Lewis Hamilton prevailed in tricky conditions to win F1 British GP ahead of Max Verstappen and Lando Norris.
It was a clean start from pole for George Russell in his Mercedes in F1 British GP at Silverstone from teammate Lewis Hamilton, but Red Bull’s Max Verstappen managed to clear McLaren’s Lando Norris on the outside to be third in the order.
Norris was fourth from teammate Oscar Piastri, as Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz slotted in sixth from Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll who gained a place along with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in seventh after the Monegasque started from 11th on the grid.
Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg was ninth after his slight off moment at Lap 1. He was investigated for gaining an advantage against Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, but was cleared from it with the Spaniard rounding the Top 10 points places.
That moment caught out Alonso as Williams’ Alexander Albon was caught out and hit the side of it, as he then had a touch against Logan Sargeant and Visa Cash App RB’s Yuki Tsunoda as well. As a result, the Thai dropped to 12th after starting in the Top 10.
There was a DNS against Alpine’s Pierre Gasly as the French driver was asked to pit after the formation lap due to a suspected gearbox issue. Red Bull’s Sergio Perez started from pitlane and made steady progress in the first handful laps to be around Top 15.
At the front, meanwhile, Russell held onto the F1 British GP well from Hamilton, Verstappen, Norris and Piastri in the Top 5. Just behind them, Leclerc finally managed to get by Stroll for seventh but the Canadian hung on along with Hulkenberg.
As there was some drizzle on the way, Norris caught up with Verstappen and made an easy pass on the Dutchman to retake third. In fact, the Red Bull started to come under pressure from Piastri, with the other McLaren also showing good pace.
Piastri passed Verstappen for fourth too where the Dutchman didn’t fight as much. As it was drizzling, Hamilton caught the back of his teammate Russell and got past him to take the F1 British GP lead as the rain started to fall at certain part of the circuit.
Both Mercedes had a wide moment which allowed Norris to clear Russell. After a couple of laps, the McLaren driver cleared Hamilton to lead the F1 British GP. His teammate Piastri first cleared Russell and then made a work of Hamilton to make it McLaren 1-2.
Hamilton was third from Russell, with Verstappen back in fifth from Sainz. It was Hulkenberg in seventh from Alonso who managed to clear Stroll as well who dropped to ninth. Tsunoda, meanwhile, was up to 10th as intermediate gamble didn’t work.
It was Leclerc, Perez, Alpine’s Esteban Ocon and Stake F1 Team’s Zhou Guanyu who went for it and perished for the team being when it was dry again. It was Ocon who changed back to dry tyres but others ran it slowly waiting for the rain to arrive.
With more heavy rain in, Verstappen and Sainz went early as McLaren spilt on the next lap and Mercedes stuck with double stacking. It kept Norris in the lead of F1 British GP as Hamilton was second, but Verstappen gained couple of places to be third.
Russell was fourth from Sainz, as Piastri lost chunk of places to be sixth after electing to longer. Hulkenberg was seventh as Stroll managed to retake position from Alonso while the Top 10 was rounded out by Tsunoda from Albon.
It was mostly over for the likes of Perez and Leclerc, who were a lap down and were forced to pit again for a fresh set of intermediate. It steadied up at the front of the field, but Russell was forced to retire due to suspected water system issue.
This allowed position gain especially for Hulkenberg who was up to sixth from Stroll, Alonso and Albon in the Top 10, with Haas’ Kevin Magnussen just outside. The Dane also had a moment over the kerb and saved an off in slippery condition.
The crossover period kicked-in and the likes of Hamilton, Verstappen and Piastri came through first up to pit where the former went on the soft tyre with the Dutchman on the hard and the Australian going for the medium.
A lap late cost Norris the F1 British GP lead to Hamilton but both were on the same soft tyre, with Verstappen in third from Piastri who jumped Sainz in the order. Hulkenberg was sixth from Stroll, Alonso, Tsunoda and Albon in the Top 10.
It started to close up at the front with Hamilton in the lead from Norris. The latter started to come under pressure from Verstappen and the Dutchman eventually caught him up and passed him on the outside, leaving the duo in front to fight for the win.
But Hamilton had it under control to score his first F1 win since 2021 season in British GP at his home event ahead of Verstappen, who fought his way up from Norris and Piastri. It was late stop for Sainz to go for the fastest lap which he got to be fifth.
Hulkenberg brought home solid points in sixth from Stroll and Alonso, as Albon passed Tsunoda for ninth with the Japanese driver hanging on to the final point. Williams’ Logan Sargeant was 11th eventually after passing Magnussen in the final few laps.
Visa Cash App RB’s Daniel Ricciardo ended up 13th from Leclerc, Stake F1 Team’s Valtteri Bottas, Ocon, Perez and Guanyu to round the 18 runners. Everyone from Ricciardo onward ended up a lap down, with everyone from Ocon finishing two laps down.
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