F1 Paddock Notebook - British GP Sunday

With a final round-up from Silverstone following Sunday’s British Grand Prix, Crash.net F1 Editor Luke Smith brings you his paddock notebook.

- Sebastian Vettel recorded his 51st F1 victory on Sunday at Silverstone, drawing level with Alain Prost for third in the all-time record list. One more win will put Vettel clear, only trailing Michael Schumacher (91) and Lewis Hamilton (65) in the record list.

- It only marked Vettel’s second victory at Silverstone, coming nine years after his maiden success at the track with Red Bull. Vettel became the first non-Mercedes winner at Silverstone since 2012 when then-teammate Mark Webber won the race.

- The result also ended Lewis Hamilton’s winning streak at Silverstone which dated back to 2013. Hamilton recovered from an opening lap clash with Kimi Raikkonen to finish the race second, 2.2 seconds behind Vettel at the chequered flag.

- Raikkonen received a 10-second time penalty for the collision, which he served at his first pit stop. Race director Charlie Whiting said he couldn’t comment on the penalty as the stewards awarded it, with consistency being questioned as Vettel received a five-second time penalty for his clash with Valtteri Bottas in France. Raikkonen also received two points on his FIA Super Licence, taking him up to five for the 12-month period.

- Raikkonen was nevertheless able to recover to P3 come the chequered flag, passing a struggling Bottas in the closing stages to leave his compatriot P4.

- Daniel Ricciardo finished fifth after failing to challenge the front runners throughout the race. The Australian was frustrated by Red Bull’s decision to pit him just before the Safety Car was called as the team tried to cover Raikkonen, saying “it would have been nice to get some warning”.

- Nico Hulkenberg was able to convert an excellent opening lap into a charge for P6 for Renault, going on a Medium-Hard one-stop strategy. He led home Esteban Ocon in P7 for Force India, who jumped McLaren in the constructors’ championship with the result.

- McLaren’s only points came courtesy of Fernando Alonso in P8. Alonso was left fuming over the team radio at the end of the race after a run-in with Kevin Magnussen when battling late on, but the stewards did not deem there to be anything in it. Magnussen finished the race ninth for Haas, recovering from a first-lap run-in with teammate Romain Grosjean.

- Sergio Perez picked up the final point on offer after Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly was hit with a post-race penalty for causing a collision, having barged past the Force India driver in the closing stages. Gasly was classified 13th as a result behind Stoffel Vandoorne and Lance Stroll, and called the decision “bullshit” on Twitter.

- Max Verstappen was classified in 15th for Red Bull despite failing to finish, having suffered a brake-by-wire failure. The issue had been brewing from early in the race before forcing him to retire with six laps to go.

- Sauber was hit with €5,000 fine for the unsafe release of Charles Leclerc during the race, having failed to attach his right-rear tyre properly. Leclerc had been running in the points prior to the incident after his first pit stop.

- Brendon Hartley’s race last just one lap following his pit lane start as a technical issue forced Toro Rosso to park him up, ending a tough weekend on a low note.

- Ahead of the race at Silverstone, Honda confirmed it would be taking two new power unit parts on Hartley’s car given his pit lane start. Hartley’s car was fitted with a new internal combustion engine (his sixth of the season) and a new MGU-K (fifth) before the race.

- Both Williams cars were required to start from the pit lane after a change in technical specification following qualifying. Lance Stroll’s car had a new rear wing, engine cover wing and left-hand-side cooling panel; Sirotkin took the same, plus a new front wing and nose assembly.

- In an overnight change following England’s FIFA World Cup quarter-final victory, a giant British flag was painted in parc ferme with the words “It’s Coming Home” written through the middle of the Union Jack.

- Silverstone reported a four-day attendance of 340,000, with 140,500 turning up for race day.