Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz Jr. took his maiden Formula 1 victory at a dramatic British Grand Prix.
The race was marred by a huge, multi-car crash right at the very start, where Zhou Guanyu’s Alfa Romeo was flipped and sent flying into the catch fence at Abbey corner.
The red flag was brought out immediately as the Chinese driver was taken to the medical centre on a stretcher, with the FIA confirming that he was OK and the had been discharged.
It was nealry an hour before the race was restarted and when it did polesitter Carlos Sainz Jr. struggled under pressure from Max Verstappen, eventually running wide and allowing the Red Bull to take the lead.
But just a few laps later, Verstappen picked up floor damage, severely hampering his pace and gifting the race back to Sainz Jr. and his Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc.
However the action was far from over, with home favourite Sir Lewis Hamilton closing the gap to the frontrunners, with Ferrari forced to swap their drivers to keep the Mercedes man at bay.
But with just 12 laps to go Esteban Ocon’s Alpine lost power and stopped on track to bring out the safety car.
At the restart, Sainz Jr. on fresh tyres powered through to reclaim the lead, while Hamilton engaged in an enthralling duel for second with Leclerc and the other Red Bull of Sergio Perez, with the Mexican eventually winning out, leaving Hamilton in third.
Sainz Jr.’s first win came on his 150th race start and the Spaniard was naturally overjoyed at the chequered flag, saying: ‘I don’t know what to say, it’s amazing!
‘My first race win, 150 races later, with Ferrari and in Silverstone. Thanks everyone.
‘Lewis was on it I heard, but I managed to hold on. It was not easy, I struggled a lot with the balance on the first stint.
‘All of a sudden the safety car gave us a chance to get back in it and we did it.’
The result doesn’t change much in the standings, with Verstappen still leading on 181 points, Perez second on 147 and Leclerc third on 138.
As for the constructors’ table, Red Bull are on 328, Ferrari are on 265 and Mercedes are on 204.
MORE : Zhou Guanyu involved in serious multi-car crash at British Grand Prix
MORE : ‘Gutted’ Lewis Hamilton, Lando Norris and George Russell react to disappointing British GP qualifying
For more stories like this, check our sport page.
Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on
Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
For all the latest Sports News Click Here
For the latest news and updates, follow us on Google News.
