LONG OVERDUE!!

 BRITISH GRAND PRIX 2025

photo credit:motorsportweek.com

WHAT A RACE!!!

HULK'S FIRST PODIUM IN 15 YEARSS!!

Nico Hulkenberg has finally got his first podium in Formula 1 after 239 starts and some relentless efforts. He could not have asked for a better race to achieve his podium... he went from P19 to P3 in changing conditions and kept the likes of Lewis Hamilton behind to get his first podium. It was just sheer brilliance by him to come home and take his maiden podium in formula 1 after getting denied his chance to step on it so many times. It took a long time for him to achieve this but in the end it was always inevitable with the talent he has. 

Well Nico Hulkenberg might have taken the spotlight but the actual winners of the race like last week were the papaya rockets. Finishing the race in P1 and P2, they were miles ahead of their competition. 

Lando also got his first home grand prix win this season something which he missed out on last year. The win for Lando was only possible due to Oscar's 10 second time penalty for slowing down excessively behind the safety car. This incident puts Oscar on the backfoot now as he threw away his easy win against Lando. Also, this reduces the lead Oscar has over Lando to only 8 points now and Lando seems to be coming to get the lead back with his recent run of form which has been nothing short of spectacular as this is a highly unexpected comeback by Lando after what seemed like Oscar having the championship lead under control. At the end of the day, this was the most that McLaren as a team could have hoped for and will be happy with what they are achieving throughout the season. This is the biggest turnover they could have had as they were dead last in the first few rounds of 2023 and now they have won the 2024 constructors championship and are set to win this year's constructor championship too. 

This race was a tough one for the rookies especially as every rookie except Oliver Bearman had to retire or crashed.

Liam Lawson had to retire from the race due a collision with Esteban Ocon quite early on in the race. As the race went on, due to high spray and low visibility Liam's teammate Isack rear ended Kimi in the Mercedes and went straight on into the barriers which marked the second DNF for VCaRB in the race. A terrible race for VCaRB to say the least.

 

Gabriel Bortoleto's race also ended quite early as he spun off into the gravel when he put on slick tyres while the track was a bit wet. Despite this, for the Sauber team as a whole it was a good result as it was their first podium since 2012 and they look like they have upped their pace in the last few races with them constantly outscoring Red Bull in the last 4 races, a feat only a team like Sauber could have dreamed of.

Heading on to the prancing horse, Ferrari. On comparison to last weekend, it was a messy one to say the least. They messed up Charles strategy for every stop due to which he ended way down the pack in P14 even when he started P6, which is nothing short of terrible for a driver of his caliber. On the other hand, his teammate Lewis Hamilton finished P4 after starting P5 which is decent but it ended his 12 year streak of podiums in Silverstone which is not what any Lewis fan wanted to see at all. The strategy for Lewis was okay but not as good as either the Sauber or the Aston or the McLaren due to which it hindered him and could not get the podium. Also, in the race Ferrari were not as fast as they seemed in qualifying and practice and lacked pure raw pace they seemed to have in their car hindering from Leclerc overtaking people and Hamilton overtaking Hulkenberg which cost him his long streak. A weekend to learn from for Ferrari who seem to have the pace in the car but are just not able to harness it at the right time. 

Heading on to Red Bull and to say the least about them, they are having one of the worst season they have had in more than a decade and to make matters worse they are getting outscored by back marker teams like Sauber which is just unacceptable for them. In the grand prix Max also lost his calm and spun on the safety car restart which made him lose heaps of positions. Before the restart he was in P2 and looked comfortable to finish there and if had not spun might have even won the race due to Oscar's 10 second time penalty. But well due to his spin all he could manage in the end was P5 due to lack of pace in the car as he was sliding all over the place. It was more like Max was driving a drift car rather than a formula 1 car. On the other hand, his teammate Yuki like most of the times finished dead last of all the drivers who finished the race. Just a series of terrible weekends for Red Bull.

Now even Christian Horner has resigned effectively immediately!!

Red Bull look like they have made another mistake as Christian was instrumental in them winning all the constructors and driver championships they have won. It just looks like the worst decision to make in a time of struggle and bad run of form.

Well for Mercedes too it was not a good weekend with George messing up the strategy twice to switch to dry tires due to which he first lost P3 then P7 and in the end could only score 1 point and finished in P10. On the other hand, Kimi's race ended when he had to retire due to the rear diffuser damage he got when Isack rear ended him. Just a horrifying weekend for Mercedes.

Well for Williams it was a decent weekend with a good haul of points by Alex finishing in P8. Williams were expected to be quite slow this weekend but the rain helped them and they scored decent amount of points. In the end, Carlos also finished in P12 which is not terrible considering the challenges the weather imposed. Overall, decent weekend for Williams who look to be stronger on the tracks to come.

As for Haas they could have done better with their strategy and should have wished they had more luck on their side as first Esteban had a collision then Ollie got spun around and in the end both of the Haas cars collided to put them both in a spin. Ollie was anyways hampered by the 10 place grind penalty he had yet he coped well and finished just outside the points in P11 and Esteban finished in P13. Haas would have hoped for a better weekend but this is all they could do with the mayhem that was happening. 

One of the talking points was Pierre Gasly who finished the race in P6 with the Alpine which is a feat in itself as the Alpine has been considered as the slowest car of the grid most of the time. It was just inch perfect car control and driving from him. On the other hand, his teammate Franco had to retire on quite early in the race due to a gearbox issue. His time in F1 is not going as well as it did with Williams to say the least. Alpine are considering to replace him with Bottas. In the end, it was a good weekend for Alpine as they scored quite a lot of points. 

Lastly, Aston Martin were not given the limelight but what a performance by them too. There car had somewhat pace but mostly with Alonso but the thing that gave them these performances of finishing in P7 and P9 is their strategy. The strategies were inch perfect and perfectly executed which made Lance finish P7 and Fernando in P9 something their car would not be able to do without the weather or the strategy execution. It was a weekend Aston will be happy with, especially considering it was their home race. 

Overall one of the craziest races in Formula 1 and rightfully so as it made every fan hold on tight to the edge of their seats with their hearts in their mouths. It was just utter brilliance with changing weather, out of the box strategies and some very brave overtakes with unexpected results. Truly a race to remember forever. 

Next one after the break we head to the longest track in Formula measuring in it 7.004km. It is one of the fan favorites with long straights, low and high speed corners and plenty of DRS zones to overtake. We will be waiting to see whether Lando further reduces the gap between him and Oscar or does Ferrari ruin the party for them and somehow rack up their first win of the season. Also, the fans will be keenly waiting to know the whereabouts of the Red Bull team. Only the passing time holds answers for these...