Red Bull’s Max Verstappen pulled one over Mercedes in a shock win at F1’s 70th Anniversary GP to end the world champions’ winning run in an intense and thrilling race.
Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes managed to finish second after snatching the position from Valtteri Bottas in the closing laps of the race.
Red Bull benefited from good decision making as the choice to start on Pirelli’s hardest compound tyre proved crucial for them and a brilliant Verstappen.
Mercedes suffered from poor tyre performance yet again as cars on the softer ‘medium’ tyres struggle throughout the race.
Max victory hinged solely on his better performance than either Mercedes in the first stint, and although he fell short and went behind early race leader Bottas after his first pit stop, he continued swiftly and overtook the Finn for the lead.
Verstappen admitted he didn’t see it coming when speaking of his first victory of the year and ninth in F1.
Hamilton overtook his team-mate, Valtteri Bottas to finish second with two laps to go despite suffering severe rear blistering.
And with that disappointing performance from Bottas coupled with not scoring any point at Silverstone last week after a late puncture, Verstappen has now moved past him in the Drivers’ Championship as Hamilton’s nearest challenger after five rounds.
Hamilton is still in the lead with 30 points as he ties the all-time record of Michael Schumacher with his 155th F1 podium.
“It was a massive challenge,” says Hamilton. “Firstly, congratulations to the Red Bull team and to Max. They definitely didn’t have the qualms we had today. Definitely unexpected to have the blistering as hardcore as we experienced. But I’m really grateful to progress and manage my way through until the end.”
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc finished remarkably in fourth after concluding what had been considered an unlikely one-stop strategy in another storming performance on the day.
Alex Albon returned to the top five in the second Red Bull, with Racing Point pair Lance Stroll and stand-in Nico Hulkenberg losing ground late on and ending up sixth and seventh respectively.
Four-time champion, Sebastian Vettel, on the other hand, had another day he would like to forget quickly as he finished outside the top 10.
70th Anniversary GP: Top 10 result
1. Max Verstappen, Red Bull
2. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
3. Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes
4. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
5. Alexander Albon, Red Bull
6. Lance Stroll, Racing Point
7. Nico Hulkenberg, Racing Point
8. Esteban Ocon, Renault
9. Lando Norris, McLaren
10. Daniil Kvyat, AlphaTauri
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