There is certainly no other F1 race like the British Grand Prix, despite fears over its future beyond 2019.
The weekend threw up plenty of drama from an unpredictable first part of qualifying to an interesting race, which was won by Lewis Hamilton with a bizarre ending seeing his teammate finish second.
Despite the clouds playing mind games with teams all weekend, there were still five things to learn from this weekend.
Williams in trouble
After a great 2014-16 period, Williams have worryingly slumped back to 2013 levels with some mediocre results.
Last weekend, I questioned whether the upgrade was doing some harm and after their performance this weekend, I fear that I might of been right given their poor qualifying session for second weekend running.
The race saw electrifying starts from both Felipe Massa and Lance Stroll so the upgrade clearly works in race conditions but not in qualifying.
Personally, I think Williams need to try and find a trade off so can qualify better and maintain their strong race pace. Otherwise the upgrade has to go because it could leave them with too much to do on Sundays.
Hope for McLaren
The new spec 3 engine for McLaren is clearly working (reliability aside) given the remarkable improvement in pace from both drivers.
Qualifying certainly is bound to have installed some belief in the car with Stoffel Vandoorne qualifying in eighth place on the grid. Unfortunately, a 30 place grid penalty meant Fernando Alonso would be starting at back no matter what.
That penalty didn’t dampen Alonso’s spirits as he took an utter masterstroke in terms of tyres at end of Q1. With two minutes left, he switched from intermediates to super softs and just beat the chequered flag to start what would ultimately be the fastest lap of Q1.
Race day saw a valiant effort from Vandoorne to get some points but got unlucky against Massa’s Williams. Alonso sadly suffered another retirement with no power.
All in all, a decent weekend with plenty of positives to take into Hungary despite Alonso starting the race at back before carving his way through to.
Renault on roll
The past two weekends have seen Renault make some strides in the midfield battle.
Austria saw Nico Hulkenberg show plenty of pace, which was again on show around Silverstone with fifth place on the grid. The qualifying result also is Renault’s best since they returned to F1 in 2016.
Jolyon Palmer experimented last weekend during the race with Hulkenberg’s style, which nearly paid off with eleventh place and just outside the points. This weekend saw some similar progress with a strong qualifying session to just miss out on Q3 at his home race.
Sadly, he retired with hydraulics problems on the formation lap but hopefully that doesn’t mark the end of his F1 career if reports of Carlos Sainz J.r’s move from Toro Rosso are true.
Wild Kvyat
Daniil Kvyat needs to sort out his driving aggression because of late, he seems to be rather erratic in terms of on track behaviour.
Today’s race saw him get on the grass and accidentally dumps his teammate, Sainz out early on.
That isn’t the first time this season that the Russian has been involved in incidents so he needs to try and settle down.
With the constructor championship’s midfield battle so tight, Toro Rosso can’t afford both drivers to be colliding and losing potential point finishes.
Daring Daniel
After engine issues in qualifying left him in 19th on grid, Daniel Ricciardo has to be driver of the day.
Early stages of the race saw him nearly hit the points before a mistake sent him back down the field. He however didn’t let that stop him pushing up through the field before pitting.
After that pit stop, the Australian continued to fly and took both Force India with ease. Hulkenberg however was tougher but Ricciardo eventually came home fifth with a late overtake.
Easily has to be Ricciardo’s greatest ever drive without a doubt.
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