Six-time defending world champion Lewis Hamilton limped across the finish line with a punctured tire to win the 2020 British Grand Prix. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen claimed second and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was in the third and final podium position.
Hamilton held the pole position and his Mercedes teammate, Valtteri Bottas, was in second entering the race, and with Hamilton running away at the race start with Bottas behind him, the pair were seemingly on their way to yet another 1-2 Mercedes snoozefest as Verstappen and Leclerc were non-competitive in the third and fourth positions.
But on Lap 50, everything changed as Bottas suffered a tire puncture at the beginning of the lap and was forced to limp around much of the track with his tire shredding along the way before he could get his ailing car into the pit for the final two laps – dropping him to 11th place overall.
Then – midway through his final lap – Hamilton’s tire suffered the same fate – and he had to limp around half the track with Verstappen closing in from behind with non-punctured tires. Hamilton’s 30-plus second lead evaporated and he was only able to stay in front of the charging Verstappen by a few seconds at the end.
Nico Hulkenberg, who substituted for Racing Point’s Sergio Perez after Perez was unable to start the race when he tested positive for the Covid-19 coronavirus, did not start the race as Racing Point had technical issues with his car’s power unit.
2020 British Grand Prix Top 10
1] Lewis Hamilton Mercedes
2] Max Verstappen Red Bull
3] Charles Leclerc Ferrari
4] Daniel Ricciardo Renault
5] Lando Norris McLaren
6] Esteban Ocon Renault
7] Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri
8] Alexander Albon Red Bull
9] Lance Stroll Racing Point
10] Sebastian Vettel Ferrari