| 11 | Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren-Mercedes | 1’32.644 | 2.134 | 34 |
| 12 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas-Ferrari | 1’32.661 | 2.151 | 52 |
| 13 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams-Mercedes | 1’33.286 | 2.776 | 48 |
| 14 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine-Renault | 1’33.537 | 3.027 | 37 |
| 15 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri-Red Bull | 1’33.832 | 3.322 | 51 |
| 16 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri-Red Bull | 1’34.275 | 3.765 | 26 |
| 17 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo-Ferrari | 1’35.103 | 4.593 | 19 |
| 18 | George Russell | Mercedes | |||
| 19 | Zhou Guanyu | Alfa Romeo-Ferrari | |||
| 20 | Alexander Albon | Williams-Mercedes |
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2022 British Grand Prix tyre strategies
The tyre strategies for each driver:
| Stint 1 | Stint 2 | Stint 3 | Stint 4 | Stint 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carlos Sainz Jnr | C2 (20) | C1 (19) | C3 (13) | ||
| Sergio Perez | C2 (5) | C2 (34) | C3 (13) | ||
| Lewis Hamilton | C2 (33) | C1 (6) | C3 (13) | ||
| Charles Leclerc | C2 (25) | C1 (27) | |||
| Fernando Alonso | C2 (33) | C1 (6) | C3 (13) | ||
| Lando Norris | C2 (34) | C1 (6) | C3 (12) | ||
| Max Verstappen | C3 (1) | C2 (11) | C2 (11) | C1 (16) | C3 (13) |
| Mick Schumacher | C2 (1) | C2 (18) | C1 (20) | C3 (13) | |
| Sebastian Vettel | C3 (6) | C2 (33) | C2 (13) | ||
| Kevin Magnussen | C3 (1) | C2 (21) | C2 (30) | ||
| Lance Stroll | C2 (15) | C1 (25) | C2 (12) | ||
| Nicholas Latifi | C3 (19) | C2 (20) | C3 (13) | ||
| Daniel Ricciardo | C2 (20) | C1 (12) | C3 (6) | C3 (14) | |
| Yuki Tsunoda | C2 (1) | C3 (17) | C1 (20) | C3 (14) | |
| Esteban Ocon | C2 (1) | C3 (21) | C1 (15) | ||
| Pierre Gasly | C2 (1) | C3 (15) | C1 (10) | ||
| Valtteri Bottas | C2 (20) | ||||
| George Russell | |||||
| Alexander Albon |
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2022 British Grand Prix pit stop times
How long each driver’s pit stops took:
| Driver | Team | Pit stop time | Gap | On lap | |
| 1 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | 28.155 | 39 | |
| 2 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Ferrari | 28.435 | 0.280 | 39 |
| 3 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams | 28.438 | 0.283 | 39 |
| 4 | Sebastian Vettel | Aston Martin | 28.540 | 0.385 | 39 |
| 5 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Ferrari | 28.574 | 0.419 | 20 |
| 6 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 28.632 | 0.477 | 15 |
| 7 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 28.709 | 0.554 | 39 |
| 8 | Fernando Alonso | Alpine | 28.733 | 0.578 | 33 |
| 9 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 28.805 | 0.650 | 25 |
| 10 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams | 28.829 | 0.674 | 19 |
| 11 | Fernando Alonso | Alpine | 28.841 | 0.686 | 39 |
| 12 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 28.947 | 0.792 | 34 |
| 13 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 28.996 | 0.841 | 39 |
| 14 | Mick Schumacher | Haas | 29.147 | 0.992 | 19 |
| 15 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 29.296 | 1.141 | 23 |
| 16 | Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren | 29.345 | 1.190 | 38 |
| 17 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 29.395 | 1.240 | 12 |
| 18 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | 29.448 | 1.293 | 38 |
| 19 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 29.473 | 1.318 | 22 |
| 20 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri | 29.632 | 1.477 | 16 |
| 21 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 29.837 | 1.682 | 33 |
| 22 | Sebastian Vettel | Aston Martin | 29.846 | 1.691 | 6 |
| 23 | Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren | 30.262 | 2.107 | 20 |
| 24 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | 30.342 | 2.187 | 22 |
| 25 | Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren | 30.599 | 2.444 | 32 |
| 26 | Mick Schumacher | Haas | 30.832 | 2.677 | 39 |
| 27 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | 34.759 | 6.604 | 18 |
| 28 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | 37.302 | 9.147 | 5 |
NB. Some drivers changed tyres after the aborted start.
2022 British Grand Prix
- How many victory chances did Hamilton have in his first winless F1 season?
- New rule added on drivers abandoning cars after Russell’s Silverstone retirement
- Hamilton told Leclerc ‘I didn’t want to clip you and send you off’ after Copse scrap
- Sainz: Ferrari accepted I was right not to follow “10 car lengths” instruction
- Zhou says Silverstone crash force exceeded roll hoop impact test
