CARLOS SAINZ leads Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc with Lewis Hamilton hot on their tale.
There was woe for Max Verstappen, who had to pull into the pits while LEADING the British Grand Prix.
The Silverstone race got off to a dramatic start as Zhou Guanyu crashed as his car and it FLIPPED, almost skidding into fans.
George Russell, who also crashed, hopped straight out of his car and sprinted to help the the Chinese driver get out of his mangled vehicle.
The race has been red flagged as a result with Lewis Hamilton getting up to third place after starting fifth on the grid.
The crash was so bad Sky Sports refused to show it for around 25 minutes after the incident.
The halo appears to have saved Zhou’s life in hindsight, with the car skidding for hundreds of metres before flying over the barriers.
Over 125,000 are at today’s race, which has been sold out since January.
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Lap 20 – Hamilton closing on the Ferraris
The Mercedes man definitely has the need for speed round Silverstone.
He has just bettered his fastest lap and is just closed the gap to Leclerc to just 2 seconds.
Ferrari have told Sainz to speed up as Leclerc is screaming over the radio that he can go faster.
Can Hamilton somehow find a way to clinch the win here?
Lap 14 – “The car is 100% broken”
Oh no. After getting new tyres Verstappen now believes there is something wrong with the car and comes onto the radio screaming it is broken.
The team have checked the data and confirm it is bodywork damage on the rear.
They say it is not critical and he is safe to continue but will lose some performance.
A reminder. We are not even quarter of the way through the race yet.
Lap 11 – SAINZ RETAKES THE LEAD
Wow. What a race we have on our hands.
The Ferrari driver retakes the lead after Verstappen slows down before complaining of a puncture on the radio.
He dives into the pits and as a result comes out in P6.
Leclerc has taken second spot while Hamilton is third.
Lap 10 – Verstappen takes the lead!
The Red Bull driver was hunting down Sainz but did not need to battle for an overtake as a horror mistake from the handed him the lead.
The Spaniard goes wide at Beckets and runs over the grass leaving the door wide open for Verstappen to snatch the lead.
Meanwhile, Hamilton has just put in the fastest lap of the race.
Lap 6 – Hamilton bites back at Norris
The Mercedes driver manages to get past Norris and takes back P4 after a great overtake with the assistance of DRS.
He just has Leclerc ahead of him now who is nursing some damage following his overtake on Perez but has opted to stay out.
Perez however has been forced to pit for a new front wing and is now last.
AND IT’S LIGHT OUT! (again)
Let’s try this again.
Sainz and Verstappen go close at Turn One but the Ferrari driver manages to fend off the Red Bull this time and hangs onto the lead.
Leclerc snatches P3 from Perez but the overtake has seen the Mexican take some front wing damage.
Norris has also jumped up to 5th after getting past Hamilton who did not get the best of starts.
Race restart confirmed
Now we know both drivers are okay the stewards have cleared the track and the cars off the track for a race restart.
Ferrari are confirm it will be a starting start after a lap behind the safety car.
It will be back to the original grid start after a whole lap was not completed before the red flag.
Here’s a reminder of how they will line up:
- Sainz
- Verstappen
- Leclerc Perez
- Hamilton
- Norris
- Alonso
- Latifi
- Gasly
- Bottas
Russell, Albon and Zhou are out of the race.
Albon off to hospital
Williams have confirmed Albon is off to hospital for ‘precautionary checks’ following his shunt into the barrier.
We will keep you updated on his condition when we get them.
Thank God for the fence!
Punter footage shows fans in the grandstand at Turn One scattering away as Zhou’s car is heading towards them.
Thankfully the fence does its job and catches the car mid flip.
Alfa Romeo have just confirmed to Zhou’s teammate Bottas that the Chinese driver is okay, talking and has no fractures.
Quite amazing considering the severity of the smash.
Horrible crash!
Wow. Replays show two separate collisions caused the pile up.
Russell was squeezed by Gasly’s Alpha Tauri causing him to clip Zhou which led the Chinese driver to flip upside down and scrape along the floor before being upturned again by the gravel.
