So far in 2023, Max Verstappen has appeared to be unstoppable and the FORMULA 1 ARAMCO BRITISH GRAND PRIX 2023 would prove to be no different. He started alongside Lando Norris, who, in a McLaren that now appears to be far more competitive than at the start of the season, was looking to take his maiden victory in front of his home crowd.
Max Verstappen had a poor start from pole position, allowing Lando Norris to charge into the lead off the line. His teammate Oscar Piastri tried to get by Verstappen into the first corner, but had to back off. Piastri was all over the back of the Red Bull on the opening lap of the race, as Verstappen appeared to struggle with grip at the start of the race. The British crowd loved it and could be heard screaming around Silverstone.
By the time the DRS was enabled, Norris had very nearly stretched out a one second lead, but Verstappen managed to only just stay within range of the McLaren. The power of the dominant RB19 car proved to much for the McLaren, as Verstappen easily took the lead of the race at Brooklands on lap 5. Norris tried to stay on the back of the Red Bull to get DRS himself, but eventually fell back. Piastri was instructed to hold position behind Norris in an attempt to pull away from the rest of the field behind.
Further back, George Russell was right on the gearbox of Charles Leclerc but the Ferrari driver was defending hard. Perhaps too hard, as Russell complained about Leclerc moving under braking. Meanwhile, Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton had recovered from his poor start and was looking to join the Ferrari battle.
Nico Hulkenberg found himself having to make an early pit stop to replace his damaged front wing, which was damage inflicted upon him by Sergio Perez. Hulkenberg was also hit in the rear by Nyck de Vries in the AlphaTauri.
In the early stages of the race, some drivers complained about the unpredictable and string wind gusts. Other stopped light drops of rain popping up around the circuit, although that was the extent of the rain experienced during the race.
Esteban Ocon was the first driver to retire from the race, pulling into the pit lane on lap 9 due to a mechanical issue.
Under pressure from Russell behind, Leclerc was the first of the lead cars to put for new hard compound tyres on lap 19 for the one-stop strategy. Mercedes did not immediately pit Russell to cover off the undercut, opting instead to have Russell stretch his first stint on the soft tyres to potentially go onto the mediums for one-stop strategy later in the race.
Carlos Sainz was the next of the leaders to pit, diving into the pit lane on lap 27. Having started the race on the medium tyres, Ferrari decided to fit Sainz’s car with hard tyres rather than going for the soft compound tyres.
Russell finally ditched his soft tyres for a set of mediums on lap 29, although it was not the quickest pit stop. He rejoined the race behind Leclerc and narrowly ahead of Lance Stroll. Within a couple of laps, he found himself back behind Leclerc on the faster tyres. He was unable to make a move around Brooklands, but was able to overtake Leclerc on around the outside of Luffield as Leclerc tried to defend the apex.
On lap 32, Kevin Magnussen became the second retirement from the race as his engine died. He parked on the side of the circuit, bringing out the safety car. This was a blessing for the top four drivers, all of which still needed to make a pit stop and were now able to do so under the safety car. Leclerc also used this opportunity to make a second pit stop to fit the soft tyres for the final stint of the race.
In a bold move, McLaren took a more conservative strategy call, putting a set of new hard compound tyres on Norris’ car instead of a used set of softs, as most other drivers had done. This left Norris exposed on the restart to Hamilton, who had crucially stayed ahead of Piastri during his safety car pit stop for soft tyres.
The race finally resumed on lap 38, with Verstappen under no real threat from behind because Norris’ priority was defending from Hamilton. On the opening lap, Hamilton was all over the back of Norris, trying to make a move at Brooklands and then at Luffield, but the pace of the McLaren was enough to keep Hamilton at bay.
Hamilton was able to get the nose of his Mercedes on the inside of Norris at Luffield the following lap. The two ran side-by-side down the straight that followed, but Hamilton had to back out of the move as they entered Copse. The McLaren’s straight line speed proved to be superior to that of the Mercedes, allowing Norris to maintain his led over the Silver Arrows, even after DRS was enabled.
Further back, Sergio Perez had driven a solid recovery drive, challenging the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz for P7. Perez made a dive on the inside into Vale, but Sainz held on around the outside. But his exit out of Club corner was compromised, which allowed Perez to perform the switchback and easily take the position. It wasn’t over for Sainz, who was also overtaken by Alex Albon and Charles Leclerc in the corners that followed, dropping him down to P10 and under pressure from Pierre Gasly.
Gasly did manage to momentarily get by Sainz, but the Spaniard retook the position with a brave move on the inside of Copse. Gasly became the final retirement of the race after a collision with Lance Stroll a couple of laps later. Stroll tried to make a move around the outside of Vale, but ran wide off the circuit. As the corner changed into a right-hand corner, Stroll ran out of space and clattered into the side of Gasly’s Alpine, breaking the Frenchman’s rear suspension.
With now only a lap remaining in the race, Leclerc had to try to make a move on Albon to upgrade to a P8 finish. He made a few attempts to overtake, but in the end had to settle for a P9 finish.
At the front of the field, Max Verstappen took victory for the eighth time this season, extending his championship lead to 99 points over Sergio Perez. Two British drivers stood on the podium for their home grand prix, with Lando Norris a season-high P2 ahead of Lewis Hamilton.
Only a single back-to-back weekend of racing stands between Formula One and the summer break. Next up is the Hungarian Grand Prix on the weekend of July 23.
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| Race Results | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | M. Verstappen | 26 | |
| 2 | L. Norris | 18 | |
| 3 | L. Hamilton | 15 | |
| 4 | O. Piastri | 12 | |
| 5 | G. Russell | 10 | |
| 6 | S. Perez | 8 | |
| 7 | F. Alonso | 6 | |
| 8 | A. Albon | 4 | |
| 9 | C. Leclerc | 2 | |
| 10 | C. Sainz | 1 | |
| 11 | L. Sargeant | ||
| 12 | V. Bottas | ||
| 13 | N. Hulkenberg | ||
| 14 | L. Stroll | ||
| 15 | G. Zhou | ||
| 16 | Y. Tsunoda | ||
| 17 | N. de Vries | ||
| DNF | P. Gasly | ||
| DNF | K. Magnussen | ||
| DNF | E. Ocon | ||
