6 Winners and 5 Losers from the British Grand Prix – Who shone at Silverstone?

Silverstone delivered an epic race that left some jumping for joy, and others keen to quickly turn their attention to Austria. We’ve picked out six winners and five losers from the British Grand Prix...

Winner: Carlos Sainz

Carlos Sainz got the win he’s long deserved with assertiveness both on track (in his defence of the lead from Max Verstappen) and on team radio (when he firmly debated team strategy calls).

In doing so, he becomes the second Spanish driver to win a Grand Prix, following Fernando Alonso, and ends a run of 149 races before his first victory – a streak beaten only by Sergio Perez who won on his 190th start.

It was Sainz’s sixth podium of the season, compared to team mate Charles Leclerc’s four, and moves him ahead of George Russell into fourth in the drivers’ standings, 54 points off the championship lead.

2022 British Grand Prix: Carlos Sainz takes maiden Formula 1 race victory at Silverstone

Loser: Charles Leclerc

Charles Leclerc has always gone well at Silverstone – and it was looking good for him to take his first victory since Melbourne back in April.

But by staying out during a late Safety Car, with Sainz, Lewis Hamilton and Sergio Perez all pitting for fresh softs, he was left exposed and while he fought valiantly, fourth was the best he could do.

While he has finished fourth or better in his last five races at Silverstone, he has now failed to make the podium in any of the last five events this year.

NORTHAMPTON, ENGLAND - JULY 03: Charles Leclerc of Monaco and Ferrari looks on in parc ferme during — Leclerc was leading the race, but dropped to P4 at the flag

Winner: Sergio Perez

This was a fine comeback for Perez considering he was 17th on lap six, having broken his front wing after contact with Leclerc.

But he fought his way through the field impressively – and showed supreme pace on the soft tyres in the final stint, coming out on top in a fight with Leclerc and Hamilton.

This was only his second top-eight finish at Silverstone in the last 10 years – and his fourth podium in five races.

NORTHAMPTON, ENGLAND - JULY 03: Second placed Sergio Perez of Mexico and Oracle Red Bull Racing — From dead last, to the podium – a great drive from Perez

Loser: Max Verstappen

Max Verstappen had the pace to win his sixth race in seven races – and put himself into that position when he snuck past leader Sainz after the Ferrari driver ran wide.

But hitting a piece of debris caused a lot of damage to his Red Bull – and while he continued, seventh was the best he could do. It meant his three closest competitors – Perez, Leclerc and Sainz – made ground on him in the championship, but it could have been far worse.

Winner: Lewis Hamilton

For the first time since last year’s title deciding Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Hamilton was in contention for a Grand Prix win. He led his first laps of the season – and demonstrated the pace to heap the pressure on Ferrari.

Ultimately, he finished third – scoring consecutive podium finishes for the first time in 2022 while also setting a new record of 13 podium finishes at Silverstone – the record for one track. He’s now finished in the top three in his last 10 Silverstone starts.

NORTHAMPTON, ENGLAND - JULY 03: Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain driving the (44) Mercedes AMG — For the first time this season, Hamilton was in contention for victory at Silverstone

Loser: George Russell

Russell was full of hope and expectation ahead of his home race, so improved had Mercedes looked on the smooth sweeping turns of Silverstone.

But he retired on the first lap for the first time in his career, following contact at the start, and that ends his run of finishing every race this year in the top five.

He leapt out of the car to see if Zhou was OK after his crash, but when he returned to his Silver Arrow, he couldn’t get it restarted. As a result, his race was over – with Russell reckoning he could have fought back to sixth had he been able to rejoin.

MONDAY MORNING DEBRIEF: Binotto says there was ‘no way’ for Leclerc to win the British GP after the Safety Car – but is he right?

Winner: Mick Schumacher

This was Mick Schumacher’s best race performance since he made his Formula 1 debut last year, the German rebounding from a poor qualifying – not helped by a steering issue – which left him 19th on the grid.

In the race, he managed his tyres well and gradually worked his way up the order, pitting for softs during the Safety Car and remerging in 10th. He scooped up two positions and harried Verstappen’s Red Bull before crossing the line eighth.

NORTHAMPTON, ENGLAND - JULY 02: Mick Schumacher of Germany driving the (47) Haas F1 VF-22 Ferrari — Points at last for Mick Schumacher

Losers: Williams

It was a relief to hear from Alex Albon on Sunday evening, the Thai driver confirming he was OK and released from hospital after precautionary checks, having been pitched into the pitwall by Sebastian Vettel on the run down to Turn 1.

There was significant damage to the car, which was the only one to have the upgrade on this weekend, but the team say they will get it repaired and head to Austria next week with “some useful momentum”.

His team mate Nicholas Latifi spent a fair amount of the race in points, but he ran wide at Turn 9 which damaged the floor and he then struggled to keep pace with the top 10.

NORTHAMPTON, ENGLAND - JULY 03: An FIA Medical Delegate checks on Alexander Albon of Thailand — Albon was caught up in a big crash on Lap 1

Winner: Fernando Alonso

This was one of Fernando Alonso’s most imposing drives, the Spaniard attacking inside the top-five places before crossing the line fifth – the team’s best result of the season.

In seeing the chequered flag, Alonso broke Kimi Raikkonen’s record of 92,596km driven in Grands Prix, while also helping Alpine to slash the gap to McLaren to six points in the fight for P4 in the constructors’ championship.

The upgrade worked well, too, with Alonso saying he felt more competitive in Silverstone than at any other track this season, which bodes well for the rest of the year.

Losers: Alfa Romeo

That Zhou Guanyu escaped unharmed from a huge crash at Silverstone is testament to how much safety has improved over the years – with the Chinese driver already fit to race in Austria according to his boss Fred Vasseur.

2022 British Grand Prix: Zhou Guanyu conscious but taken away in ambulance following huge crash at race start

It was tough on Zhou – who was pitched into the barrel roll – given he had qualified a fine ninth and was in good shape to score points for the second successive race.

His team mate Valtteri Bottas was in contention for a strong top 10 finish too, but a gearbox issue forced his retirement. That meant Alfa Romeo failed to score for the third time this season.

Winner: Sebastian Vettel

Not only did Sebastian Vettel get to drive Nigel Mansell’s famous Red 5 FW14B, which the German now owns, around Silverstone using carbon neutral fuel, but he also climbed nine places from 18th to score points.

A nice way to spend his 35th birthday with the four-time world champion having now scored three times in the last four races to secure a tally five times that of his team mate Lance Stroll.

HIGHLIGHTS: Watch the action from a brilliant British Grand Prix, as Sainz seals maiden Grand Prix victory