F1 British Grand Prix: Carlos Sainz leads after race delayed by crash – live updates

Lap 23/52: Hamilton closes in on Leclerc, narrowing the lead from 2.7secs to 2.1secs in the last lap. He couldn’t, could he? Sainz, now in third, has swapped to hard tyres.

Bottas retires

Lap 21/52: Sainz pits to leave Leclerc to inherit the lead, while a despondent Valtteri Bottas follows him in and calls it a day: mechanic problems. A bad afternoon for Alfa Romeo.

Lap 20/52: Hamilton is creeping to within undercut range of the Ferrari drivers. Sainz is told to push.

Edwin Imoesi writes in: “Does it make me a bad person, that I am happy that Max may not win this race?” Of course not Edwin, petty armchair hostility is the very lifeblood of sports fandom!

Lap 17/52: So then, we have the two Ferrari drivers in first and second, with Leclerc not happy about being stuck behind his teammate. Meanwhile Hamilton, in third, sets another fastest lap. He’s up for this one.

Lap 15/52: More from the Red Bull radio: “You have less rear aerodynamic load, but there’s nothing we can do about it.” At the top, Leclerc has DRS on Sainz and is not letting up. is Hamilton sets fastest lap.

Updated at 11.22 EDT

Lap 14/52: And it looks like the issue with Verstappen’s car hasn’t been entirely fixed. He’s told over the radio that isn’t bodywork damage: “Not critical, but you will suffer performance loss”. “This car is 100% broken,” yelps Verstappen. Well well well.

Updated at 11.22 EDT

Lap 14/52: The top six: Sainz, Leclerc, Hamilton, Norris, Alonso, Verstappen

Lap 12/52: Sainz regains the lead! Verstappen, coasting in the lead, is in big trouble – it looks like a puncture – and, smoke billowing from under his car, is overtaken by Sainz, who can’t believe his luck. Verstappen trundles into the pits and emerges in sixth. Drama!

Lap 11/52: The two Alpha Tauris of Tsunoda and Gasly step on each other’s toes and go spinning into oblivion, both tumbling down the order. What happened there?

Lap 10/52: Bad mistake from Sainz, who for no apparent reason goes way off track going round a simple corner. The ice-cold Verstappen pounces, zipping around the Spaniard and into first place, with Leclerc hungrily eyeing second.

Lap 8/52: Verstappen too is battling hard to keep the gap at the front at around the half-second mark. Hamilton, meanwhile, is on the tail of Leclerc.

Lap 6/52: Leclerc is doing his best to hunt down Verstappen, the gap between them a tight half a second. Perez comes out of the pits, but emerges back in 16th. Is the his race run?

Lap 5/52: Perez pits to fix the damage on his car. Hamilton roars past Norris to claim fourth.

Lap 4/52: Norris did well to overtake Hamilton, who remains hard on his tail. Sainz is a second ahead of Verstappen at the front.

Go, Go, Go Photograph: Christian Bruna/EPA

Updated at 11.05 EDT

Lap 3/52: Sainz holds off immense pressure from Verstappen going into corner one and keeps his nerve to eek out some daylight between him and the chasing pack. There’s contact between Perez and Leclerc, with the former’s front wing looking damaged. Hamilton has dropped to sixth.

Right then, let’s try this again. It will be a standing start. And Sainz, happily reinstated to pole, begins with a brand new set of medium compounds.

George Russell first on scene to assist. Photograph: Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty Images

George Russell is annoyed he can’t join the restart – his car is fine bar a tyre puncture but official rules state that once you have received assistance you’re out of the race.

