Lando Norris came through to win F1 British GP after penalty to Oscar Piastri in second, as Nico Hulkenberg climbs up to first podium.
It rained just before the start of F1 British GP at Silverstone which forced everyone to start on the intermediate tyres. But at the end of the formation lap, a certain section dived into the pitlane to change tyres. It was led by Mercedes’ George Russell, followed by Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
They pitted from the Top 10, while the likes of Visa Cash App RB’s Isack Hadjar, Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto and Haas’ Oliver Bearman did so from outside the points. At the start, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen led the way in F1 British GP from McLaren’s Oscar Piastri.
His teammate Lando Norris steadied in third despite the hustle from Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton. Alpine’s Pierre Gasly was up to sixth after repassing Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso on Lap 1 itself, as Williams’ Carlos Sainz was seventh from Mercedes’ Andrea Kimi Antonelli.
The Top 10 had Williams’ Alexander Albon and Red Bull Yuki Tsunoda. The Japanese driver almost lost it when he was involved in an incident against Haas’ Esteban Ocon and Visa Cash App RB’s Liam Lawson. The Red Bull driver was on the incident with the Frenchman in the middle to the Kiwi.
Lawson took the left-hander on the outside and nowhere to go, Ocon and Lawson made contact. The Visa Cash App RB retired for the Virtual Safety Car to be deployed. The Haas driver dropped dow the order with damage. Antonelli pitted to switch to slicks, as Alpine’s Franco Colapinto had a DNS.
Not before the race was green, it was put under VSC again after Bortoleto lost control and crashed into the barrier. He tried to get through into the pits but was asked to stop. The re-start saw Piastri hustle Vertsappen and eventually pass him to lead the F1 British GP, as rain started to fall.
Norris caught him and passed Verstappen for second. The rain started to get heavier and most started to pit. The safety car was deployed for heavy rain shower. Piastri managed to retain the lead, but Norris lost to Verstappen in the pits due to a slower stop in the double-stack.
The brief re-start had Piastri maintain the lead, but Hamilton lost to Ocon and Russell at the fag end of the Top 10. He re-passed both the drivers in the next corner. But the race saw another safety car after Hadjar clawed into the back of Antonelli to crash out into the barrier.
The Italian continued on for few laps but eventually was forced to retire due to damage. The Lap 21 re-started caught out Verstappen, who spun in the final corner. Piastri braked hard when the safety car lights were out. The Australian was handed a 10s time penalty for erratic driving.
It was Norris in second from Stroll, who jumped to podium after starting 17th. He had Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg in fourth from Gasly. It was Hamilton in seventh but a snap got Russell through him. The Ferrari driver re-passed the Mercedes driver a few laps later to retake sixth.
Alonso was eighth from Sainz, with Verstappen 10th. The Dutchman initially lost out to Albon, but got the place back in the Top 10. Just outside the points, Tsunoda was handed a 10s time penalty for causing collision against Bearman. The Brit was forced onto the grass as a result.
Both the Red Bull cars were handicapped due to the rear wing in wet conditions. Over halfway into the grand prix, Piastri maintained his lead from Norris, but he created a good gap over Stroll. The Canadian had Hulkenberg on his tail, who had Hamilton chasing him after he cleared Gasly for fifth.
The Frenchman kept Russell at bay with Alonso, Sainz, Verstappen, Albon and Leclerc close behind. The battle for podium started to heat up as Hulkenberg passed Stroll for the third. The Canadian soon lost fourth to Hamilton, who caught up the back of the German in few laps.
Verstappen managed to clear Sainz for ninth, as the Spaniard came under pressure from Leclerc. The slick tyre gamble kick-started on Lap 38 when Alonso pitted from eighth and Russell followed on Lap 39. The group started to pit then after. But the moments continued on.
Norris eventually took the lead from Piastri, who wanted to swap and had a tarmac moment. Hulkenberg maintained third despite the slow stop from Hamilton, who had a moment at pit exit. Stroll was fifth from Verstappen, who managed to pass Gasly but had heaps of complain about the car.
Alonso was up to eighth from Albon and Russell in the Top 10, but Bearman was on his tail. The Haas drivers came together when the Brit tried to pass Ocon. The Frenchman went off and dropped down. Leclerc, meanwhile, had a moment when passing Sainz, which dropped the Spaniard in the order.
The Monegasque had another gravel moment to drop further back in the order. McLaren informed Piastri about no team orders. It was straight fight and Norris eventually took the F1 British GP win from Piastri, as Hulkenberg finally secured his first podium in 239 starts after coming through from 19th.
Hamilton fell short in fourth from Verstappen. The Dutchman cleared Stroll towards the end after a wide moment, as the Canadian lost to Gasly on the final lap to be sixth. It was still a good result in seventh for Stroll, as Albon cleared Alonso on the final lap to secure eighth after a hectic race.
Alonso had to be content with ninth from Russell, who held off Bearman. Sainz was 12th from Ocon, Leclerc and Tsunoda among the 15 finishers, where the Japanese driver ended up a lap down on the leaders.
UPDATE: Hadjar was cleared of any penalty for the incident against Antonelli. The Italian admitted that he slowed earlier than the braking point, which caught out the Frenchman. Since the conditions were dire, it was not possible for either drivers to avoid the incident.
Both Bearman and Ocon were cleared of their incident where the stewards noted that the conditions were such that no driver was wholly to be blamed. Although the Brit was ahead on the apex, the one dry line hampered the Frenchman to move away and they touched.
The stewards also explained the penalty to Piastri, who braked from 218 km/hr to 52 km/hr behind the safety car at 59.2 psi of brake pressure. It resulted in Verstappen having to take evasive action. Since the Australian braked erratically, he was handed a time penalty.