Zhou then flips over the barrier and slams into fence stopping him from going over the barrier and into the spectators.
His car is then lodged in between the fence and the barrier leaving him trapped inside before being rescued.
The second crash saw Sebastian Vettel bump into Albon pushing him into Tsunoda and Ocon causing the Williams driver to spin out in the barrier.
Luckily, both drivers are okay.
FIA statement on Zhou and Albon
The FIA have released a statement confirming Zhou and Albon are both okay.
William’s driver Albon was sideways after turn one and slammed into the barrier.
Their statement reads: “Zhou and Albon have been taken to the medical centre. Both were conscious and will be evaluated at the medical centre.”
PHEW! Zhou is okay.
Reports are coming in that the Chinese driver is fine and has managed to get out of his car.
The recovery team were quick to respond as the rest of the grid made their way to the pits.
His car somersaulted and landed upside down. That’s another drivers life saved thanks to the halo attached to the top of their cockpit.
Lap 1 – Red Flag
A massive crash between the mid runners sees the race red flagged as Russell, Zhou, Albon are all out of the race while Tsunoda and Ocon have damage and limp back to the pits.
Thoughts are with Chinese driver Zhou as his car flipped over and landed upside during the smash.
Russell jumped out of his Mercedes to ran over to his car to try and help the rookie.
The extraction team have been sent to try and get him out of the car. Hopefully he is okay.
Credit: AP ITS LIGHTS OUT!
Verstappen gets away the quickest and beats Sainz into the first corner to take the lead.
Hamilton makes an amazing start and jumps up past Leclerc and Perez to take third.
But it is all happening behind him as there is a massive pile up and a few drivers have skirted off the track.
Formation lap time
The grid has cleared and the drivers have just set out on their formation lap before the race to get their engines going and tyres warm.
Most drivers have opted for the soft tyres while George Russell has gone for the hards.
Stars all out on the grid before lights out!
From Hollywood actors to British rappers, the stars are all out on the grid before the start of the race.
5 minutes away!
We’re just a few minutes away from the start of the British Grand Prix.
Buckle up.
Credit: Reuters Wet Silverstone? 🌧
Those clouds look ominous. Last year’s British GP was glorious. This one looks menacing.
30-minute warning
We’re just half an hour away from the British Grand Prix.
Hamilton won it last year, but today he starts in fifth.
Verstappen, in second, is favourite.
Sainz takes pole and is looking for his very first race win.
And as always, Charles Leclerc and George Russell will be looking to mop up any mistakes.
Credit: Reuters Lando Norris EXCLUSIVE
SunSport’s Frankie Christou spoke to McLaren star Lando Norris earlier this week at Silverstone.
Norris told SunSport: “Taking up golf has helped me a lot.
“When you can go out there and it’s just you, the club and the ball you stop thinking about all the other problems.
“Because it’s so difficult, all you’re thinking about is your swing or where to place the ball to strive to be more perfect than last time.
“From a mental side it is absolutely helping me.
“It’s extremely different to F1 but the one thing it has in common is the constant strive for perfection.
“Golf teaches you to deal with frustration quickly, to put it behind you and driving is the same.”
Russell wants to BEAT Hamilton
They’re team-mates, but really they’ll always be rivals.
George Russell has been speaking this week about wanting to beat his mate Lewis Hamilton in every race this season.
“Obviously, I want to beat my teammate and I’m not going to take offence if he says the same,” he says.
“But I would not see my season as a success purely because I’ve finished ahead of him more times than he had finished ahead of me.
“I would see it as a success if I was standing at the top step of the podium.”
Lap of honour
The drivers are taking in the applause from the crowd at Silverstone as they get carted around in some old classics.
Vettel x Mansell 🏎
What a moment for Vettel out on the Silverstone track today.
Birthday boy
What a treat for four-time world champion and birthday boy Sebastian Vettel today.
F1’s GOAT
He’s had it tough this season, but if there’s any track in the world where Hamilton can give his campaign a kickstart, it’s Silverstone.
He starts FIFTH on the grid today. But he’s been in worse positions than that and pulled off the unthinkable.
Source: Motorsport - thesun.co.uk