Moment of impact with the safety fence. Photograph: Tim Goode/PA All safety factors worked to protect driver and the fans. Photograph: Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty Images

Updated at 10.59 EDT

The grid for the restart

1 Carlos Sainz, Ferrari2 Max Verstappen, Red Bull3 Charles Leclerc, Ferrari4 Sergio Perez, Red Bull5 Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes6 Lando Norris, McLaren7 Fernando Alonso, Alpine8 Nicholas Latifi, Williams9 Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri10 Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo11 Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri12 Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren13 Esteban Ocon, Alpine14 Kevin Magnussen, Haas15 Sebastian Vettel, Aston Martin16 Mick Schumacher, Haas17 Lance Stroll, Aston Martin

Updated at 10.53 EDT

Controversially, it looks like the drivers will restart in grid order, which puts Verstappen – who had moved past Sainz in the early moments – back to second and Hamilton, who was third when the red flag came out, back to fifth. Russell’s retirement has been confirmed. The race will resume in 10 minutes.

It looks like the protesters were from Just Stop Oil, and a group of them were sat down in the middle of the Silverstone track at the point the red flag came out.

Protesters removed from track

FIA: “We also confirm that after the red flag, several people attempted to enter the track. These people were immediately removed and the matter is now being dealt with by the local authorities.”

Protesters on the Silverstone track are moved by marshals. Photograph: Sky Sports F1

Updated at 10.53 EDT

An official statement has said: “The FIA advises that following the start of the race, emergency crews were immediately in attendance and the drivers of Car 23 (Albon) and Car 24 (Zhou) have been taken to the medical centre. Both drivers were conscious and will be evaluated at the medical centre. Further updates will be given in due course.”

We’re finally seeing replays of the incident and it was a truly terrifying crash: Russell – who had made a poor start – moved left trying to cut off Gasly, who ducked back to leave the Mercedes driver to veer into the side of Zhou. The impact flipped Zhou’s car, which was sent skittering, upside down, all the way to the catch fencing, which the car bounced up and smashed into. Thankfully he is OK (which is why we’re now being given the replays). Vettel, trying to swerve the crash, went into the back of Albon, who in turn hit Ocon. Mayhem.

The halo proves it’s importance Photograph: Frank Augstein/AP

Updated at 10.44 EDT

The Mercedes team are now scuttling around George Russell’s car, with apparent hope of getting it fixed before the restart. Surely not…? Alex Albon has joined Zhou in the medical centre; both drivers are conscious.

It’s hard to know what happened there, but it was certainly major crash going into the high-speed first Abbey corner involving Albon, Ocon, Russell, Tsunoda and Zhou, whose car rolled over. Hamilton, by the way, got away brilliantly and had moved up to third and Latifi up to eighth. All drivers are now in the pits, awaiting the restart.

Guanyu Zhou receives medical treatment Photograph: Frank Augstein/AP

Updated at 10.29 EDT

Word from the track is that Zhou Guanyu is OK. He has been stretchered out of his car and into an ambulance, but he is conscious and moving. Good news.

Good news from the circuit after a major crash. Photograph: Frank Augstein/AP

Updated at 10.23 EDT

Lap 1/52: Albon is also out, while Tsunoda and Ocon look to have damage. The concern at the moment is for Zhou, with the recovery team attending to the driver.

Russell, Zhao and Albon all out

Lap 1/52: We’re under way – and the cars have barely left the grid before we see a huge crash. George Russell hits Zhou and spins out out going into turn one. Zhou’s car turns over. Red flag.

Guanyu Zhou is safely out of the car and well. Photograph: Frank Augstein/AP Cars crash at the start of the British Formula One Grand Prix . Photograph: Frank Augstein/AP Alfa Romeo driver Guanyu Zhou of China crashes at the start of the British Formula One Grand Prix Photograph: Frank Augstein/AP

Updated at 10.22 EDT

Verstappen has opted to start on soft tyres, in contrast with most other drivers who have gone with mediums. It looks like he wants to start aggressively and make early headway.

Panic over at Ferrari: the electronic control unit – without which the car wouldn’t start – has been successfully replaced. Leclerc breathes easy. And the drivers head off for the formation lap.

