F1 Has Hit THIS LEAGUE Status. Let's Break Down the Absolute Chaos and Drama that was the British Grand Prix.

What a British Grand Prix. Today had all of the drama and racing action that make F1 one of the best soap operas in all of sports. This. Fucking. League. Let’s break it all down.

Zak Mauger. Shutterstock Images.

Going into today’s race, Max Verstappen, the championship leader, started in first place after winning the Sprint race yesterday. Sir Lewis Hamilton started the race in second place. Yesterday’s sprint race proved that Mercedes and Hamilton didn’t have the race pace to stay close to Verstappen and Red Bull. Hamilton finished a few seconds behind Verstappen and talked about how they needed something to change in order to compete with Verstappen and Red Bull during today's race. If Hamilton wanted to win his home Grand Prix, the start of the race and the first few laps were his best opportunity to make a move, before Verstappen had a chance to pull away and cruise to an easy victory. The lights went out to start the race and what happened next is going to be debated by F1 fans for decades.

First off, the fact that Verstappen was able to walk away from that crash which was registered as a 51G impact is truly incredible. Thankfully he was ok and despite being taken to the hospital out of precaution it appears that he is going to be ok. Driving race cars confirmed dangerous.

Now here is what everyone is going to debate: was this Hamilton’s fault or was it just a racing incident? Where does “rubbin’ is racing” start and end? Clearly, Verstappen wouldn’t have crashed if it wasn’t for the bump from Hamilton, but did Hamilton have the right to be there or should he have backed off to give Verstappen space to turn into the corner? It’s tough to say. The one thing that really doesn't help Hamilton in this situation is that he has a history of sticking the nose of his car in on corners when he's pretty far back from being alongside, which has caused two drivers to crash in the past.

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Everyone has an opinion on this, and it's very easy to say what you think should have been done, but this entire incident happened in the blink of an eye. They were both going around 160 mph into that corner so they don’t even have time to think. They were just racing and reacting. Verstappen has also made these exact types of moves in the past on other drivers. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Hamilton is obviously going to do everything he can to try and get ahead of Verstappen and Verstappen is going to do everything he can to shut the door on him. I see both sides here. I’m not a race director or a former driver, so what the fuck do I know in terms of the correct assessment of the situation, but what I do know is that it threw this entire race into chaos and it was unbelievable to watch it unfold.

Verstappen was out of the race and when it was all said and done, the F1 stewards gave Hamilton a ten-second time penalty in the race. When the race restarted, fan-favorite Charles Leclerc in his Ferrari was starting in first place with Hamilton right behind him carrying his ten-second penalty. So not only did Hamilton need to pass Leclerc but he also had to do so while serving his ten-second penalty during his pit stop later in the race.

It looked like it was completely over for Hamilton when the race restarted. Leclerc jumped out to a comfortable lead and after Hamilton served his penalty he was in fourth place, way behind Leclerc. But that’s when Hamilton did what Hamilton always seems to do in these situations, he put the hammer down and found a next level of pace that even his teammate in the same car couldn't find. He passed Lando Norris for third place with ease. Then next up was his teammate Valtteri Bottas, who of course got told by his team to move out of the way of Hamilton for what is maybe the hundredth time now in his five seasons at Mercedes. Then with the laps ticking down Hamilton started hunting down Leclerc.

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Leclerc was in a league of his own for the entire race. He had a comfortable lead and was managing the race perfectly to what would have been an incredible and unexpected victory for the team. The only problem was that Hamilton started putting in lap times that were a full second faster than Leclerc and that lead evaporated, quickly. 

Three laps to go, backmarkers holding up Leclerc, and Hamilton's finally caught up and is trying to pass for the win at his home Grand Prix despite the penalty and the crash at the beginning of the race. What a moment. chefs kiss

Hamilton passed for the lead at the same corner where he took out Verstappen and the crowd absolutely erupted. Leclerc ran wide and that was that, race over. Hamilton won, Leclerc finished second. Verstappen out of the race. 

Shout out to all of the stoolies who took the boosted bet on the Barstool Sportsbook. 

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Love or hate how it happened, Hamilton played chess, everyone else played checkers. Hamilton won twenty-five championship points, ran around the track waving his British flag in front of his home crowd of over 140,000 fans, then sprayed champagne on the top step of the podium and called it a day. All while Verstappen was in the hospital watching it all unfold. And let’s just say he was NOT HAPPY about it.

THIS LEAGUE. 

What seemed to be a pretty respectful rivalry between Verstappen and Hamilton throughout the season so far looks like it's going to turn into an all-out war to end the season. The episode about the British Grand Prix of Netflix's "Drive to Survive" seriously might win an Emmy. They made seasons where Hamilton and Mercedes ran away with the championships into the most drama-filled and captivating show. This year's show is going to be on a whole different level. Mark your calendars, Drive to Survive Szn 4 is going to be a MUST WATCH next year in February or March.

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Leaving this race, Verstappen's lead in the Driver's Championship is now down to eight points. Red Bull's lead in the Constructor's Championship is now down to four points after Bottas rounded out the podium in third place and Red Bull's second driver Sergio Perez had a miserable day finishing in sixteenth. Red Bull and Verstappen had the chance coming into today's race to start to run away with championships, but after today's race, we're back to neck and neck. Anything could happen, you love to see it. British Grand Prix in the books and it was one for the ages.

Lars Baron. Shutterstock Images.

The best part of all of this is that we're not even halfway through the season. We still have thirteen more races this season. The next time we'll see Verstappen and Hamilton line up against each other will be the Hungarian Grand Prix in two weekends on August 1st. Until then, there is going to be a TON of debate about the crash, the penalty, and whether or not you can celebrate a win while the other driver is in the hospital. Follow me on Twitter and we can talk all about today's race and all of the drama that unfolds over the next two weeks.

And finally LIGHTS OUT AND AWAY WE GO to the Hungarian Grand Prix on August 1st. There's no excuse to miss it. 

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