Chaos unfolded in the opening laps of the British Grand Prix after five drivers were forced to retire and the safety car was deployed twice at Silverstone.
Liam Lawson, Franco Colapinto, Gabriel Bortoleto, Isack Hadjar and Kimi Antontelli were forced out of the rain-sodden race – a double wipeout for Racing Bulls.
The black clouds rolled over the circuit for the start of the showpiece and Lawson was the first to limp back to the garage on the opening lap, having collided with Esteban Ocon and been squeezed by Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda.
Colapinto, who set off from the pit lane, then stalled out on track and was summoned back to the pits, while Bortoleto’s day was brought to an early end after his lime green Sauber veered off on its slick tyres and skidded onto the gravel.
There would be more carnage after Hadjar was effectively blinded by the thick spray behind Kimi Antonelli and crashed right into the back of the Mercedes. That contact sent him spinning over the stones and into the barrier, leading to a safety car.
Antonelli soon became the fifth retiree, hamstrung by visible floor damage.
Max Verstappen span after the safety car came in, blaming Oscar Piastri for slowing down suddenly before losing grip and slumping back down to ninth in the pack.
The virtual safety car was summoned twice early on, initially after the collision between Lawson and Ocon and then for Bortoleto after he smashed his rear wing.
Drivers gambled on their tyres as they looked to get ahead of the predicted rainfall. Charles Leclerc and George Russell bombed into the pits at the end of the formation lap to bolt on hards, while Hadjar and Bortoleto emerged with mediums.
But the heavens opened again on lap 13, leading to more carnage. Piastri had hung on doggedly to Verstappen’s rear wing and finally completed the overtake to move into the lead, while Lando Norris also outstripped the world champion after he ran wide.
Verstappen would return to move back into second after a slow pit stop for Norris.
The safety car was sent out a lap later after heavy rain drenched the track, reducing Piastri’s cavernous lead at the front. Leclerc comically went off after catching a large pool of water and going straight across the grass at Turn 12, emerging unscathed.
He soon complained over the radio that he could not see after water entered his visor.
More to follow.
