GP: British GP
Date: 18 July 2021
Winner: Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes
The world is in the grip of a pandemic, disrupting the F1 calendar.
By the time of the British GP, the spectators are back and in record numbers, 140 thousand wanting to find some light relief in dark times. The race proves to be memorable for several reasons.
Ferrari celebrates the 70th anniversary of its first world championship win, at Silverston on 14 July 1951, courtesy of Josè Froilan Gonzaeles; on the opening lap a high speed crash between Hamilton and Verstappen ends with Max's Red Bull buried in the barriers.
The title fight between the two is hotting up and it will run to the very last corner of the season. Apart from this, the 2021 British GP will be remembered for the first ever Sprint Race: an additional 100 kilometres of excitement and a major talking point that generates plenty of interest.
Back then it went by the name of Sprint Qualifying with only the top three finishers scoring points: on the day, Max Verstappen for Red Bull, and the Mercedes duo of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas.
The format is tweaked in 2023 and 2024, but like it or not, this mini-race is now part of the show.
In 2025 Pirelli will hit the 500 F1® Grands Prix mark during the season.
Legacy of Speed series looks back at the fifty most significant Grands Prix from Pirelli's time on the F1 World Championship trail.
