CARLOS SAINZ Jr kept his cool to achieve a maiden Grand Prix victory at the 150th attempt after a crazy race at a packed Silverstone.
The Spanish pole-sitter had fallen behind Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc ahead of a restart with only nine laps left following a late interruption by the Safety Car.
But, following a brief tussle, Sainz - on fresher soft tyres - used his big advantage with Leclerc left like a sitting duck on the hard compound.
That was far from the most incredible racing after the second restart, though.
Instead, the best of the action came from Leclerc, Sergio Perez and Lewis Hamilton as the British seven-time world champion moved from fourth place to second then was forced back down to fourth in the space of just five corners.
Hamilton eventually passed the struggling Leclerc but will rue a slow pit-stop by his Mercedes team which prevented him from making more of a run at a ninth win at his home circuit.
Nevertheless, the 37-year-old did set the fastest lap and made it onto the F1 podium at Silverstone for a 13th time, a record for any driver at a single track.
Now, the top three in this race does not tell half the story after the drama on the first lap and especially the first corner.
Immediately at lights out, Max Verstappen stormed past Sainz - but the real mayhem erupted behind the front-runners as contact between George Russell and Pierre Gasly diverted Russell's Mercedes towards Zhou Guanyu, resulting in a massive shunt.
In a terrifying moment, the Alfa Romeo of Chinese driver Zhou was flipped over on impact, skidded upside down through a gravel trap and over a tyre wall, only coming to a halt in a catch fencing right in front of grandstand of spectators.
The cockpit halo was a controversial addition to these open-seater cars when made mandatory by the FIA in 2018 - but it had undoubtedly made yet another remarkable intervention.
In fact, Zhou's accident came just a few hours after the halo had prevented Roy Nissany from being decapitated by Dennis Hauger's car in the F2 feature race.
Following a worrying delay, Zhou was confirmed to be conscious and on his way to the medical centre, where Alex Albon was also sent for a check-up.
Several other cars also sustained damage as a domino effect took hold through the midfield - and, after a delay of almost an hour, it came as something of a surprise that 17 of the 20 drivers were still in the race.
Along with Zhou and Albon, Russell was the only other driver to retire despite not actually being stricken.
Mercedes man Russell had dashed out of his cockpit from a safe position at the side of the track towards Zhou - but received outside assistance, albeit unwanted help, from a tow truck which took his car back to the pits.
Regardless, the 24-year-old deserves huge commendation for his response - but, from a regulatory perspective, it was frustratingly impossible to argue against.
Russell should console himself with the fact that he will have many more chances to make a big impression at Silverstone - and, most importantly, that he had still done the right thing.
Back to the racing and a standing restart was taken in grid order because the accident had come so early.
Ferrari fared better second time around as Verstappen and Leclerc went wheel-to-wheel behind Sainz, and Perez sustained damage to his front wing.
However, Verstappen kept second place and closed in on Sainz to put himself in the perfect position to seize on a mistake by the Spaniard on lap 10.
The lead did not last long, though. On lap 12, the Dutchman picked up some debris along the Wellington Straight and damaged the floor of his car, leaving him with performance issues for the rest of the afternoon.
At the same time, though, the 24-year-old will be satisfied enough with a seventh-placed finish after another difficult day at the Northamptonshire circuit, a venue at which he has never won.
After all, the Dutchman still leads the World Drivers Championship on 181 points, ahead of team-mate Perez (147), with Leclerc in third place on 138.
It is a rather different picture to the early part of the season when reliability issues for Red Bull allowed Leclerc to build a lead of 46 points over Verstappen.
Since then, though, Leclerc has suffered two engine failures while leading in Spain and Azerbaijan - before a strategic error in Monaco turned a likely home win into fourth place.
In Canada, the number of engine replacements forced the Monegasque to start from the back of the grid in Canada - and, to complete the set, a mistake by Leclerc himself in Imola dropped him down from third to sixth.
So, instead, it is Leclerc who has much to ponder as this campaign speeds towards its four-week summer recess in August.
Perhaps, the race at Silverstone will signal a shift against Verstappen like it did last year - and it would be fair to say that Leclerc is due something of a change in fortune.
Unlike the seemingly favourable situation for Verstappen at Red Bull, though, Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto is resistant to the imposition of team orders on his drivers.
That cost Leclerc on Sunday when, despite leading and showing quicker pace than Sainz in the first part of the race, he was left to finish the race on the rapidly degrading hard compound while the Spaniard was able to pit for soft tyres.
Such are the stated terms of engagement at Ferrari that it seems distinctly possible that the same approach could happen and cost Leclerc again later this year.
More critically, though, Verstappen's title win in December has given him supreme confidence with the extremely controversial circumstances leaving him with no doubt or regrets.
