FÓRMULA-1

Something finally happened ... Verstappen's brilliant victory

Max Verstappen ends Mercedes dominance! The Dutchman overtook the Mercedes and secured his first F1 victory in 2020 at the Formula 1 Grand Prix of the 70th Anniversary. Lewis Hamilton was second, ahead of Valtteri Bottas, after passing his teammate near the end of the running. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) was fourth ahead of Alex Albon (Red Bull). Pirelli was right to bring softer tires for this second Silverstone race, as the race was very lively.
Max Verstappen (Red Bull RB16 / Honda) achieved a sensational victory at Silvertsone by choosing a completely different strategy than the rest of the pack when starting out on the race with hard tires, and even having to override the engineer, who asked him to slow down because of the heating of the tires, the Dutchman replied that he did not want to drive like a grandmother and he did so. Basically, the Dutchman did not want to drive like a Lady at the age of the Grand Prix that gave the name to this race: 70th Birthday!
Verstappen extended his first pit stop to the maximum, when he was leading because the two Mercedes had already changed tires, when he returned he was passed by Valtteri Bottas, but for a short time, he quickly unraveled the Finn, heading for a sensational victory in the first race of the year that is not won by Mercedes.
While Bottas and Hamilton switched to hard tires on laps 13 and 14, respectively, Max Verstappen stayed on track until lap 25, moving away from the Mercedes, as they quickly began to struggle with their new tires. In short, Red Bull's tactic resulted in perfection.
Lewis Hamilton won his private fight with Valtteri Bottas, passing the Finn with two laps to go, after having changed tires when he was leading the race towards the end, falling to fourth. There was still time to recover reaching second place, but with no ‘laps’ to go and get Max Verstappen, who only had six laps on medium tires, getting back to hard.
The fact that Verstappen was the only driver in the top 10 to start the race on hard tires was a decision that proved to be crucial, as both poleman Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton had problems with the tires of medium compounds. In any case, this strategy only worked, because of a pilot like Verstappen.
Bottas was third after failing to keep his teammate behind him, as he had 10 ‘older’ tires. Mercedes had a lot of problems with the bubbles in the tires. Running too hot is an opportunity for Mercedes opponents.
Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) finished the race in fourth place, ahead of Alex Albon's Red Bull and Lance Stroll's Racing Point. His teammate, Nico Hulkenberg, started from third place, but this is not the place to get a podium. It was seventh, a very dignified position for those who have been away for so long.
Racing Points by Lance Stroll and Nico Hulkenberg finished 6th and 7th, respectively, with the German falling behind Stroll after a late pit stop. According to the team communicated on Twitter, he felt vibrations and without stopping in the pits he might not have finished the race.
Esteban Ocon was the only Renault on the points, finishing in eighth place, after his teammate Daniel Ricciardo topped and dropped significantly in the standings, finishing only in 14th position. Lando Norris (McLaren) and Daniil Kvyat (AlphaTauri) closed the top 10 of the scoring places.
It may sound strange, but we haven't talked about Sebastian Vettel yet! It was another sad day for the German. He started in 11th, finished the race in 12th. Ten a top on the first lap after passing through a broker, fell to the bottom of the pack. Little more was heard of him, except to scold the team for a matter of strategy.
Carlos Sainz was 13th after a very modest race for those with a McLaren in their hands. Kimi Raikkonen moved up to 15th place after starting the race in 20th place. The Haas de Romain Grosjean was placed immediately afterwards. Kevin Magnussen abandoned. Antonio Giovinazzi 17th, while Williams' duo George Russell and Nicholas Latifi closed the pack. 

José Luis Abreu, Portugal