Carlos Sainz wins an action-packed 2022 F1 British GP as Max Verstappen suffers car damage

Carlos Sainz won an action-packed, incident-filled British GP as title contenders Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen ended up finishing off the podium. In a race that started with a horrible first-lap clash between Guanyu Zhou and George Russell, there was action, drama, a Red Flag stoppage, a safety car period that turned the race upside down but, most importantly, there was Carlos Sainz winning his first-ever race in F1.

The finishing order comprised of Sergio Perez crossing the checkered flag in second place, crowd favorite Lewis Hamilton in third, Charles Leclerc in fourth, and Fernando Alonso in an impressive fifth. They were followed by Lando Norris in P6, Max Verstappen nursing a damaged car iN P7, and Mick Schumacher scoring his first points in P8. Sebastian Vettel and Kevin Magnussen came home in P9 and P10, respectively.

In case you missed the race, here's what happened.

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2022 F1 British GP: Here's what happened!

#1 Race gets red-flagged after a horrible first-lap clash involving 5 cars

The British GP started in the worst way possible as George Russell, Guanyu Zhou, and Pierre Gasly crashed at the start of the race and it sent Zhou flying off the track. The race was red-flagged immediately with Alex Albon, Guanyu Zhou, and George Russell out of the race. Both Zhou and Albon, worse off from the clash, were taken to the hospital where they were deemed to be okay after multiple checks.

#2 Max Verstappen runs over a kerb and damages the car to finish P7

At one stage of the race, it looked certain that Max Verstappen would cruise to a win. He took advantage of Carlos Sainz's mistake and with it took over the lead. He even appeared to have pace in reserve compared to the Ferraris as well.

But it all went south when Verstappen ran over a kerb and damaged his Red Bull. Even after pitting for new tires, the car did not respond well as Verstappen appeared to have damage at the rear of the car. From that point onwards, victory was out of contention as the reigning world champion drove a damage-limiting race to finish P7 in the end.

#3 Ferrari suffers from a strategic disaster as Charles Leclerc is robbed of a certain win

If we look back at the British GP, Carlos Sainz winning the race would not be the story of the race. The story of the British GP will be Ferrari doing everything possible to make things worse for their lead driver Charles Leclerc. Once Max Verstappen was out of contention, Carlos Sainz was less than a second ahead of Charles Leclerc and struggling with his medium tires. Lewis Hamilton was third, almost five seconds behind.

Ferrari's reluctance to let Leclerc through, despite multiple pleas from the Monegasque, brought Hamilton within striking distance. Despite all of this and finally getting through Sainz after the first pit stops, Leclerc managed to build a sufficient lead to cruise to be the favorite to win the British GP. A late-race Safety Car due to Esteban Ocon's DNF put all of it to rest as Ferrari inexplicably left Leclerc out on old hard tires, while his teammate Sainz was brought in for fresh soft tires. When the SC period ended, Leclerc was a sitting duck as the Spaniard cruised past him. The Ferrari driver tried his best to hold off other drivers but the best Leclerc could manage was P4.

In terms of championship and trust within the team, this was a massive blow for Charles Leclerc.

#4 Sergio Perez drives through the field to finish second and Lewis Hamilton joins him on the podium

Sergio Perez once again proved his worth as he recovered from an early race disaster to score a podium. During the red flag restart, Perez damaged his front wing after hitting the rear of Leclerc's Ferrari. An early pit stop dropped the Red Bull driver down the order to second last and from that point onwards, Perez did a monumental stint on medium tires and climbed his way to P4.

It was at this stage that the Safety Car was brought out, which gave Perez a free pit stop. While everyone was focussing on Carlos Sainz, Charles Leclerc, and Lewis Hamilton, Sergio Perez was right behind the group on fresh soft tires and overtook Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc in an exciting wheel-to-wheel sequence.

Lewis Hamilton was in contention for the win all through the British GP during his fight with the Ferraris but after the Safety Car period, the Mercedes driver lost out to Perez which effectively cost him a shot at the win.

#5 Mick Schumacher scores his first points in F1 as he secured a P8 finish

In what was ultimately a surprise result for the team, Mick Schumacher was able to secure his first points in F1 with a P8 finish despite starting at the back of the grid. The German showed impressive pace throughout the race and even though he initially shadowed his teammate Kevin Magnussen, once it became clear that Mick Schumacher had the legs on him, the young driver was unleashed. It was a strong result for Haas and Mick Schumacher at the British GP as he was finally able to prove his worth to the team.

Overall, the race at Silverstone was as thrilling as it could be and it will be interesting to see how the season unfolds after it.