British Grand Prix look back - Home Win for Norris

This year’s British Grand Prix at the home of F1 didn’t disappoint and delivered the chaos and beauty of Formula 1 that every fan admires. The action kicked off before the cars had even lined up for lights out, with some teams opting to pit after the formation lap to swap from intermediate to medium slick tyres due to the mixed conditions on the track. Mercedes‘ George Russell was among the drivers who made this swap.

After lights out, it was only moments before the first of many yellow flags of the race after Racing Bulls Liam Lawson made contact with the Haas of Esteban Ocon. After trying to rejoin the track, the Racing Bulls car came to a halt prompting another safety car and Lawson’s retirement from the race. This was just the beginning of a heartbreaking race for Racing Bulls. On lap 3, it was another retirement for the Alpine of Franco Colapinto who made a pit lane start but stalled and ended his day early. Colapinto’s future at Alpine is looking uncertain as he is yet to score a point this season with discussion of bringing back Jack Doohan or bringing in seasoned driver, Valterri Bottas. It was one yellow flag after another, after Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoletto spun into the gravel and struggled to get back to the pits to retire the car. As the rain drew closer, Oscar Piastri fought his way into P1 after struggling for a few corners to get past a defensive Max
Verstappen. Piastri’s overtake was made at the perfect time before the rain. Another person who made the right move at the right time was Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll who gambled and pitted for Softs, a gamble that immensely paid off. This tyre call by Aston Martin gave Stroll one of his best performances this season, sitting in P3 for much of the
race having started in P17.As conditions began to worsen in the rain at Silverstone, a full safety car was deployed by
lap 14. Someone who was suffering under the conditions was Charles Leclerc who’s Ferrari span after hitting a pool of water on turn 12, sending him down to P14.

After the rain eased and the safety car was lifted, it was quickly followed by yet another and concluded a heartbreaking day for Racing Bulls. Rookie driver Isack Hadjar after hitting the back of Kimi Antonelli’s Mercedes in poor visibility conditions, leaving his VCARB in a mess in the gravel of Copse Corner and Antonelli with damage to his rear. Both rookie drivers were forced to retire at their first British Grand Prix. The overshadowing controversy of this year’s British Grand Prix was the safety car ending which cost Oscar Piastri a potential race win. Piastri seemingly broke as the safety car ended causing havoc for the other cars. Piastri was hit with a 10 second penalty after a steward's investigation which caused heartbreak for the World Drivers Championship leader. Meanwhile, the track conditions were still causing havoc after the safety car restart as Max Verstappen spun out at Stowe and fell from P2 to P10, another nightmare race for Red Bull with Yuki Tsunoda fighting to overtake down at P15. This gave Lando Norris a huge advantage to get his first home win which seemed only inevitable.

However, behind the Mclaren pair against all odds were Lance Stroll in P3 and the Sauber of Nico Hulkenburg in P4. With DRS, Hulkenburg was able to overtake Stroll to get into the podium positions for the first time in his 15 year F1 career, an incredible feat in the Sauber.

Hulkenburg proved his maturity, skill and prowess as a seasoned driver on the grid, holding off 8-time winner at Silverstone Lewis Hamilton to claim his first ever podium finish in his F1 career. After serving his 10 second penalty in the pits for safety car infringements, Oscar Piastri fell to second, leaving Lando Norris to lead, and eventually win his first home Grand Prix.

It was a fantastic day for Mclaren finishing 1-2 and extending their Constructor’s Championship lead, but without a doubt, Parc Ferme was overshadowed with the chants of ‘Hulk’ who for the first time in 239 races, finally finished P3 and made it onto the podium. His skilled drive was rewarded with the title of Driver of the Day.

Lewis Hamilton drove his Ferrari to P4, followed by Max Verstappen who made his way back up from P10, overtaking Gasly and Stroll who finished P6 and P7 respectively. Home constructor Williams finished in the points with Alex Albon driving to a deserved P8 and Aston Martin secured double points with Fernando Alonso finishing P9 and concluding the
points was Mercedes’ George Russell in P10.

The Drivers and Constructors championships now looks closer than ever, particularly for the constructors in the middle of the Constructors’ Championship table as Sauber jumps to P6 after Hulkenburg’s stunning drive. Drivers will be looking ahead to pull out all the stops in Belgium and Hungary to get points on the board before the summer break.