There are different types of excitement in the sport we all love so much, but the kind of excitement we got yesterday in the first lap of the British GP at Silverstone is one we could definitely do without.

Kimi Räikkönen’s Ferrari came out a bit wide onto the Wellington straight after the start on the first lap, and he lost control of the car when it crossed back onto the tarmac. The car went into a spin, hit a wall on the right side of the track and was then thrown back onto the track just as the last cars on the grid came through. After a catastrophic start Felipe Massa came almost last onto the straight and saw Kimi’s car practically being thrown at him, just a few metres in front. Through experience, amazing reflexes and presence of mind, he hit the brakes and steered right, voluntarily causing the car to spin and thereby making sure only the tail hit Kimi’s car rather than driving straight into the side of him, as would otherwise have been the case. Whether he saved Kim’s life or just saved him from being badly injured doesn’t really matter, it was in any case a move that is worth high praise!

When the race really got going an hour later, all looked pretty much the same as always this season, with Rosberg leading before Hamilton, but then Nico’s gearbox broke down in the 28th lap and Lewis took over the lead, holding onto it until the end. As a small consolation to Williams, having lost Massa’s car in the incident in the first lap, his teammate Valtterri Bottas finished second before Daniel Ricciardo on Red Bull in third. In the championship this means Nico’s lead over Lewis is now only 4 pts before the German GP at Hockenheim gets underway on 20 July!