Emirates Formula 1 70ᵗʰ Anniversary Grand Prix 2020 - Race

KEY MOMENTS

• Red Bull driver Max Verstappen’s masterful tyre strategy helped him win the 70^th Anniversary Grand Prix from fourth on the grid. He was the only one of the top 10 on the grid to start on the hard tyre, and used their durability to run a longer first stint, which allowed him to move into the lead and then defend his advantage.
• Verstappen used a hard-medium-hard strategy, one of only two drivers to do so (the other was McLaren’s Carlos Sainz). Verstappen finished ahead of both Mercedes, which started from first and second on the grid, and used a similar medium-hard-hard strategy.
• Nearly all the drivers stopped twice, but Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc stopped just once to move from eighth on the grid to fourth at the finish. Renault’s Esteban Ocon was the only other driver to finish in the top 10 with just one stop. Both Leclerc and Ocon started on medium and then went on to hard.
• Four drivers stopped three times, with 19 drivers out of 20 finishing the race.
• Temperatures were slightly warmer than yesterday, with track temperatures in excess of 40 degrees centigrade throughout the race and a tyre nomination that was one step softer than last week’s British Grand Prix.

HOW EACH TYRE PERFORMED

• HARD C2: This was key to Verstappen’s victory, which was set up by his decision to use the white tyre in Q2 yesterday, and so start the race with it. Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton also used this tyre to set fastest lap in the race and claim an extra championship point.
• MEDIUM C3: The other key to the race was the equivalent of last weekend’s soft tyre, used by the majority of drivers to start the 70^th Anniversary Grand Prix.
• SOFT C4: The softest tyre ever nominated for Silverstone was only used by Racing Point’s Nico Hulkenberg for the final stint today, but it still provided a fundamental element to the race weekend by prompting some lateral thinking on strategy with the other available compounds.

MARIO ISOLA - HEAD OF F1 AND CAR RACING

“This weekend’s race was all about pure strategy, judged to perfection by Red Bull and Max Verstappen. His strategy began on Saturday afternoon, with the brave decision to run the hard tyre in Q2 and so start the race with it, which clearly paid off. Once he had gained track position by virtue of his longer first stint, he was able to control both the Mercedes behind him, which had nonetheless shown the pace to qualify first and second. Although Silverstone is one of the most demanding tracks on tyres, and the compounds were a step softer than last week, this all provided a challenge that helped to spice up the show. We saw some blistering as expected, but only on a few cars and nothing that affected the race outcome. Tyre management was an integral part of the tactics today, but the drivers certainly rose to the occasion and the viewers enjoyed an exciting and unpredictable race”.