As It Happened - Hamilton and Verstappen star at Silverstone in 70th Anniversary British Grand Prix

1) Verstappen 2) Hamilton 3) Bottas 4) Leclerc 5) Albon 6) Stroll 7) Hulkenberg 8) Ocon 9) Norris 10) Kvyat 11) Gasly 12) Vettel 13) Sainz 14) Ricciardo 15) Raikkonen 16) Grosjean 17) Giovinazzi 18) Russell 19) Latifi DNF) Magnussen

It's a Red Bull victory for the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix at Silverstone! Verstappen got that spot on. Hamilton crosses the line in second and Bottas finishes third. There's also a very respectable fourth place finish for Leclerc given the state of that Ferrari car.

It looks like Red Bull's decision to go with the Hard compound tyre for the start of the race has paid off and Verstappen also deserves credit for the way he pushed to close the gap on the Mercedes when he was told to manage his tyres.

There was nothing Bottas could do to keep Hamlton behind him and the world champion is up into P2 and he has eight seconds to close on Verstappen, although with only three laps to go that will be a tall order. The Dutchman is on course for his first race victory of the season.

"You're free to race, just give each other space!" That's the message that comes across the Mercedes team radio to both Bottas and Hamilton. One wondered if Mercedes might give Bottas the orders to allow Hamilton through seeing as he has the greater pace and chance to catch Verstappen.

Leclerc got his elbows out and made things difficult for Hamilton, but the Mercedes is finally past the Ferrari and the world championship leader is now chasing down Bottas. This is a fascinating end to this race!

Hamilton is in attack mode now! He has just set the fastest lap of the race and is chasing down Leclerc. He will almost certainly pass the Ferrari who seems to have lost a lot of grip and then after that he will be looking to close the gap on his teammate.

Mercedes have decided they can't keep Hamilton on a one-stop strategy and they have pulled in the world championship driver to put him on to the Hard compound tyres. That was strange timing given that Hamilton was starting to look more comfortable as the race leader!

"Let's start to close the gap to Hamilton, Max." The Red Bull engineers now getting nervous about how the final stages of this race are panning out. Hamilton's tyres seem to be getting better, not worse. What is Bottas thinking right now given that Mercedes put him on a two-stop strategy?

Leclerc's tyres look to be in very good condition and so he cannot be discounted either. The Ferrari is in play for a podium finish and maybe even a victory if Mercedes' tyre issues continue! Hamilton is still leading this race.

The suggestions are that Mercedes are going to keep Hamilton out until the end of the race. They believe that the issue is merely the blistering rather than any wear issues to the tread.

This has turned into a really interesting race. Hamilton is the race leader at the moment as he has only pitted once, so what do Mercedes do with him? He's complaining about tyre wear, but what if there is tread below the blistering? Could they keep him out on a one-stop strategy?

Verstappen and Bottas pit on the same lap. Red Bull pulled their driver in after six laps on the Mediums and he's now on the Hard compound tyres until the end of the race. Meanwhile, Hamilton isn't happy with the set up of his car.

"He must have less pressure in his tyres or something," Hamilton speculates over the Mercedes team radio. He's confused by the pace Verstappen have and is speculating that Red Bull have put him on a lower tyre pressure than the stipulated Pirelli limit. Interesting, but based on anything?

"So we're basically we're just going to fully send it?" Verstappen has been told that he no longer needs to worry about tyre management and he has the freedom to realy push the advantage he has over the two Mercedes. It's also worth noting that Hulkenberg in P4 is taking huge chunks out of the two Silver Arrows!

Wow! That was close! Verstappen pits and comes out slightly behind Bottas, but the Red Bull has the racing line and passes Bottas to claim P1. This is looking very good for Verstappen! The strategy is working and he seemingly has the race pace on the Mercedes!

"Blister front right!" says Hamilton over the team radio. He is already a pit stop behind Verstappen, who has yet to pit, and now it's a possibility that he might have to come in again! How can he possibly manage that?

