70th Anniversary Grand Prix as it happened

Mercedes’ unbeaten run in Formula 1 was dramatically ended by Red Bull and Max Verstappen in the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix at Silverstone. This is how the race unfolded.

Before the start: Sixteen of the 20 cars will begin on medium tyres. Verstappen, Vettel, Kvyat and Raikkonen in fourth, 11th, 16th and 20th respectively are the exceptions on hards.

Start: Bottas holds the lead over Hamilton but has to resist several passing attempts at the first lap progresses.

Verstappen immediately jumps Hulkenberg for third as Stroll moves up to fifth ahead of Ricciardo.

Vettel spins at the first corner and tumbles to last.

Lap 1 order: 1 Bottas; 2 Hamilton; 3 Verstappen; 4 Hulkenberg; 5 Stroll; 6 Ricciardo; 7 Gasly; 8 Norris; 9 Albon; 10 Leclerc; 11 Sainz; 12 Ocon; 13 Magnussen; 14 Kvyat; 15 Giovinazzi; 16 Grosjean; 17 Russell; 18 Latifi; 19 Raikkonen; 20 Vettel

Edd Straw: “No surprise to see Hulkenberg losing a place at the start given that was his first ‘live’ race start in that car. In the circumstances, only losing a place to Verstappen counts as a success for him.”

Scott Mitchell: “Nightmare start for Vettel. Actually got a good getaway, alongside Albon into Turn 1, but Leclerc locked up ahead of him. Vettel backed out over the kerb, lost the rear and half-spun.

“He was really, really lucky not to get collected by anybody after half-catching his moment. Sainz did amazingly well to jink left and avoid contact!”

Lap 3: Vettel has passed Latifi and Raikkonen to get back up to 18th.

Lap 6: Albon comes in to make a very early switch from mediums to hards. He drops from ninth to last.

Edd Straw: “Albon was given the instruction to box ‘opposite Norris’. So that was a strategic pitstop designed to gain position with an undercut.”

Lap 7: Gasly follows by pitting from seventh. He rejoins still ahead of Albon.

Edd Straw: “So Albon has triggered a pitstop call by AlphaTauri to cover him.”

Lap 8: Giovinazzi and Russell also make very early pitstops to get rid of mediums.

Lap 8: Verstappen is hanging on within 2.5s of the leading Mercedes despite being on harder tyres.

Scott Mitchell: “Verstappen’s doing a good job of keeping the Mercedes drivers under pressure at the front. Making the hard tyre work for him and reducing the options for Bottas and Hamilton.”

Lap 9: Magnussen and Latifi are the next to make early pitstops. Vettel’s up to 13th as a result.

Edd Straw: “These early stops show why Ricciardo and Ocon are in a tricky position. They have only one set of hards available having used one on Friday. so lack strategic flexibility.”

Lap 10 gaps: 1 Bottas; 2 Hamilton +1.3s; 3 Verstappen +2.2s; 4 Hulkenberg +10;8s; 5 Stroll +12.8s; 6 Ricciardo +14.8s; 7 Norris +18.0s; 8 Leclerc +18.9s; 9 Sainz +22.8s; 10 Ocon +27.5s

Scott Mitchell: “Verstappen told he’s too close to Hamilton for his tyres. ‘Mate, this is the only chance to be this close to Mercedes, I’m not just sitting behind like a grandma!’ So, yeah…”

Lap 11: Verstappen is right on Hamilton’s tail as the world champion declares his tyres are fading fast.

Scott Mitchell: “Don’t think Hamilton’s exaggerating when he says the rears are finished. They look absolutely awful!”

Lap 12: Norris pits from seventh place, rejoining just ahead of highest-placed earlier-pitter Gasly.

Lap 13: Bottas pits from the race lead as Verstappen puts Hamilton under heavy pressure. Bottas rejoins sixth, just in front of Leclerc, having taken hards.

Lap 14: Hamilton now comes in, releasing Verstappen into the race lead. Ricciardo pits too from sixth.

