Norris takes Silverstone victory while Hulkenberg finally score a podium

Lando Norris took a popular victory at Silverstone by gaining an advantage over a penalty for teammate Oscar Piastri, as Nico Hulkenberg finally claimed his first Formula 1 podium after 239 starts.

The McLaren driver moved ahead of Piastri when the championship leader served his ten-second penalty, and managed to draw out his lead despite Piastri’s attempt at a fightback to ensure he collected a home win.

Having passed polesitter Max Verstappen for the lead in the early wet conditions, Piastri picked up a penalty for a safety-car infringement at the end of a second safety car period, where he appeared to accelerate before the restart before slowing down suddenly. This caught out Max Verstappen who was directly behind the McLaren.

As a result, Piastri took a ten-second penalty which he served during his final pitstop to hand Norris, who picked up second when Verstappen slid off on that same restart, the lead.

Although Piastri attempted to fight back and put Norris under pressure at the end, simultaneously exerting pressure on his pitwall by suggesting “if you don’t think if it was fair, we should swap back and just race”, McLaren chose to leave the order as was – and Norris then managed to add to his lead to capture his first British Grand Prix win.

Hulkenberg drove an incredible race to claim third, having moved up the order by timing a first pitstop for a second set of intermediates perfectly to sit fourth following the safety cars.

The Sauber driver then closed in on Lance Stroll, who was up to third with his own fortunate pitstop timings, and passed the Aston Martin driver when DRS became available. Hulkenberg had to deal with the incoming threat of Lewis Hamilton once the Ferrari driver passed Stroll, but held firm at the end of the intermediate stint and timed his final stop for slicks correctly to lock down third place.

A borderline wet track contributed to a stop-start opening seven laps, as the likes of George Russell, Charles Leclerc, Isack Hadjar, Gabriel Bortoleto and Oliver Bearman pitted at the end of the formation lap for slick tyres, gambling on the wet final sector drying up.

A brace of VSC periods followed – Liam Lawson going off with damage after a clash with Esteban Ocon, prompting three laps of a full-course yellow, before Bortoleto slipped off at Turn 2 to produce another stoppage in racing.

Once racing finally resumed on the seventh lap, Piastri immediately put Verstappen under scrutiny and got on his rival’s tail; he stalked the defending champion through the opening sector and kept with him through the second to build a run out of Becketts. He made the move for the lead into Stowe, and proceeded to clear off.

Verstappen was thus left in Lando’s clutches, as the McLaren driver had shaken off an early challenge from Lewis Hamilton to preserve third. By lap 11, Verstappen’s tyres were starting to ail and Norris attempted to pounce through Copse – but held off and picked up second when the Red Bull slipped off at Becketts.

However, the rain began to fall once again and the front runners pitted for another set of intermediate tyres; McLaren’s slower stop for Norris ensured Verstappen could reclaim second. Once the two had passed the yet-to-stop Alex Albon, Norris tried to reclaim second – but ran out of time as the safety car emerged despite the worsening rain.

The field was frozen for over three laps behind the safety car before the race resumed, but the field managed about half a lap before it returned in front of Piastri as Hadjar put his car in the wall at Copse after rear-ending Andrea Kimi Antonelli into the braking zone.

After a four-lap train to clear the Racing Bulls debris, Piastri took the reins as the safety car pulled in; Oscar then tried to back up the pack on the Hangar Straight, which almost caught Verstappen unaware.

The race stewards deemed Piastri’s actions worthy of a ten-second penalty. Verstappen then spun on his own as Piastri led the field away through Vale, conceding second to Norris and dropping to P10.

Verstappen recovered to fifth position; despite balance struggles in the wet, he put a series of moves on the Williams drivers, Pierre Gasly, and Stroll – although was 17 seconds adrift of Hamilton by the end. Gasly, Stroll, Alex Albon, Fernando Alonso, and George Russell completed the top ten.

So a crazy race thanks to the typical UK weather. The rain made the racing exciting but the penalty for Oscar Piastri was harsh. The championship leader deserved better but that’s the rules. Lando Norris is a worthy winner at his home race and for McLaren to score a 1-2 finish, this is a solid result at Silverstone.

