Max Verstappen wins inaugural F1 Sprint at Silverstone Circuit, Hamilton finishes second

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen won the inaugural F1 sprint at Britain’s iconic Silverstone Circuit on Saturday. The victory earned him three extra points and a pole position start at Sunday’s British Grand Prix (GP). Verstappen finished ahead of the Mercedes duo of Lewis Hamilton and Valterri Bottas. The difference in points between Hamilton and Verstappen stands at 33 ahead of the British GP. The F1 sprint is a 17-lap race that covers 100km. Every single one of the top 10 drivers took part in the race. They all started on medium tyres, barring Bottas who used softs. Verstappen started second on the grid but was instrumental right from the off. He out-dragged Hamilton, who had started from pole, into Abbey, despite flames having been spotted flickering from his front-left wheel on the grid.

Verstappen would go on to keep his lead until the end to win the race and earn a pole position start for the British GP. Hamilton, on the other hand, will be quite disappointed with his performance despite finishing second. The former world champion started from P1 on the grid but was drawn into Verstappen’s trap. He tried to get past Verstappen in the first lap itself but could not. The former world champion had even tried an ambitious attempt to go around the outside of the Red Bull at Copse. However, the Dutch driver held his nerve to extend his lead over Hamilton to 33 points in the driver’s championship table.

The race had taken a toll on the tyres. Verstappen mentioned the issue in the interview after the contest had concluded. “Around here it’s difficult to pass but we had a good start and then we tried to do our own pace. You could see we were pushing each other hard because at the end of the race the tyres were blistering a lot. We had to manage that to the end,” the Dutch driver said. “In the end, I’m happy to add the three points. It sounds a bit funny to hear you scored a pole position! And it should be a really exciting battle tomorrow,” he added.

‘THEY’RE JUST SO STRONG’

Hamilton was visibly disappointed with his performance as he apologized to his fans after the race. “I gave it everything today. I have to give a lot of love to all these fans, I can’t tell you the energy that I’m getting from everyone, the support means everything. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to get the win in the Sprint, but tomorrow we try again,” the defending champion said. “I hit the target on my start, it’s just not good when you lose from P1. Every point counts, but I’m grateful to have finished. Tomorrow we’ll fight again, but they’re just so strong, in the race he was pulling away. There was nothing I could do to hold onto him,” he added.

Verstappen, Hamilton, and Bottas were the top three in the race. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc finished in fourth while Lando Norris of Mclaren came fifth. The latter’s teammate, Daniel Ricciardo came sixth as two former world champions, Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel finished in seventh and eighth respectively. Williams’ driver George Russell claimed an impressive ninth-place finish while Esteban Ocon finished in tenth.