Hamilton rejoins sixth, with Leclerc between him and Bottas. Ricciardo comes out 10th, with a cushion of Grosjean and Vettel before pre-pitstops rival Norris.

Lap 15: Hulkenberg pits from second and rejoins seventh as Bottas sets a new fastest lap of 1m30.971s.

Edd Straw: “For his first proper race stint in this car, that’s a good one from Hulkenberg. He’s held position ahead of the cars that were behind him in the first stint.”

Lap 15: Hamilton quickly passes the yet-to-pit Leclerc into Stowe.

Lap 15: Albon goes around the outside of Raikkonen at Stowe in a bold move to take 15th.

Lap 16: Bottas does another new fastest lap of 1m30.850s, a second quicker than leader Verstappen’s pace. He’s now third, 13s behind the Red Bull.

Lap 18: Stroll and Leclerc pit from second and fifth places. No change for Stroll overall as he rejoins behind Hulkenberg, while Leclerc drops to 12th between Norris and Gasly – which is a net gain as he trailed Gasly and Albon before the pitstops began.

Lap 19: Verstappen is now matching or slightly outpacing the Mercedes on most laps.

Lap 19: Leclerc puts a move on Norris to take what becomes 10th with Kvyat pitting. Just behind, Gasly and Albon are having a forceful battle.

Lap 20 gaps: 1 Verstappen; 2 Bottas +14.6s (1 stop); 3 Hamilton +17.2s (1 stop); 4 Sainz +28.8s; 5 Hulkenberg +29.6s (1 stop): 6 Stroll +31.7s (1 stop); 7 Ocon +35.5s; 8 Ricciardo +37.2s (1 stop); 9 Vettel +40.2s; 10 Leclerc +42.1s (1 stop)

Lap 21: Albon goes right around the outside of Gasly through Luffiel to take 12th.

Lap 22: Sainz, Ocon and Vettel all make their first pitstops. It’s a poor stop for Sainz.

Scott Mitchell: “Mercedes raising the possibility of a Verstappen one-stop. Tells Hamilton Max is the real threat, if so. That would seem a very bold move – Verstappen ruled that strategy out yesterday.

“But… ‘My tyres feel good mate, it’s all good,’ says Verstappen on Red Bull radio. Maybe that’s where the Mercedes musing has come from.”

Lap 23: Verstappen is now consistently outpacing the Mercedes and pulling away in the lead even though his tyres are much older.

Scott Mitchell: “Feisty from Vettel. He had wanted to extend his initial stint but was pulled in. Now he’s making it clear to Ferrari that the team’s messed up.”

Lap 23: Gasly has to make his second pitstop of the race already.

Edd Straw: “How far can Verstappen go on the hards? Well, last weekend Grosjean went furthest on that tyre (it was the medium then) and went 36 laps. But he hit 100% wear and 11 laps of that was under the safety car…”

Lap 25 lead gaps: 1 Verstappen; 2 Bottas +18.1s; 3 Hamilton +22.8s

Lap 26: Verstappen finally makes a pitstop. He takes mediums for this stint and rejoins right behind Bottas and ahead of Hamilton.

Lap 26: Ricciardo makes a second pitstop.

Edd Straw: “Ricciardo has been in, so he’s onto his hard set now. If he can make the tyres last as well as Verstappen then Renault may have got away with not having a second set of hards to use.”

Lap 27: Verstappen storms straight past Bottas down the inside of Brooklands to retake the lead.

Scott Mitchell: “It may be that this all ends in tears for Verstappen but he’s done a phenomenal job in that stint, extending the life of the tyres AND his lead. This is a straight fight vs Mercedes. And he leads it!”

Lap 29: Leclerc has been setting fastest race laps and is closing on Stroll for fifth.

Lap 29: Albon overtakes Norris for seventh into Copse, and Norris then makes a second pitstop.

Lap 30: Bottas now does a new fastest lap of 1m30.544s – but Verstappen, who leads by 2.3s, is only 0.001s slower on that lap!

Lap 30: Hulkenberg and Albon make second pitstops.

