The result was defined by a late safety car, as Leclerc was leading and pulling away from Sainz, who was coming under pressure from a charging Hamilton. When Leclerc was told of the decisions, he said: “That will be hard.” Behind them, Perez passed Hamilton for third at Turn Four and the two of them closed on Leclerc. Two laps later, Hamilton passed Leclerc around the outside of the long Luffield hairpin. Earlier in the race, there had been more questionable decisions from Ferrari. Sainz now found himself under pressure from Leclerc, who told the team he was being held up. When Leclerc pitted, Hamilton stayed out, Mercedes trying to build a tyre off-set so he could attack later.

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