2022 Formula One British Grand Prix

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British Grand Prix 2022 Ferrari Formula One.jpg
Silverstone is the site of the tenth race on the 2022 F1 calendar, with Red Bull and Max Verstappen looking dominant and two British drivers for Mercedes feeling optimistic.

A late safety car last time out in Canada looked to be the best hope for Max Verstappen's domination to be threatened, but even that wasn't enough to upset the reigning world champion.

Ferrari's Carlos Sainz was following Verstappen closely through the closing laps in Montreal, but Verstappen looked as poised as ever and held off the Ferrari threat. That battle seems like a microcosm of how the season is currently unfolding.

Verstappen now holds a 46-point lead over Ferrari's Charles Leclerc in the driver's championship. It's a commanding lead, but Leclerc will bring a power unit to Silverstone that is only one race old, so this will be a great opportunity to narrow the points gap.

A DNF from Sergio Perez of Red Bull at the Canadian GP helped narrow the constructor's gap, but Red Bull is still 76 points ahead of Ferrari.

Mercedes' two British drivers will be hoping to carry momentum from Canada into their home Grand Prix this weekend. Lewis Hamilton and George Russell took third and fourth last race, respectively. It has been a challenging year for the Mercedes team, who had won eight straight constructor's championships entering 2022, but have yet to find the pace of Red Bull and Ferrari.

Russell is having an outstanding year in his first full-time seat in a competitive car, and finds himself ahead of Sainz in the driver's standings. This is an impressive feat and is largely due to his consistency in placing in the top five in each race so far this season.

Further down the order, the tight battle between McLaren, Alpine and Alfa Romeo continues. Alpine and Alfa Romeo claimed the sixth through ninth finishes in Canada, while a botched pit stop for McLaren held drivers Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo back at a critical point in the race.

Entering the British Grand Prix, there are still lots of questions left unanswered that will shape the remainder of the season. Are Red Bull's reliability issues enough to threaten their driver's and constructor's leads? Will Leclerc's upgrade help him close the gap to Verstappen? Will Mercedes' strong showing at Canada carry forward to Silverstone?

Let us know your thoughts on these matters or anything else F1 related in the comments below.

Photo credits: Ferrari
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About author
Mike Smith
Mike Smith
I have been obsessed with sim racing and racing games since the 1980's. My first taste of live auto racing was in 1988, and I couldn't get enough ever since. Lead writer for RaceDepartment, and owner of SimRacing604 and its YouTube channel. Favourite sims include Assetto Corsa Competizione, Assetto Corsa, rFactor 2, Automobilista 2, DiRT Rally 2 - On Twitter as @simracing604

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Comments

JonnyCombat
I enjoyed the impotent protest bit. “Yeah people will notice us when we get smeared over a race track” RED FLAG “ahh beans”
 
ZuneGuy
davehenrie said:
There was OBVIOUSLY something wrong with Sir Lewis today. 1st. Praised his tires several times. 2nd. Battled LeClerc at Copse and didn't wreck him. I do hope he's not suffering the after effects of the constant bouncing.(which his team seems to have finally solved) Well done sir....Sir Lewis.
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There was no problems at Copse today or last year because Leclerc is an under control driver by comparison. He and Lewis had no problems twice going through there last year in the same race because they both have great car control, and control of themselves.
 
T
ZuneGuy said:
There was no problems at Copse today or last year because Leclerc is an under control driver by comparison. He and Lewis had no problems twice going through there last year in the same race because they both have great car control, and control of themselves.
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It's still amazing to read comments from people who believe that Lewis made no mistake after driving through Max and going off track last year that earned him a penalty. Lewis made a mistake and shoved an opponent off the track as he couldn't made it stick. Easy and simple. Today he made the corner and the other driver could go around the outside just fine. If Lewis would have missed the apex once again they would have collided aswell today.
 
ZuneGuy
tr1v1um said:
It's still amazing to read comments from people who believe that Lewis made no mistake after driving through Max and going off track last year that earned him a penalty. Lewis made a mistake and shoved an opponent off the track as he couldn't made it stick. Easy and simple. Today he made the corner and the other driver could go around the outside just fine. If Lewis would have missed the apex once again they would have collided aswell today.
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I didn't say that he didn't make any mistake - you did. I said that his opponent is a more under control driver. "If" has no meaning here because of both Hamilton's and Leclerc's complete control in the turn. Last year they both were to blame.
 
