Juan Pablo Montoya explains: This is how a Briton could have won the Silverstone GP

None of the local heroes in the F1 field managed to win the race at the venerable Silverstone Circuit. Instead, Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc triumphed in his Ferrari, with the regulations playing into his hands. This was because he crossed the finish line behind Bernd Mayländer’s safety car, which had been deployed after Max Verstappen’s race came to a premature end following a crash through no fault of his own.

And because the rules stipulate that a further lap must be completed after the cars have been brought back onto the track, there was no time left to restart the race. As a result, the Ferrari star’s rivals had no chance to mount a final attack. This included, for example, his closest pursuer, George Russell. He could have won the race if race control had suspended the Grand Prix instead of deploying the safety car, emphasises former Grand Prix driver and current Formula 1 TV pundit Juan Pablo Montoya.

Speaking to ‘NewBettingSites’, the Colombian said: ‘You can’t judge the whole race based on the safety car phase at the end. In my career, there were often instances in the IndyCar Series or even the NASCAR Series where a race ended under yellow. In a way, that was normal.”

“Looking back, race control should simply have brought out the red flag. Because then it would have got really interesting, as everyone would have been back on fresh tyres, and there would have been a shootout over one or two laps following a standing start. And that would have been marvellous – just imagine how cool the final stages would have been,” Montoya continues.

“It wouldn’t have surprised me if George Russell had taken the win in that scenario, because he too would have been able to attack on fresh tyres. And perhaps Lewis Hamilton as well. But the problem is that they had to stick to the rules. The race director was perhaps two seconds too late in making that decision. I think he waited until the back half of the field had passed, and by then the leader had already crossed the line,” adds the 50-year-old.

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