How they start

1 Carlos Sainz, Ferrari2 Max Verstappen, Red Bull3 Charles Leclerc, Ferrari4 Sergio Perez, Red Bull5 Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes6 Lando Norris, McLaren7 Fernando Alonso, Alpine8 George Russell, Mercedes9 Guanyu Zhou, Alfa Romeo10 Nicholas Latifi, Williams11 Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri12 Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo13 Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri14 Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren15 Esteban Ocon, Alpine16 Alexander Albon, Williams17 Kevin Magnussen, Haas18 Sebastian Vettel, Aston Martin19 Mick Schumacher, Haas20 Lance Stroll, Aston Martin

Right, down to business. And it seems like Leclerc’s car has been undergoing some panicked last-minute work, with the mechanics seemingly changing an electronic box on the right side. Late issues for Ferrari? We’ll keep an eye on it.

Among the spectators at Silverstone is Tom Cruise. I’m sure he’d agree that there are a few good men on the grid today but Verstappen – a driver without limits – is far and away the favourite. Another victory for the Red Bull maverick would render Leclerc collateral damage, with his titles hopes facing oblivion. As for Hamilton – a legend here – first place looks near enough mission impossible but a podium finish could be within reach if he pulls out all the right moves, which could involve some risky business. Let’s just hope there’s no rain, man.

Show us the money. Photograph: Clive Mason/Getty Images

Updated at 09.47 EDT

Carlos Sainz speaks: “I am enjoying it a lot, especially with the crowd. It’s really special, I’m trying to enjoy the moment. We’re all going to send it into turn one. Lap one is very tricky here, there are many fights all the way to turn nine as people know … I hope we get a clean one.”

And lastly, an in-depth interview with George Russell, who is out to best his teammate today:

… a full report on yesterday’s dramatic qualifying:

Next, a nice meaty profile of Checo Perez, who right now is Mexico’s greatest sporting hope:

Some pre-race reading. First, Giles Richards on the bleak events of the previous week – and Hamilton’s laudable response to them:

Preamble

The week that was: Nelson Piquet uses a racist slur about Lewis Hamilton. Former Lotus president Gerard Lopez – a friend of Vladimir Putin and major Tory donor – faces charges of forgery in Luxembourg criminal court. And Bernie Eccleston says he would “take a bullet” for Putin, that the war in Ukraine is “unintentional” and that Hamilton could have “brushed aside” Piquet’s remarks. Sport, eh?

After a deeply dismaying few days, then, it was nice to return to drama of a more pantomime variety yesterday at Silverstone, where the presence of Max Verstappen – arch-nemesis of local hero Hamilton – was met by a hearty chorus of jeers from a hostile crowd who are yet to forget Abu Dhabi. This sort of juvenile nonsense, I think we can all agree, is very much the upside of big sport.

Not that our Max saw it that way. “If they want to boo they do that, they all have their own opinions, I don’t care,” he huffed, not entirely convincingly, perhaps after being told by a minion that the crowd were actually shouting “Red Booooo-ull”.

But Verstappen had other reasons to sulk, not least the fact that pole position had been snatched from his grasp by the brilliant Carlos Sainz during a thrilling last lap in the Northamptonshire drizzle, doing the business by a tight 0.072secs. The Spaniard pushed Verstappen to the limit in Montreal last week and his place in the front row today represents another tricky hurdle for the title favourite, who currently sits a tidy 46 points clear in the drivers’ standings.

If that sounds like fair old distance, well, it is exactly how far ahead of Verstappen Charles Leclerc was after the season’s first three races. The Monégasque – now behind both Verstappen and Perez in the standings – will be desperate to reassert his title credentials today after enduring a hiding to nothing last week, when he finished fifth after starting from the back due to grid penalties.

As for the local golden boy, things are finally picking up after a testing start to the season. Hamilton was fighting for the front row throughout much of yesterday’s qualifying, with Mercedes’ recent upgrades seeming to have helped. “Oh man, I was having so much fun out there,” he beamed afterwards. Perhaps only the very most optimistic fans could hope for a Hamilton victory today – but a podium finish would certainly go down a treat at Silverstone. Either way, this should be fun.

Lights out 3pm BST.

New RedBull pit boss? Photograph: Mark Thompson/Getty Images

Updated at 09.28 EDT