As for Nico Hulkenberg, finally a podium after so many races! The Sauber driver fully deserves this achievement after a fine drive from starting P19 to come home in P3. What a result at the British Grand Prix for the Hulk.

British Grand Prix, race results:
1 Lando Norris McLaren 1:37:15.735
2 Oscar Piastri McLaren +6.812s
3 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber +34.742s
4 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +39.812s
5 Max Verstappen Red Bull +56.781s
6 Pierre Gasly Alpine +59.857s
7 Lance Stroll Aston Martin +60.603s
8 Alexander Albon Williams +64.135s
9 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +65.858s
10 George Russell Mercedes +70.674s
11 Oliver Bearman Haas +72.095s
12 Carlos Sainz Williams +76.592s
13 Esteban Ocon Haas +77.301s
14 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +84.477s
15 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull +1 lap
Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes DNF
Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls DNF
Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber DNF
Liam Lawson Racing Bulls DNF
Franco Colapinto Alpine DNF

Verstappen takes a surprising pole at Silverstone

Four-time world champion Max Verstappen took a surprising pole position for the British Grand Prix, beating both the McLarens to go top at Silverstone.

With Ferrari, in particular Lewis Hamilton, seeming the most likely to challenge Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris to pole, it was instead reigning world champion Verstappen who put in a final lap with one minute, 24.892 seconds to grab the top position.

Championship leader Piastri will start on the front row after a small error on his final effort. Norris was the top of the home favourites but only able to go third-quickest for McLaren, with an all-British second row as Geroge Russell was fourth for Mercedes.

Ferrari had threatened to steal McLaren’s glory following a strong start to the Silverstone weekend, but Hamilton could only manage fifth due to a messy final sector on his last flying lap, with his teammate Charles Leclerc will start alongside.

Rookies Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Oliver Bearman were next up, but both have penalties for the race, with Antonelli dropping three places following his crash into Verstappen in Austria last week, while Bearman was hit with a ten-place penalty for the second time this season due to a red-flag infringement in FP3.

Fernando Alonso took ninth for Aston Martin but will be pleased to start seventh, alongside the Alpine of Pierre Gasly.

Ferrari looked in trouble towards the end of Q2 but had saved a fresh set of tyres for both drivers, who delivered under the pressure on a single lap, Hamilton just beating Leclerc for the fastest time.

It was not to be for Williams, however, with Carlos Sainz coming home in P11 and Alex Albon in P14, while Yuki Tsunoda and Isack Hadjar of Racing Bulls were knocked out too – although the penalties for Antonelli and Bearman at least promote some further up the grid.

With continuing question marks of Franco Colapinto’s seat at Alpine, the crash in Q1 was awkward and it ended his qualifying prematurely – especially with Gasly’s performance on the other side of the garage.

Having spun off at the final corner, he initially kept the car running and got back on track after minimal contact with the wall, but – as Alpine advisor Flavio Briatore put his head in his hands – the red flag was brought out as Colapinto’s car came to a halt and required rescue from the marshals.

The others to be eliminated in Q1 were Liam Lawson, who ran wide in his Racing Bulls on his final flying lap, while Lance Stroll was inbetween the Saubers of Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hulkenberg.

So an exciting end to the final segment of qualifying and yet it was a surprise to see Max Verstappen take pole position as predictions were made that the McLarens were the favourite to land a front row and pole. The low downforce on Max’s car helps for straight-line speed and yet Oscar and Lando have a quick race car. Going to be a thrilling British Grand Prix.

British Grand Prix, qualifying positions:
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:24.892
2 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:24.995
3 Lando Norris McLaren 1:25.010
4 George Russell Mercedes 1:25.029
5 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:25.095
6 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:25.121
7 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:25.621
8 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:25.785
9 Carlos Sainz Williams 1:25.746
10 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:25.374*
11 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull 1:25.826
12 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls 1:25.864
13 Alexander Albon Williams 1:25.889
14 Esteban Ocon Haas 1:25.950
15 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls 1:26.440
16 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber 1:26.446
17 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:26.504
18 Oliver Bearman Haas 1:25.471**
19 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber 1:26.574
20 Franco Colapinto Alpine 1:27.060
*Three-place grid penalty for collision at the Red Bull Ring
**Ten-place grid penalty for red-flag infringement in FP3