Lando Norris has won the British Grand Prix. After qualifying third and benefitting from a penalty for teammate Oscar Piastri, the home favourite weathered multiple bouts of rain to become the 13th British driver to triumph on home soil. Norris later said it was “hard to realise” the magnitude of his win and cut a confident figure in his post-race interviews. Having claimed back-to-back wins for the first time in his career and cut his teammate’s championship lead to just eight points, Norris’s title bid looks to be getting back on track.
Oscar Piastri, on the other hand, had little to smile about. After hustling Verstappen in the wet and claiming the lead on lap eight, Piastri was hit with a ten-second time penalty for driving erratically under the safety car. The Australian was reticent to discuss the penalty when pressed after the race, but stated that he did not think it was fair.
Having taken pole on Saturday, Max Verstappen’s Sunday was not one to remember. With his straight-line advantage diminished in the rain, Verstappen couldn’t fend off the hard-charging Oscar Piastri, relinquishing the lead on lap eight and spinning on lap 21. The reigning world champion plummeted to tenth and spent the rest of the race making up for lost time. In the end, fifth place was all Verstappen could manage. Piastri now leads the Dutchman by 69 points, and with only half the season remaining, Verstappen’s title aspirations are now increasingly frail.
Behind the leading duo, a little bit of history was being made. After 15 years, 239 grand prix starts and numerous painful near misses, Nico Hulkenberg has finally claimed his first ever podium. After qualifying 19th and opting to go long on his first set of intermediate tyres, Hulkenberg resisted the advances of Lance Stroll and Lewis Hamilton to claim a memorable maiden podium. Afterwards, Hulkenberg was scarcely able to compute what had happened and admitted to feeling relieved and happy in equal measure.
With the attention on Norris and Hulkenberg, the achievements of Pierre Gasly and Lance Stroll should not go unnoticed. Gasly benefited from the chaotic opening exchanges to run in the top six for most of the race. He may have lost out to Hamilton on lap 30, but sixth place is still his and Alpine’s best result of the season.
One place behind Gasly was another standout midfield entry: Lance Stroll. After starting only 17th, the decision to pit during the virtual safety car on lap seven was inspired. Stroll’s undercut put him in an ideal position to capitalise on the uncertainty up ahead, and after Verstappen’s spin on lap 21, the Canadian was elevated to third. The Aston Martin was somewhat exposed as the track dried later on, but with seventh place, Stroll secured his first points since the sprint race in Miami.
Alex Albon was another beneficiary of the changing conditions; the Williams driver made up for his qualifying woes with a controlled drive to eighth. Fernando Alonso secured ninth ahead of George Russell, whose early and late race gambles did not pay off.
After completing the formation lap on intermediate tyres, the drying track prompted Russell and Charles Leclerc to dive into the pits for slicks. The arrival of rain on lap 11 scuppered Russell and Leclerc’s races as they both found themselves bogged down in traffic. An early switch back to slicks proved equally unedifying as Russell spun on lap 40. Tenth place was all the Brit could manage.
Oliver Bearman completed a credible recovery drive to 11th, despite colliding with his teammate Esteban Ocon on lap 44. Carlos Sainz came home 12th ahead of Ocon and Leclerc, whose strategic misadventure left him stranded outside the points in 14th. Yuki Tsunoda was the last classified finisher in 15th place.
Isack Hadjar ploughed unsighted into the back of Kimi Antonelli on lap 17, an incident that forced them both out of the race. Liam Lawson was forced to retire after a collision with Esteban Ocon on lap one, while Gabriel Bortoleto broke his rear wing on lap three.
