Checo Pérez finished 17th in the British Grand Prix, in a race to forget

It rained on wet ground Checo Pérez (Red Bull) in the Formula 1 British Grand Prixwhich ran in Silverstoneand which marked the return to triumph of the British Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) after his last victory achieved in Saudi Arabia, in 2021.

The seven-time world champion achieved a historic day in Silverstonereaching nine victories on this circuit and being the driver with the most wins on a single track, with nine conquests; in addition, he reached 104 victories in Formula 1 and increased his legacy as the most successful driver of all time.

The Dutch Max VerstappenRed Bull’s triple world champion finished 1.465 seconds back, extending his lead to 84 points, with McLaren’s Lando Norris third after being overtaken four laps from the end.

Czech Perez He had a weekend to forget. After Saturday’s mistake in Q1, he finished 19th and ended up starting from the pit lane due to a power unit change. He was as high as 15th in the first part, before a change to intermediate tyres at the first appearance of rain turned out to be the wrong choice and put him out of contention. The Mexican finished two laps down in 17th position.

George Russell He maintained first place at the start followed by Hamilton, while Verstappen moved into third place by overtaking Norris in the first corners in a start where the vast majority opted for medium tyres.

Behind the top four, Oscar Piastri held onto fifth position and Nico Hulkenberg dropped from sixth to ninthbeing overtaken by Carlos Sainz, Lance Stroll and Charles Leclerc, who made good progress from 11th place on the grid.

Czech Perez He started the race from the pit lane on hard tyres and on the fourth lap he was 18th after overtaking Valtteri Bottas and earn a free position for the withdrawal of Pierre Gasly, who did not participate due to a failure in the gearbox of his Alpine.

With 10 laps completed out of the 52 planned, and with the expectation of rain close, Russell He was leading by just over a second and a half over H.amilton, who in turn was two seconds ahead of Verstappen, being closely followed by the McLarens of Norris and Piastri.

On the 16th lap, Norris managed to overtake Verstappen clearly on the Hangar straight and upon reaching Stowe, and then set a race record to move three seconds behind Hamilton and clear of the Red Bull driver.

Then the rain came, which Hamilton He took the opportunity to overtake Russell and then both went off track due to lack of grip into the asphalt run-off area at Chapel Corner, allowing Norris overtake Russell, while Verstappen fell behind Piastri.

Two laps later, the McLarens continued to advance, with Norris surpassing Hamilton and Piastri doing the same with Russell, and then beat the seven-time champions to give the Woking team a 1-2 lead.

Leclerc, seventh, he was the only driver in the top ten to go to the pits to change to intermediate tyres, something that Pérez also did from 15th position, but then the track dried quickly and they were completely off the pace, falling a lap down.

Norris, Meanwhile, he was leading on the 24th lap by a second and a half Piastri, who in turn had a similar difference with the Hamilton and Russell’s Mercedes, and Verstappen had to withstand the pressure of Sainz in a duel for fifth position.

The rain reappeared three laps later, and then the leaders decided to go to the pits to change to intermediates, but McLaren left Piastri with smooth roads one more lap and stopped on the next turn, which cost him dearly as he returned to the race sixth, 18 seconds behind his teammate.

In 30 laps completed, Norris He was leading by three seconds Hamilton, and Verstappen He was third, ten seconds behind the first, after having gone to the pits one lap before the leaders, which allowed him to overtake Russell. The Briton, however, would be called into the pits four laps later to retire from the race due to problems with the water system of his Mercedes W15.

The sun appeared shortly afterwards, prompting further pit stops to switch to intermediate tyres and return to slicks on all cars.

Czech Perez.webp

Mexican “Checo” Perez had a terrible weekend in Great Britain. He finished 17th out of 18 cars that finished in the competition.

@Red Bull

Hamilton He did it on lap 39 and Norris on the following lap, but the McLaren driver went slightly over his box, which extended his pit stop by two seconds and allowed the Mercedes driver to take the lead.

The first two were on soft tyres, while Verstappen chose the hard ones to finish the race and was five seconds behind Hamilton, setting the record with 1m29s472 with ten laps to go.

Verstappen continued at a good pace and approaching Norris until he was in the DRS zone with five laps to go in the Grand Prix, while Hamilton led by three seconds over his compatriot.

The three-time world champion overtook the McLaren driver on the outside going into Stowe on lap 48 to move into second and then set a race record of 1m28s952s to try to attack Hamilton in the final moments of the Grand Prix.

However, the seven-time world champion managed to keep Verstappen at bay to cross the line 1.465 seconds ahead of the Dutchman and thus regain victory in his home race.

Norris had to settle for third place, with Piastri and Sainz in the top five. The 2024 F1 season will continue on the weekend of July 19-21 at the Hungaroring circuit for the Hungarian Grand Prix

Verstappen leads the championship with 255 points, followed by Norris on 170. Leclerc is third on 150, four points ahead of Sainz, while Piastri (124) has overtaken Perez (118). Among the constructors, Red Bull has 373 points against 302 for Ferrari and 295 for McLaren.

The 2024 F1 season will continue on the weekend of July 19-21 at the Hungaroring circuit for the Hungarian Grand Prix.