It was an incredibly dramatic weekend with talking points aplenty - we go through the winners and losers, from delight for Carlos Sainz and Lewis Hamilton to Charles Leclerc's frustration; 2022 continues with Austrian GP - and Sprint - this weekend on Sky Sports F1
Tuesday 5 July 2022 06:13, UK
A well-deserved first Formula 1 win for Sainz, even if he wasn't exactly the fastest driver over the weekend.
He came out of nowhere to take a wet maiden pole and then was arguably slower than all of his four closest rivals in the race - but he battled Max Verstappen well at the start, obeyed Ferrari instructions when needed and was then perfectly placed to attack Charles Leclerc after the Safety Car. Knowing this was his big chance, he was decisive - overtaking his team-mate down the Wellington Straight before showing his best pace of the day to move away from the field.
He does appear to have made a breakthrough with this car and is now only 11 points behind Leclerc in the standings. That should make Ferrari's strategy calls even more difficult in the future.
We saw some of the sport's modern changes really stand out on Sunday, one of which almost certainly saving a driver's life.
In a pre-2018 F1 car - which did not feature the halo protection device - Zhou Guanyu's head would have been exposed to the track and then the gravel at high speed when his Alfa Romeo flipped upside down after contact at the start. The consequences of that do not bear thinking about.
Then, we also saw a fantastic race after that with incredible wheel-to-wheel racing, particularly after the Safety Car. Leclerc, Sergio Perez and Hamilton put on a racing clinic in the new-for-2022 cars as they were able to follow and battle closely, just as the F1's designers intended.
"That was very reminiscent of the karting days," said Hamilton. "And I feel that that's Formula 1 at its best. The fact that we were able to follow and dice like that, lap on lap is a testament to the direction I think that we've we're now in."
From a disastrous start after damage from Leclerc to an unlikely second place, Perez enjoyed the biggest turnaround of anyone on Sunday and managed to cut Red Bull team-mate Verstappen's title lead.
Perez was sent to the very back of the field after an early pit stop for a new front wing at Silverstone, but had great pace coming through the field before his tyre management was rewarded with the Safety Car that gave him a 'free' stop. After that, he superbly pounced on Hamilton and then was quick and combative against Leclerc and the Mercedes.
He is now 34 points off Verstappen in the title race. Like Sainz with Ferrari, Perez's form will give Red Bull some strategy headaches.
No, it was not a fairytale and record-breaking Silverstone victory - but the fact that was even a possibility makes Hamilton a winner here.
Hamilton ripped up the 2022 formbook in front of the raucous home support and was the fastest man on track as hunted down Leclerc and Sainz. Hamilton even looked like the favourite after the Ferraris stopped but a slow pit-stop lost him time before a Safety Car, while eradicating the gap, also got rid of his tyre advantage.
He was still happy with a 13th British GP podium - an F1 record at a single circuit - and Mercedes upgrades look very promising indeed.
On his 31st race start, Schumacher finally has his first F1 points.
Funnily enough, this was npt his best weekend - he qualified down in 19th - but a wild race played into his hands from 16th on the grid and he was superb after the Safety Car, getting ahead of Sebastian Vettel and even nearly getting past Verstappen through the final corners.
He's had a promising, not spectacular, one and a half years in F1 but he will hope this is a huge springboard.
This was Leclerc's British GP to win.
Leclerc was quicker than his team-mate despite car damage - which admittedly was his own fault after contact at the start - and, leading the race, would normally have been given the preferential strategy by Ferrari after the Safety Car. The fact he is likely Verstappen's main title rival would be another reason for that.
But Ferrari only pitted Sainz for soft tyres, claiming they thought tyre degradation would come into play and they could still keep a one-two. But, as most predicted, Leclerc was a sitting duck on his older rubber, not only to his team-mate but also to Perez and Hamilton despite his admirable efforts.
It's not the first time Leclerc has been frustrated by strategy this season and he did well to keep his emotions in check, particularly as the team orders, or lack of, earlier were also confusing.
He looked set to take a huge chunk out of Verstappen's advantage on Sunday, but in the end gained only six points. That's got to hurt.
Granted, Sunday could have gone a lot worse for Verstappen given his problems. In the end, Leclerc only finished three places ahead of him.
But the bottom line is that this was a big opportunity missed for Verstappen and Red Bull.
After passing Sainz, this seemed like it was going to be one of those days where Verstappen sped off into the distance in a Red Bull that looked the fastest on track. But a puncture and structural damage to his car led to Verstappen dropping well down the field, a few seconds slower per lap than he was managing before.
Cue very angry radio messages from the world champion.
Points at times looked an outside chance so he was happy with seventh, but his title lead could have gone over the 50-mark on Sunday and instead is down to 34.
After being tagged by Pierre Gasly and then hitting into Zhou, Russell did not get a chance to show the pace Hamilton did in front of his home crowd. Though he qualified eighth, who knows what the impressive young Brit would have been able to accomplish in that upgraded Mercedes - given his form this season, he may well have been faster than Hamilton.
His top-five streak in 2022 comes to an end, and he's only 18 points ahead of Hamilton now.
Returning to the track where he began his F1 career, Ricciardo was just slow all weekend. A crazy race should have suited the Australian, but instead he finished 13th... out of 14 finishers.
With Lando Norris continuing to shine in the other McLaren car, Ricciardo surely needs an upturn in form if he is to remain with the team for 2023.
F1 2022 heads to Austria this weekend, and the Sprint is back! Join Sky Sports F1 for extensive coverage, with the Sprint starting at 3.30pm on Saturday and the race at 2pm on Sunday.
