McLaren’s Lando Norris clinched a maiden British Grand Prix victory to further cut his title deficit to Oscar Piastri.
Norris benefitted from a ten-second time penalty for teammate, Piastri to become the 13th different Brit to win the British GP, as the Aussie settled for second after he pitted at the end of lap 43 for slick tyres in a wet-to-dry race which gifted Norris the lead before he made his stop a lap later.
Post-race, Norris spoke to 2009 champion, Jenson Button about how much it meant to win his home race and having grown up watching Button racing at Silverstone.
“It’s beautiful. Everything I dreamed of, I guess. Everything I’ve ever wanted to achieve. Apart from a championship, I think this is as good as it gets in terms of feelings and in terms of achievement, being proud, all of it.
“This is where it all started for me, I was actually watching you on TV many years ago and now thankfully I’ve been able to have my go.
“Incredible race, stressful as always, but the support from the fans, it made the difference today, so I’ve got to thank them for it all.”
Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg on his 239th F1 start ended his wait for a maiden podium finish as he managed to finish third ahead of nine-time British GP winner, Lewis Hamilton.
Max Verstappen recovered from a mid-race spin on lap 21 to finish fifth ahead of Pierre Gasly, Lance Stroll, Alex Albon, Fernando Alonso and George Russell, who fought off his compatriot, Oliver Bearman for tenth.
In the drivers’ standings, Piastri’s title lead was reduced to just eight points ahead of Norris.
At lights out after the formation lap was ran behind the safety car due to damp conditions following a rain shower, Verstappen led Piastri, Norris and Hamilton as Gasly leapt from eighth to fifth.
Russell and Leclerc however had pitted for slick tyres at the end of the formation lap as did Isack Hadjar, Gabriel Bortoleto and Bearman.
The Virtual Safety Car (VSC) however was deployed after Liam Lawson got spun out by Ocon at Aintree, after the Frenchman got nudged into the Kiwi by Yuki Tsunoda who had been on the inside of the corner unseen.
Franco Colapinto meanwhile didn’t even start after his gearbox failed as he returned to the pit lane at the end of the formation lap, having taken a new power unit overnight.
Bortoleto spun out at Farm on lap 4 but was advised to retire on the pit exit of Copse near the old pit complex, which hosted the support race categories, which brought the VSC out on lap 6 for a lap.
Up front, Piastri terrorised Verstappen’s slippery Red Bull until he swept through into the lead into Stowe on lap 8 and left Verstappen at the mercy of Norris, with rain steadily moving across the circuit which fell on lap 11 and caused Verstappen to slip wide at Chapel to concede second.
The top three pitted at the end of that lap which allowed Verstappen to jump Norris for third as Albon stayed out in second for an extra lap, but Verstappen cleared him on the inside of Luffield, whilst Gasly cleared Hamilton for seventh in the pit stops.
Stewards on lap 14 threw a safety car due to the rain’s intensity causing visibility issues and the race resumed at the end of lap 17, which saw Russell clear Hamilton for eighth into Abbey at the start of lap 18.
Hamilton however swept round the outside of Village mere seconds later to pass Russell for seventh as his compatriot on the inside passed Ocon for eighth.
The safety car however was redeployed on lap 19 after Hadjar locked up and struck the rear of Andrea Kimi Antonelli which sent him spinning into the barriers, whilst Antonelli eventually retired with severe damage to his Mercedes.
Stroll benefitted from the chaos and his brief soft-tyre stint from laps 7 – 11 to find himself fourth as the race resumed at the end of lap 21, albeit after Piastri braked just too heavily to allow the safety car time to get away but Verstappen instead sped up and briefly passed the Aussie.
Stewards however pinned the blame on Piastri for the incident and handed him a ten-second time penalty, whilst Verstappen subsequently spun out of Stowe to drop to tenth and ended his hopes of victory.
Amidst his time penalty, Piastri kept Norris at bay with a two-second gap until the Brit cut his gap down from lap 38
Hamilton in sixth struggled for pace behind Gasly and lost sixth to Russell on lap 24 after he ran wide out of Copse into Maggots.
Once back up to speed and past Russell, Hamilton passed Gasly into Vale on lap 29 then cleared Stroll into Village on lap 35 round the outside for fourth, but found himself frustrated behind Hulkenberg who had passed Stroll into Stowe for third on lap 34.
Once Alonso activated the switch to slick tyres on lap 38, Russell and Ocon experienced slides on their outlaps on cold tyres whilst Hamilton failed to undercut Hulkenberg on lap 42 as the Sauber managed to keep third after he stopped at the end of that lap.
Piastri pitted at the end of lap 43 and Norris followed suit a lap later having inherited the lead due to Piastri serving his time penalty in the pit stop, which the Brit retained after his own stop and ultimately cruised to his maiden home victory and McLaren’s fifth one-two finish of the season.
Hulkenberg meanwhile ended his wait for a first F1 podium in third position much to the delight of Sauber and every F1 fan alike, having last stood on a single-seater podium in September 2009 when he won the Portuguese Feature Race in GP2.
F1 will head to Spa Francorchamps from 25-27 July for the Belgian GP weekend which sees the return of the sprint weekend format.
| Position | Driver | Team | Laps | Time |
| 1 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 52 | 1h 37m 15.735 |
| 2 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 52 | + 6.812 |
| 3 | Nico Hulkenberg | Sauber | 52 | + 34.742 |
| 4 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | 52 | + 39.812 |
| 5 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 52 | + 56.781 |
| 6 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 52 | + 59.857 |
| 7 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 52 | + 60.603 |
| 8 | Alex Albon | Williams | 52 | + 64.135 |
| 9 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 52 | + 65.858 |
| 10 | George Russell | Mercedes | 52 | + 70.674 |
| 11 | Oliver Bearman | Haas | 52 | + 72.095 |
| 12 | Carlos Sainz | Williams | 52 | + 76.592 |
| 13 | Esteban Ocon | Haas | 52 | + 77.301 |
| 14 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 52 | + 84.877 |
| 15 | Yuki Tsunoda | Red Bull | 51 | + 1 Lap |
| RET | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | 23 | Damage |
| RET | Isack Hadjar | Racing Bulls | 17 | Collision |
| RET | Gabriel Bortoleto | Sauber | 3 | Spin |
| RET | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | 0 | Collision |
| RET | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | 0 | Gearbox |
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