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T
What you don't get is that the collision at Copse had nothing to do with Max not being under control compared to Leclerc. That's complete nonesense. The difference today was that Lewis made the corner and didn't hit his opponent. You can twist it as much as you want but Max did the same thing last year as Leclerc today and would have easily made the corner. Lewis was off the track when Max hit the wall, just deal with it.
 
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azaralamouri
davehenrie said:
There was OBVIOUSLY something wrong with Sir Lewis today. 1st. Praised his tires several times. 2nd. Battled LeClerc at Copse and didn't wreck him. I do hope he's not suffering the after effects of the constant bouncing.(which his team seems to have finally solved) Well done sir....Sir Lewis.
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(do I need to be apologetic before telling one thing about Hamilton? OK I apologize):

He mentioned that Ferrari was fast many times and that RB had straight line speed even more.
But let's think about one thing:
Although Hamilton had the fastest car in high speed corners today, HE LOST EVERY BATTLE IN THE CORNERS, even against broken cars or cars with worn tires.
All of the overtakes he did were in straight lines with DRS.

But as a hotlapper, he was fast today.
 
ZuneGuy
The fact is that Lewis always brings the car home after every race, and Verstappen doesn't for whatever reason, whether it's Verstappen crashing iinto Ocon while leading a race or whatever the situation. Verstappen crashed, Lewis was in control and finshed the race first period. The moral of the story is Lewis brings that car home to his team.
 
D
Did anyone catch the intra-team radio between LeClerc & Sainz? The F1.com site referred to it, but I rushed through the end of the Sky Sports broadcast. All I saw was Binoto wagging a finger at Charles...
 
mopro
What a classic race!, safety features worked flawlessly to protect both spectators and drivers, Sainz finally on the top of the podium, and Sir Hamilton showed his beautiful - very mature, race craft.
 
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P
It was a cracking race, a serious candidate for F1's best of this century. But I cannot help facepalming hard at what Ferrari did to Leclerc. A 1-2 with him in front would have been a slamdunk in both championships and would have turned the heat on in the title fight again. Instead we got...this...good for the TV show today, but underwhelming for the 2022 season as a whole.

As for Sainz, I stand by what I've said on last GP's discussion thread here. He's a clear #2 driver without the nerve and the precision required to fight at the front in races. He cracked under pressure in the lead and let Verstappen through. Then couldn't stay clear of Leclerc with an intact car while Charles lacked a front wing endplate. When asked to up the pace, he failed to do so. When he finally moved aside, Leclerc shot in the distance, and with clear air he still couldn't stop Hamilton from closing in the gap while his teamie started to set lap records.

Had it not been because of the SC, he would have been eaten alive by Lewis. Then he was able to overtake Leclerc at the restart because Charles's tyres were harder and older, and also took longer to switch on.

Who knows if this win will unlock something inside his head and he will become a spectacular driver who can challenge for world titles. Maybe it will turn out this way. But today I saw nothing on Sainz that makes me change my mind, his drive was easily the worst of all Top 5 drivers.

It sucks for Leclerc, but today was the definitive proof that he has the talent and the skills required to be a World Champion, but that will never happen while he drives for Ferrari. A fast racecar is not enough if the team cannot lay down a cohesive effort where winning comes first and foremost, and petty politics are the means, not the end.
 
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THK84
ZuneGuy said:
The fact is that Lewis always brings the car home after every race, and Verstappen doesn't for whatever reason, whether it's Verstappen crashing iinto Ocon while leading a race or whatever the situation. Verstappen crashed, Lewis was in control and finshed the race first period. The moral of the story is Lewis brings that car home to his team.
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I'm sorry, I was always a fan on LH because he raced hard in his early career. But this is just a BS argument, judging MV on his early career, but LH on his late career.

Just the fact you bring the 'recent' Ocon incident as an example says enough.
 
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Celestiale
what a brilliant race...still speechless
Le Clerc battling against Hamilton and Checo with a broken car and the slowest, worn tyres just showed again, what a brilliant racer he is. If not in confidence and consistency, regarding pace and racecraft he seems absolutely the best racer out there alongside Verstappen.
 