Lap 31: Red Bull tells Verstappen not to worry about tyre management and just go for it. He does a new fastest lap of 1m30.361s and inches his lead up to 2.4s.

Lap 31: Stroll makes a second pitstop. He rejoins still behind Hulkenberg in sixth. Leclerc is temporarily ahead of them in fourth having not made a second stop yet.

Scott Mitchell: “Ferrari’s race pace is looking decent. The conditions are clearly suiting some teams better than others, and on the hards Leclerc and Vettel seem to have the measure of those around them.”

Lap 31: Ricciardo spins while wheel to wheel with Sainz and drops from ninth to 12th.

Edd Straw: “That’s a very rare error from Ricciardo. But the strategy played a part on it as he was locked into a strategy that put him into congestion.”

Lap 32: Verstappen and Bottas both pit. They both take hards and rejoin 1.1s apart as Hamilton moves into what is likely to be a temporary lead.

Lap 33: Vettel makes a second pitstop and takes mediums. He rejoins behind Gasly in 14th.

Lap 35: Hamilton continues to stay out in the lead using the hard tyres he switched to on lap 14. He’s asking how bad his first set of tyres were after they came off the car.

Scott Mitchell: “This is brilliant. Are Hamilton and Mercedes really going to try to make a one-stop work, let alone succeed? And can Verstappen ‘react’ as Red Bull assures him he can if needed?”

Lap 36: Albon passes Ocon – who’s only pitted once – around the outside of Stowe to take seventh.

Lap 37: Albon does a new fastest lap of 1m30.103s. He’s seventh and hunting down a 15s gap to the Racing Points.

Lap 40 order: 1 Hamilton (1 stop); 2 Verstappen +8.8s (2 stops); 3 Bottas +12.2s (2 stops); 4 Leclerc + 13.9s (1 stop); 5 Hulkenberg +29.2s (2 stops); 6 Stroll +31.3s (2 stops); 7 Albon +44.1s (2 stops); 8 Ocon +56.1s (1 stop); 9 Norris +58.0s (2 stops); 10 Kvyat +1m04.6s (2 stops)

Lap 41: Hamilton pits from the lead, just as Red Bull orders Verstappen to raise his pace in case Mercedes is trying to one-stop Hamilton. Hamilton rejoins fourth behind Leclerc, who has been edging closer to Bottas but is expected to stop again, and 11s off the lead.

Lap 43: Hamilton is now charging and does a 1m28.451s fastest lap, which is 1.7s faster than Verstappen on that lap.

Lap 43 gaps: 1 Verstappen; 2 Bottas +5.0s; 3 Leclerc +8.2s; 4 Hamilton +9.6s

Scott Mitchell: “That’s a new fastest lap for Hamilton but he has two cars to clear and will need to maintain that speed to the end to have a chance of beating Verstappen, who may well have pace in reserve.”

Lap 44: Verstappen matches Hamilton’s pace on the next lap and stabilises the gap as Hamilton catches Leclerc.

Lap 44: Hulkenberg makes a third pitstop and drops from fifth to seventh – as he becomes the first person all race to take soft tyres.

Lap 45: Hamilton takes third from Leclerc into Stowe.

Lap 46: Hamilton laps 0.9s faster than Verstappen and 1.4s faster than Bottas as he resumes his chase for the lead. He’s 2s behind Bottas and 9s behind Verstappen.

Scott Mitchell: “Verstappen’s got this race won, fantastic job by Red Bull. But my focus is on Mercedes. Bottas is told they’re free to race. This could be fun.”

Lap 49: Hamilton catches Bottas and passes him down the National Straight, but he’s still 9s behind Verstappen.

Lap 49: Albon has caught Stroll and storms down the outside of the Racing Point to take fifth into Copse.

Lap 52: Verstappen secures victory by 11.3s over Hamilton to end Mercedes’ run.

Scott Mitchell: Three phenomenal performances in tyre management in this race – Verstappen, obviously, to win. And Leclerc and Ocon to finish fourth and eighth on a one-stop. A one-stop!

Race Results