I keep finding new levels of unpreparedness for these races

Tried some TT right before the race, and I couldn't find a setup I liked, nor any pace.
Qualifying
When I returned to the pits after setting my first lap time (1:28.8), and was down in 9th, I joked with iceman that I should just stay in the pits for the remainder of the session so I could fall out of the top 10 and get free tire choice. I went back out of course, but ironically, I'd never set another lap time due to a plethora of mistakes. I did indeed fall out of the top 10, and would start 11th.
Race
Since I had no idea what I was doing in terms of strategy, I just decided to invert the default one, and start on the Medium compound, if for nothing other than to satisfy my curiosity. Starting on fresh tires, I thought I could maybe get away with pushing a bit harder throughout the race, so I started with the highest fuel load I'd had all season, +4 laps I think. Usually I try to go light on fuel.
Following Austria's turn 1, I was just super focused on avoiding any contact at the start of this race. After the lights went out, as soon as I saw a hint of chaos in front of me, I got right off the throttle to ensure I avoided it. With such focus on avoiding incidents, I apparently forgot to turn my steering wheel for the corner, and went way off track. In trying to get back on, I managed to spin my car on the grass. Yay me.
That was me down in 15th (last) and far back from the pack. I actually didn't really care as I was in once piece at least. I also had clear track, so I just settled down immediately, and got to trying to find some consistency and pace. Surprisingly I did, and I managed to catch and pass Bobino before the lap was over. He must have had damage, as he pitted, along with two other cars. That was me already up to 12th. Early in to the second lap, and I was already on Pat's tail, who spun almost as soon as I caught him, so I was back to my starting position in just over a lap.
I was then chasing down Falco who was in a battle with nael, and this was the beginning of what would become my most intense race of the season. I was right on Falco's gear box, and pressuring him at every opportunity I could. I so very nearly had him on a few occasions, but he did a great job of staying composed to keep himself ahead of me. It looked like Sucuri had a spin at the end of lap 2, so then he joined our little 4 way battle. When we got DRS for the first time on lap 3, I used it to get closer than ever to making the pass on Falco, but still not quite. Next lap I thought, but then my DRS failed!
On Lap 5, both Falco and I made a pass on Nael on Hangar Straight, but I still couldn't find a way past Falco with my DRS broken. I was stuck behind him until he pitted on lap 8, when Sucuri also pitted.
I hoped that my counter strategy would be advantageous, not just from having clear track at this point in time, but also from the pace I'd have at the end on the new Soft tires. I focused on putting in some solid laps. Probably from lap 9 until I pitted on lap 16 was my only quiet period of the race, though I was so focused on pushing that it still felt intense. The only car I saw during this period was Tron who caught and passed me after his pit stop - no fight from me.
Pitted from 4th on lap 16, but I made a huge mistake in getting a 5 second speeding penalty when entering the pits (although I did already have a 3 second corner cutting penalty at that point too). When pitting, I saw Pat closing, and I pushed like crazy to stay ahead of him when exiting the pits, and manged to do so by the smallest of margins. That was 9th after the pit stop. With the fresh tires, I had some serious pace at this point, and was pushing like crazy to catch the guys ahead; a three way battle between iceman, Sucuri, and Mudd. I was on Mudd's gearbox by lap 20, and was pressuring him at every opportunity, looking for a hint of a mistake, and a way past. Around this same time, Sucuri & iceman had an incident, with Sucuri retiring, and iceman pitting.
By lap 22, I had made the pass on Mudd, a DRS assisted move down Hangar Straight. I had thought (hoped) that would free me, and I'd be able to focus on the next car ahead, who was Megaman by about 7 seconds, but I couldn't break free of Mudd. My engineer had told me Mudd was sitting on 9 seconds worth of penalties, while I was on 8, so I needed to make sure I didn't pick up another one. Easier said than done, and sure enough, in no time at all, I'd acquired another 3 second penalty for a total of 11 seconds. This meant I needed to finish 2 seconds ahead of Mudd to retain 6th position. I was pushing like crazy, and had it at 1.8 seconds as we started the final sector of the final lap, but then I think I started worrying too much about KERS management, and running out of fuel, and I got super messy (I'm sure my tires were really worn by that point too), so Mudd caught right back up, and by the checkered flag, my penalties gave him back 6th place, and I'd finish 7th.
Summary
I'm totally okay with losing the position at the end, because that was maybe the most fun race of the season. Certainly the most intense. I think Silverstone by itself feels pretty intense, because of the speed, and it tends to lend itself to creating a feeling of always being on the limit, but then you throw in some great battles with that, and it gets a 10/10 for intensity. It's so much fun to fit the fast tire at the end and push like crazy. I know I wasn't very fast here, but I felt like I was in a bit of a zone, both when I was pressuring Falco early, and Mudd late. Just felt really comfortable being right on their gearboxes and probing for passing opportunities. I'm really surprised at my consistency when looking at my Race Director lap times too.
I won't be able to make next week's Hockenheim race, and then it's winter break, so I'll be back for the Hungaroring on January 2nd. Have a great holiday!