Damage Inc
davehenrie said:
<wonders> was it the idea of sustainable fuel, or the sound of the V10 that was the smartest thing he heard? BTW...does sustainable fuel use food sources like corn? Just curious as folks will still have to eat if the air is clean.
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Good point, I have to laugh at all the "save the planet" people....when they say and do naff all about human overpopulation, it's such a taboo subject....yet will probably be the main cause of mans demise (ironically), unless we can infest the solar system and onwards.
 
Appie Kuipers
ZuneGuy said:
The fact is that Lewis always brings the car home after every race, and Verstappen doesn't for whatever reason, whether it's Verstappen crashing iinto Ocon while leading a race or whatever the situation. Verstappen crashed, Lewis was in control and finshed the race first period. The moral of the story is Lewis brings that car home to his team.
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Who has the most wins till now:laugh:
 
T
Damage Inc said:
Good point, I have to laugh at all the "save the planet" people....when they say and do naff all about human overpopulation, it's such a taboo subject....yet will probably be the main cause of mans demise (ironically), unless we can infest the solar system and onwards.
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I think there is enough scientific evidence that we are in urgent need to change something about how we produce and consume energy. There is no question about that, but I think as with everything else in life, you need to find a good mix and balance of everything. We won't be able to rely fully on electric energy and vehicles as some people claim. It's just shifting the issue and not solving it. There is a chart that explains how the fuel used for this car is produced:

The biggest issue here is that this fuel relies on biomass wich has been a point of concern for several years now. Can we justify to burn food in a world where people starve? Because that's what will happen obviously when fuels like these should become profitable. Another issue is that soil consumption that you have while producing those fuels is quite huge.

Anyway, I am a big motorsport fan and don't want to miss that part about noise and smell. The electric cars are just pretty boring for me. A Formula 2 car from '78 was allmost as fast as a high tech modern electric Porsche GT4 up the hill at Goodwood. Nuff said. I just don't think that Motorsport in general is a good platform to push this big drive for electric mobility.
 
T
zwiss said:
Just imagine there would have been a fire like in Grosjean's case. No way would Zhou have gotten out in time...
FIA needs to review the tires / armco / fence situations at high speed corners...
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I am not sure if it's the safety meassures that need to be reviewed or how the drivers behave. The zig zagging during starts is too extreme. It's a bit like the problem with the chicken and the egg. From my perspective the number of freak accidents, where "oh ma god, HALO saved a life", have increased quite alot over the last couple of years with the last big push for safety. This weekend alone there were two occasions. The driving standards and respect have become worse and worse. A good start would be more tests and practice runs for drivers, especialy the rookies. It's a point that comes up quite alot. Another big issue is that mirrors have become smaller and smaller and aerodynamic tools. You won't be able to make motorsport 100 % safe so identifying the root and the cause is more important than let's say restructure all race tracks once again.
 
Richard Wilks
tr1v1um said:
I am not sure if it's the safety meassures that need to be reviewed or how the drivers behave. The zig zagging during starts is too extreme. It's a bit like the problem with the chicken and the egg. From my perspective the number of freak accidents, where "oh ma god, HALO saved a life", have increased quite alot over the last couple of years with the last big push for safety. This weekend alone there were two occasions. The driving standards and respect have become worse and worse. A good start would be more tests and practice runs for drivers, especialy the rookies. It's a point that comes up quite alot. Another big issue is that mirrors have become smaller and smaller and aerodynamic tools. You won't be able to make motorsport 100 % safe so identifying the root and the cause is more important than let's say restructure all race tracks once again.
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Good post. The fact that these cars are now so fast and so heavy, have exposed wheels, and give this feeling of "safety", will inevitably lower the standards of driving to a dangerous level.

We already saw that happening in other series, such as indycar, and changes had to be made to the cars not just to increase their safety, but to change the racing so drivers wouldnt take so many chances.

The "halo cult" has been also cringeworthy. Everytime he Halo does something, we must all pray to the Halo gods. I dread to think what will happen when one day the halo fails to save someone. And yesterday, more than his life, i feared for spectators, because such a heavy car barrel rolling like that over the fence would have been a disaster.
 

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