The Dutchman has won his six races in 2022 already - in Saudi Arabia, Imola, Miami, Barcelona, Baku, and Montreal - with no other driver winning more than two.
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◾️ 2022 GRAND PRIX RACE CALENDAR ◾️
| Date | | Winner | Venue | ||
| (1) | 20-March | BAHRAIN | Charles Leclerc | |
| (2) | 27-March | SAUDI ARABIA | Max Verstappen | |
| (3) | 10-April | AUSTRALIA | Charles Leclerc | |
| (4) | 24-April | EMILIA ROMAGNA | Max Verstappen | |
| (5) | 08-May | MIAMI | Max Verstappen | |
| (6) | 22-May | SPAIN | Max Verstappen | |
| (7) | 29-May | MONACO | Sergio Pérez | |
| (8) | 12-June | AZERBAIJAN | Max Verstappen | |
| (9) | 19-June | CANADA | Max Verstappen | |
| (10) | 03-July | GREAT BRITAIN | Carlos Sainz Jr | |
(11) | 10-July | AUSTRIA | Red Bull Ring, Spielberg | |
| (12) | 24-July | FRANCE | Circuit Paul Ricard, Le Castellet | |
| (13) | 31-July | HUNGARY | Hungaroring, Mogyoród | |
| (14) | 28-August | BELGIUM | Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot | |
| (15) | 04-September | NETHERLANDS | Circuit Zandvoort, Zandvoort | |
| (16) | 11-September | ITALY | Monza Circuit, Monza | |
| (17) | 02-October | SINGAPORE | Marina Bay Street Circuit, Singapore | |
| (18) | 09-October | JAPAN | Suzuka International Course, Suzuka | |
| (19) | 23-October | UNITED STATES | Circuit of the Americas, Austin, TX | |
| (20) | 30-October | MEXICO | Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, Mexico City | |
| (21) | 13-November | BRAZIL | Interlagos Circuit, São Paulo | |
| (22) | 20-November | ABU DHABI | Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi |
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FIA F1 DRIVERS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 2022
| Points | ||||
| 1 | Max Verstappen (NED) | Red Bull | 181 | (6 wins) |
| 2 | Sergio Pérez (MEX) | Red Bull | 147 | (1 win) |
| 3 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 138 | (2 wins) |
| 4 | Carlos Sainz Jr (ESP) | Ferrari | 127 | (1 win) |
| 5 | George Russell (GBR) | Mercedes | 111 | |
| 6 | Lewis Hamilton (GBR) | Mercedes | 93 | |
| 7 | Lando Norris (GBR) | McLaren-Mercedes | 58 | |
| 8 | Valtteri Bottas (FIN) | Alfa Romeo-Ferrari | 46 | |
| 9 | Esteban Ocon (FRA) | Alpine-Renault | 39 | |
| 10 | Fernando Alonso (ESP) | Alpine-Renault | 28 | |
| 11 | Pierre Gasly (FRA) | AlphaTauri-Red Bull PT | 16 | |
| 12 | Kevin Magnussen (DEN) | Haas-Ferrari | 16 | |
| 13 | Sebastian Vettel (GER) | Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes | 15 | |
| 14 | Daniel Ricciardo (AUS) | McLaren-Mercedes | 15 | |
| 15 | Yuki Tsunoda (JPN) | AlphaTauri-Red Bull PT | 11 | |
| 16 | Guanyu Zhou (CHN) | Alfa Romeo-Ferrari | 5 | |
| 17 | Mick Schumacher (GER) | Haas-Ferrari | 4 | |
| 18 | Alexander Albon (THA) | Williams-Mercedes | 3 | |
| 19 | Lance Stroll (CAN) | Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes | 3 | |
| 20 | Nicholas Latifi (CAN) | Williams-Mercedes | 0 | |
| 21 | Nico Hulkenberg (GER) | Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes | 0 |
FIA F1 CONSTRUCTORS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 2022
| Points | ||||
| 1 | Red Bull (AUT) | Verstappen | Pérez | 328 | (7 wins) |
| 2 | Ferrari (ITA) | Leclerc | Sainz Jr | 265 | (3 wins) |
| 3 | Mercedes (GER) | Russell | Hamilton | 204 | |
| 4 | McLaren-Mercedes (GBR) | Norris | Ricciardo | 73 | |
| 5 | Alpine-Renault (FRA) | Alonso | Ocon | 67 | |
| 6 | Alfa Romeo-Ferrari (SUI) | Bottas | Zhou | 51 | |
| 7 | AlphaTauri-RedBullPT (ITA) | Gasly | Tsunoda | 27 | |
| 8 | Haas-Ferrari (USA) | Magnussen | Schumacher | 20 | |
| 9 | Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes (GBR) | Vettel | Stroll | Hulkenberg | 18 | |
| 10 | Williams-Mercedes (GBR) | Albon | Latifi | 3 |
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