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Racing- it’s a hard game: F1 at Silverstone

Lewis Hamilton Silverstone

Racing- it’s a hard game as seen in Formula One British Grand Prix at Silverstone at the weekend. Passions ran at all time high from Friday’s Practice and Qualifying sessions, through to first running of 17 lap Sprint Race which determined pole for 52 Lap Race on Sunday. Results count for everything. Stakes are ultimately high as can be with points accumulated pushing drivers and Teams towards claiming FIA Formula One World Championship by end of season.

Lewis Hamilton wins Formula One British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

Racing delivered more than pure entertainment. Competitive forces between F1 Overall leader Max Verstappen, Red Bull Honda Racing, and 7x F1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, reached fever pitch on track. In battle of wills, both drivers executed human trait of fighting for the win with Hamilton taking 1st position in Qualifying, while Max responded by taking pole in Sprint Race heading into main Race on Sunday.

Taken in broader perspective, winning anything pushes individuals to dig deep, to find courage and instinct to pull off actions when needed- all the while faced with equally committed opposition. Such rare attributes test boundaries on strategies to win races, shifting drivers and Teams focus on making every move count on the track within regulations allowed.

Formula One British Grand Prix provided stimulus for ramping up approach to battling the best of the best on track. Right from new format of Practice through to Qualifying prior to Sprint Race on Saturday, there were elements of drivers and Teams mind-sets working to make best results possible heading into main Race on Sunday.

New format in Sprint Race meant, racing over 17 laps to determine pole for Sunday, with less fuel in tank, no pit-stops and different strategies for tyre management. More so, Teams had less time to set-up cars from Friday, with drivers pitting skills of deference to the test on how to make changes of format advantageous for results.

Max Verstappen takes pole in Formula One Sprint Race at British Grand Prix.

If racing involves two sides of the same coin- Formula One World Championship providing the races at venues as iconic as Silverstone, and drivers and Teams providing the expertise on ‘how to win on the track’- each side prompts raising the bar of racing in Motorsport.

Each side tests the boundaries of performance, one challenges structures of Formula racing to make F1 Rounds spectacle for fans watching, and the other, challenges the dynamic relationship between driver-race-car-and Team to deliver highest possible performance on track.

Shifts of perspective have prompted Formula racing evolvement as seen at F1 British Grand Prix. The new race format not only made Qualifying for pole an actual Sprint race, but in doing so altered the mind set of drivers and Teams who have been used to putting in hot lap, then having option of pitting to re-group. Such a change, shifts the energy for all involved, bringing out different race strategies to win, based on human traits of passion, courage and commitment to make results count.

That is the real piece de resistance of F1 British Grand Prix at Silverstone, July 16-18.

Words: Sharon Cox.

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