Formula One returned to the venue where it all started 75 years ago. On that occasion, Giuseppe Farina won the inaugural round of the 1950 World Championship from pole position, going on to take the first championship title at the end of the year. Alfa Romeo dominated that day, being the only cars to finish on the lead lap. While McLaren wanted to emulate Alfa Romeo’s performance, Max Verstappen wanted to win from pole like Farina.
Pre-race rain made for a damp start at Silverstone. All 20 drivers started the formation lap on the intermediate tyres, but some drivers made the gamble to pit for slicks as everyone parked up on the grid. This included George Russell and Charles Leclerc from P4 and P6 on the grid.
Oscar Piastri had a slightly better start on the front row, but ran out of straight before the first corner to make any move on Max Verstappen. Piastri’s tighter line in the first corner compromised his exit, dropping away from Verstappen.
Behind, Lando Norris was under pressure from Lewis Hamilton. The Ferrari driver was closest in Stowe, trying to overtake the McLaren on the inside. The two were side by side in the final corners. Hamilton ran slightly wide in the final corner, dropping him away from the battle.
Further back, there was drama in the first sector. Esteban Ocon was fighting Liam Lawson in turn four. The battle continued into the following corner, Ocon holding onto the inside line. Yuki Tsunoda made it three-wide with a dive up the inside. Unaware of the driver on the inside, Ocon and Lawson collided. Lawson was too damaged to continue, and the virtual safety car was deployed to clean the stricken Racing Bull.
The VSC was withdrawn on lap four but was almost immediately redeployed. Gabriel Bortoleto, one of the drivers who pitted for slicks on the formation lap, struggled for traction in the opening corners. He skidded into the barriers, destroying his rear wing. He got the car going again, but parked up later in the lap.
The race resumed on lap seven. Verstappen quickly began to struggle on his intermediate tyres, getting super loose when applying the power. This led to Piastri overtaking the polesitter down Hanger Straight, taking the lead into Stowe.
As rain fell, Verstappen’s issues were amplified. The rain was heaviest in the second sector, where Verstappen eventually ran wide, giving Norris P2. The leading trio pitted on lap 11. A slow pit stop on Norris’ car meant Verstappen regained net P2 in the pit lane.
As conditions worsened, the safety car was deployed on lap 14, wiping out Piastri’s 15-second lead. The race resumed four laps later. Hamilton was overtaken by Russell on the restart, but the Mercedes driver lost out to Ocon, who was dropping like a rock on his tyres. Hamilton overtook both drivers on the outside of turn three.
The racing was quickly neutralized again for a heavy crash involving Isack Hadjar at Copse. With poor visibility, the Racing Bulls driver rear-ended Kimi Antonelli under braking and then skidded hard into the barriers. Antonelli did a good job of keeping his car on the circuit, although he would eventually retire because of the damage.
There was more drama when the race restarted on lap 23. Piastri braked as the safety car pulled away, catching Verstappen off guard. Verstappen briefly overtook Piastri before the restart. Verstappen was immediately on the radio to complain about the incident. Things turned worse for the Red Bull driver, as he spun while applying the power at Stowe on the restart. He did a good job of preventing the car from spinning around, but rejoined the race in P10.
The incident caught the attention of the stewards, who eventually awarded Piastri a ten-second penalty for driving irrationally. Verstappen avoided any punishment for overtaking behind the safety car.
The McLaren cars quickly stretched their legs out front while Lance Stroll and Nico Hulkenberg battled for P3. Hulkenberg overtook Stroll on lap 34, as conditions improved significantly. The circuit was dry enough for race control to enable the DRS. Hamilton overtook Stroll the following lap, looking on track to earn a podium position.
Fernando Alonso was the first driver brave enough to try the slicks, with Russell doing the same on the following lap. It was a few laps too early, proven by Russell’s huge spin through Maggotts. But on lap 42, many drivers began to trickle into the pit lane for slicks.
Unable to double-stack their cars, Piastri was the first McLaren to pit for slicks, serving his ten-second penalty. Norris pitted on the following lap, emerging six seconds ahead of his teammate, showing the huge pace advantage of the slicks over the intermediate tyres.
As the laps ticked down, Piastri begged his team to swap positions, essentially nullifying the penalty. But the team refused, leaving Norris in the lead to win for the first time in front of his home crowd.
But all eyes were on Nico Hulkenberg. His day started when he lined up at the back of the grid for the 239th time in his career, unaware his day would finish with him standing on the podium for the first time. It was the first time a Sauber driver stood on the podium since the Japanese Grand Prix way back in 2012. It will also likely be the last time, with Audi set to take over the Swiss-based team at the end of the year.
Everyone will have a few weeks to digest this thrilling race. Next up is a sprint weekend in Belgium on the weekend of July 27.
| Pos. | Driver | Laps | Time | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 52 | 1:37:15.735 | 25 | ||
| 2 | 52 | +6.812 | 18 |  | |
| 3 | 52 | +34.742 | 15 | ||
| 4 | 52 | +39.812 | 12 | ||
| 5 | 52 | +56.781 | 10 | ||
| 6 | 52 | +59.857 | 8 | ||
| 7 | 52 | +60.603 | 6 | ||
| 8 | 52 | +64.135 | 4 | ||
| 9 | 52 | +65.858 | 2 | ||
| 10 | 52 | +70.674 | 1 | ||
| 11 | 52 | +72.095 | |||
| 12 | 52 | +76.592 | |||
| 13 | 52 | +77.301 | |||
| 14 | 52 | +84.477 | |||
| 15 | 51 | +1 Lap | |||
| DNF | 23 | ||||
| DNF | 17 | ||||
| DNF | 3 | ||||
| DNF | 0 | ||||
| DNF | 0 |
| 1 | O. Piastri | 234 |  | |
| 2 | L. Norris | 226 | -8 | |
| 3 | M. Verstappen | 165 | -69 | |
| 4 | G. Russell | 147 | -87 | |
| 5 | C. Leclerc | 119 | -115 | |
| 1 | McLaren | 460 | | |
| 2 | Ferrari | 222 | -238 | |
| 3 | Mercedes | 210 | -250 | |
| 4 | Red Bull | 172 | -288 | |
| 5 | Williams | 59 | -401 | |
