Sebastian Vettel vs the stewards – round two

Jamie Woodhouse

Sebastian Vettel was back in the stewards’ bad books after wiping out Max Verstappen in the British Grand Prix.

Here is how an eventful race day unfolded at Silverstone…

Guenther Steiner put on a smile for the media before the race.

007 himself Daniel Craig was a prime target for said media – Christian Horner was keen to keep him for himself.

Red Bull had another James Bond guest lurking around the garage…

The fun soon stopped though with the winners in Austria forced into a late scramble to change the rear wings on both cars.

Valtteri Bottas kept team-mate Lewis Hamilton behind off the line, while Charles Leclerc cleared Verstappen for P3.

Meanwhile Lando Norris emerged victorious in his opening-lap battle with Daniel Ricciardo for P7.

Red Bull say their resources are being "pushed and pulled" by 2021 talks.

Haas’ woeful race form continued…

What a show the Silver Arrows put on for us in the opening laps.

It has been a difficult weekend for Sebastian Vettel, and it got a fair bit worse when Pierre Gasly passed him into Turn 3 to take P5, though the Frenchman dived into the pits on that lap to fit the hard tyre.

Red Bull made it 2-0 on the Scuderia by getting Verstappen ahead in the pits, but a lock-up allowed the Ferrari man back through – pure drama! The mediums for Max meant he was going for the two-stop strategy.

So yeah, Bottas pitted, but who cared about Mercedes when we were seeing a thrilling battle between Leclerc and Verstappen which arguably exceeded their Austria efforts.

And just when we thought this race couldn’t get any crazier – Antonio Giovinazzi beached his C38 in the gravel bringing out the Safety Car – Hamilton’s gamble to stay out worked a treat.

It was a similar story for Leclerc who lost out to Vettel – after deciding to pit him a lap later he fell behind Gasly too.

At this point it seemed like a Formula 1 dream as Verstappen and Leclerc continued to go back and forth after the restart. The Dutchman eventually won the latest heated battle as the pair touched wheels again.

Leclerc cleared Gasly, meanwhile, this happened….

A new front wing was needed for Vettel after he wiped out Verstappen – that sent the Ferrari man to the back.

A ten-second time penalty was awarded to Vettel for his troubles – not that it mattered in the context of his race.

After all the drama and chaos, it was Hamilton who took a sixth victory at his home race!

He even bagged the fastest lap at the end for an extra point.

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Sebastian Vettel

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