OVERVIEW:
- Round 4 of the 2020 season comes from Silverstone, Great Britain
- Lewis Hamilton wins a dramatic race despite having a puncture on the final lap
- Max Verstappen comes home second, Charles Lecerc is third
- Valtteri Bottas and Carlos Sainz both suffer punctures and drop out of the points in the final laps
- Nico Hulkenberg is out of the race before it even starts with technical issues
- RACE DAY13:10
- Hello and welcome to live coverage of all the action from Silverstone…
- The F1 circus has made it to the fourth race of the season, and will be staying in situ at Silverstone for another week as the historic Austria double-header is followed by another one here. Thus far the weekend has provided plenty of talking points, both on and off the track…
On Thursday, the news filtered through the paddock that Sergio Perez had tested positive for Covid-19. The Mexican is said to be in good spirits with no symptoms which is great to hear. He has taken no part in this weekend and could miss next week’s race too. Racing Point therefore needed a very late minute replacement driver.Step forward… Nico Hulkenberg. 
- Hulkenberg impresses on his F1 returnThe German only lost his drive at the end of last season, which incredibly is technically only three races ago. But that translates into eight months since he has driven an F1 car in anger, not to mention the fact he’s never tried out the 2020 iteration. A sleepless night on Thursday where Racing Point hurriedly conducted a seat fitting and gave him some simulator time has translated into three decent practice sessions and a fairly good qualifying…
- Hulkenberg qualified 13th which doesn’t sound too impressive in one of the quickest cars in the field. But he only trailed his team mate by 0.065s in that Q2 segment where both the pink cars struggled for grip and balance.Although Lance Stroll scraped through to Q3 and wound up sixth, there hasn’t been much to choose between them thus far this weekend.
- Racing Point Team
- Principal Otmar Szafnauer was in good spirits – all things considered – when he caught up with F1.com’s Senior Writer Lawrence Barretto earlier.He has confirmed that Perez still feels well, and reckons that a podium might be on the cards for Stroll.
- As for Hulkenberg, Szafnauer thinks points are highly likely and admits he’s been very impressed with the German so far this weekend…
Hamilton impresses at his home trackMeanwhile, right at the front of the grid, a certain Lewis Hamilton picked up where he left off in Hungary with another scintillating lap to put his W11 on pole. He is the only driver to score seven poles at his home race, and while his beloved fans aren’t able to be here, he is sure putting on a show for them nonetheless.
- Hamilton grabbed pole by an astonishing three tenths of a second from his team mate, underlying how good his last lap really was. A new track record to boot, it came despite an earlier spin for the world champion who had looked to be struggling in the windy conditions. Will any of that fallibility work its way into today, or has Hamilton found his rhythm round here? Valtteri Bottas will be one driver very much hoping for more of the former and less of the latter.
- The pit lane is now open, and the cars are starting to make their way to the grid…
- If you want to see something incredible, here’s a look at how Hamilton’s pole lap compared to his one from all the way back in 2013.
As for the Bulls, they had a very mixed day. Alex Albon missed most of FP3 with an electrical issue and the lack of running cost him dear as he exited in the second part of qualifying. As for Max Verstappen, he grabbed P3 on the grid which sounds great until you look at the time gaps. He finished a full second shy of Hamilton’s pole lap, but is hopeful of closing that gap with slightly better race pace…
The midfield hots upRacing Point have looked the quickest this season but they fell back somewhat yesterday. So step forward… Ferrari, with Charles Leclerc putting his SF1000 into fourth place. But does he have the race pace to keep it there? The jury is out, with the Monegasque sounding confident, but McLaren behind scenting blood. 
Lando Norris lines up fifth after a brilliant last lap in qualifying. With team mate Carlos Sainz not that much further back in seventh, can those two split strategies and try to undercut the Ferrari?
One thing to factor in here is starting tyres. The medium compound looks a much better race tyre, and the Mercedes boys, Verstappen, Leclerc and Stroll all start on the C2 rubber. The likes of McLaren, Renault and even Sebastian Vettel in the other Ferrari start on the soft…
- BREAKING NEWS
- It looks like Racing Point are struggling with Hulkenberg’s car here – he is still in the pits and the pit exit has closed, meaning it could well be a pit lane start for the German…
- More on that as soon as we can. For now, looking to Vettel, he has had a below par weekend. Reliability issues, pedal issues, and just not feeling that the car is under him have all combined to leave him down the field in P10. Starting on those used softs, will he be vulnerable to those behind who have free tyre choice?
- Vettel remains somewhat of an enigma in the paddock for a number of reasons – and he of course remains without a drive still for next season. But what makes him tick? Give this a read to learn a bit more about the four-time world champion.
Hulkenberg to start from the pit lane?
It sounds like there were some issues starting Hulkenberg’s RP20. The team are working frantically on it at the moment, and the German has climbed out of the car. But can they identify anf fix the issues before lights out in just over twenty minutes time?
QUOTEIt’s such a shame we don’t have the fans, right now they’d be buzzing. The atmosphere isn’t the same, it doesn’t even feel like race day. It will be tricky today, it’s windy again – that’s why we’ve seen so many mistakes, the cars are so on edge and then a gust of wind and you lose it.
- George Russell, Williams
Russell handed a five-place grid dropGeorge Russell found himself in with the stewards last night, having to explain why he didn’t slow for yellow flags – ironically out for his team mate who had spun off at the end of Q1. They didn’t buy his explanations and dropped him to the back of the field. But given the apparent lack of pace in the FW43, that shouldn’t prove too costly.
The drivers head to the front of the grid…
The drivers have been continuing to discuss how best to continue F1’s efforts to end racism, and today they have lined up facing the grid as some choose to take a knee, with all united in showing their support by wearing an ‘End Racism’ T-Shirt.
