Formula 1, GP Great Britain: Verstappen is also the absolute ruler in Silverstone

Max Verstappen took his first British GP win – his sixth straight and eighth in this year’s Formula One Championship – and also dominated Silverstone. Impressive Lando Norris in second place, Lewis Hamilton was also on the podium.

The two-time Formula One champion continued to build on his track record at Silverstone, giving Red Bull Racing their first win in the UK in 11 years. He completely dominated the tenth Formula 1 race this year – albeit by a smaller margin than usual.

Lando Norris managed to keep his McLaren in second place by fending off late-stage attacks from Lewis Hamilton, who took advantage of the safety car on lap 32 – to stop Kevin Magnussen’s Haas on the track – and onto the third stage of the podium climbed.

Hamilton snatched the first podium in Formula 1 from McLaren’s rookie Oscar Piastri, while the podium was closed by George Russell and Sergio Perez, who recovered relatively well from 15th on the grid.

Behind Aston Martin’s seventh Fernando Alonso and Williams’ impressive Alex Albon, the two Ferraris found themselves at the bottom of the top ten as Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz failed to make their first pit stops before the safety car.

The evolution of the race at Silverstone

At the start, Norris managed to take the lead from Verstappen in the first corner amid football-like cheers from the entire grandstand of 180,000 Silverstone spectators. But when he switched on the DRS on Lap 4, he too realized that he had no answer to his closest rivals, Red Bull, and the Brit himself came close to witnessing the Dutchman’s rise to the lead of the race.

For several laps, Norris and Piastri stayed close to the champion, with the Australian being told not to attack the Brit – while opening a gap on Leclerc and Russell behind. Then there was a slight fear among the teams that it might rain, but it never came.

Russell was at that point the only one in the top ten to have started on the soft rubber – everyone else had middle – and the Mercedes-Brit held comfortably in fifth place – moving up to fourth as Leclerc first to the Box went – to set the hard rubber – to be covered by Russell’s undercut.

Verstappen, meanwhile, had extended his lead over McLaren to four places when Piastri made his pit stop on lap 29, just after Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz. This was to prove an unfortunate decision for both the Australian and the Spaniard as Magnussen’s enraged Haas was given safety car status three laps later on the Wellington Straight.

Those who had not yet completed their pit stop took advantage of this golden opportunity: Verstappen and Norris did not lose the first two places, instead Piastri’s stop cost him his first podium finish in Formula 1, from Lewis Hamilton. Saints and Leclerc’s tire changes put them in the top ten accordingly, while the others used the safety car for their pit stop.

When he left the track in the 39th of 52 laps, Verstappen and Hamilton were driving on soft rubber and Norris, Piastri on hard. The Dutchman pulled away again on the horizon but Hamilton tried to use his better grip to pass Norris for second place.

But McLaren’s young Briton deftly and persistently fended off Lewis’ attacks, eventually leaving the seven-time champion with a damaged soft tyre, retiring from Mercedes’ DRS and securing a triumphant result for a team that started at the rear end a month ago the starting grid. .