"My tyres feel good mate, it's all good," Verstappen tells his race engineer. Mercedes are getting nervous and Red Bull are growing in confidence. This race is coming to the boil very nicely indeed.

Albon passes Gasly! The Red Bull gets past the Alpha Tauri into P12. By the end of that duel, Gasly just didn't have the grip to keep Albon behind him.

Bottas and Hamilton are STILL having trouble with the tyres! Mercedes just don't have a grip on the temperatures in this heat! Red Bull are in play for a race victory here. "Verstappen is the real threat here," comes the message over the team radio to Bottas.

As things stand... 1) Verstappen 2) Bottas 3) Hamilton 4) Sainz 5) Hulkenberg 6) Stroll 7) Ocon 8) Kvyat 9) Ricciardo 10) Vettel

Verstappen is the new race leader after Bottas dives into the pits. The undercut could be significant here. Bottas' first lap after his pit sees hm running faster than Verstappen, but he still has 14 seconds to make up on the Red Bull.

Hamilton will be relieved as Mercedes pull him to put him on a fresh set of tyres. While Hamilton won last week's British GP, Mercedes have seemingly struggled to judge the tyres correctly at Silverstone over the last two weekends!

"Mate, this is the only chance I'm getting to be close to the Mercedes - I'm not just sitting behind like a grandma." That was Verstappen's response to being told to look after his tyres.

Mercedes in trouble! Verstappen has the pace on Hamilton and the Mercedes doesn't have much to defend with at the moment! The message over the Red Bull radio to Verstappen is that he needs to look after his tyres. He didn't like that message at all!

Mercedes will be a little concerned that Verstappen is lapping at the same pace as their two drivers and the Red Bull is also likely to be able to go longer on these tyres than the Silver Arrows. This is something to keep an eye on.

Albon is into the pits to swap on to the Mediums. Verstappen is slowly gaining on the two Mercedes. The teams are stil trying to work out the tyres at this point.

"Front left, critical, also rear left," comes the message across the Mercedes team radio to Bottas. He's seemingly having problems with his tyre temperatures and it's only Lap 6! That's a strange one!

The good news for Verstappen is that he is ahead of Hulkenberg early and being on those hard compound tyres he has a number of different options to try and strategise his way past the two Mercedes ahead of him. This has certainly made things a bit more interesting.

What is going on with the former world champion at the moment! He just can't get a tune out of this Ferrari and he is in last place after a spin on the opening lap!

Verstappen gets past Hulkenberg into Turn 1! Hamilton is having a good look at Bottas, but the Finn just about keeps his teammate at arm's length! Stroll has got past Ricciardo!

Just five minutes until lights out at Silverstone! Can anyone challenge the Silver Arrows? Can Bottas hold off Hamilton? What about Hulkenberg? Can he claim his first podium finish?

Last week's British GP saw incredible drama in the final two laps as a number of the teams misjudged the tyre wear. Hamilton crossed the finishing line on three wheels! Sainz and Bottas had similar problems. Will we see more of the same this week?

The teams are going through their final preparations ahead of the race. The drivers are lined up on the starting line for the national anthem, with a number taking a knee and a number choosing not to. Once again, a mixed message from F1.

As has been the case in every race so far this season, the Silver Arrows look pretty much untouchable. Verstappen split them in Hungary and Bottas had an issue with his tyres last week, but it once again looks like being something of a procession for Mercedes. The drama is most likely to be in the midfield!

13:45 - Full grid! There was a lot of drama in qualification yesterday. Can Bottas convert P1 into a race victory to keep the pressure on Hamilton at the top of the drivers' championship?

We're back at Silverstone for another race! It might look like the British Grand Prix, but this is the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix! They had to come up with a different name, didn't they?

Valtteri Bottas is on pole ahead of Lewis Hamilton. But the big news is that Nico Hulkenberg is in P3 after being drafted in as a late replacement for Sergio Perez after the Racing Point driver tested positive for Covid-19! Can he FINALLY claim his first pole in F1?