Lando Norris goes through the emotions of winning F1 British GP and his strategy, as Andrea Stella has praise for the Brit coming through.
After the high in Austria, McLaren’s Norris came into the F1 British GP weekend with high hopes, but it was somewhat thrown down after he ended up third behind Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri in qualifying. In the grand prix as well, the Brit had to work through the Dutchman.
The conditions made it tough as Piastri started to stretch ahead. He lost second to Verstappen in the pits after clearing him on track. It was the case of getting back at him but the Red Bull driver spun on re-start, while his teammate was handed a 10s time penalty which more or less limited his chances.
Norris still had to get through the line after another pit stop where Piastri looked like catching him at one stage, but the Brit had enough in the tank to secure a home win in British GP. After the success at his second home in Monaco, the Brit took the ultimate prize at Silverstone.
He bridged the gap to Piastri to eight points, as he reflected on securing the home victory in front his fans and family. He added on his strategy where Stella expanded that Norris was saving a bit to push at the Australian at latter stages, but it never at it eventually.
Home race win, good run –
Norris: “Where do I start? I mean, eventful race. Yeah. Eventful race. I mean, it means a huge amount. You know, at the end of the day, being on top in your home race is very, very special. And I said in some of the other interviews, you know, this is where it all started for me. I was watching on TV. I was watching, all those many years ago, Lewis, Jenson, Fernando. I think it was, you know, that extremely wet race here, in 2007 or 2008. That’s when I really started watching Formula 1. And I think Lewis won, and I got that picture of him going around and seeing all the fans standing up, and that picture of what an atmosphere in Silverstone is like, and dreamed of that for many, many years. And today I got to live that feeling myself and see it through my own eyes. So pretty amazing, pretty special. A lot of people, from my friends and family, my brother, my sisters, my mom, my dad, my dad’s parents. Every person that I could have here is here. So, yeah, more special than ever, 100%. And, yeah, tough race to do it in as well. I mean, it’s tough to say it.
“Look, you can always class it as momentum or whatever, but I don’t think that… yeah. I don’t know. It’s whatever you want to believe in the end of the day. I think it’s still just one race at a time. Obviously, I had a good race last weekend and we had a good battle, and we got close, and I was looking forward to another good battle. So, you know, I give my credit to Oscar at the same time because he drove an extremely good race. But, you know, it’s two wins, but they’ve not come easy by any means. We’ve had good fights, but they’re pretty strenuous, exhausting weekends because you’re fighting for hundredths and thousandths, and you’re fighting for perfection every session and I’m against some pretty good drivers. So, it takes a lot out of you, especially when you have a race like today. So, I’ve had two good weekends and, of course, I would love to continue that momentum, but it still requires more consistency. Two weekends doesn’t mean anything otherwise. And I just need to keep it up and keep working hard.”
Strategy, getting it right –
Norris: “I think as a team, we did a very good job. I was pretty happy with everything. I think we made the right calls at the right time. Probably could have boxed for slicks a couple of laps before we did. But, you know, the first part of the race, Oscar and Max were fighting quite a lot, and I was pretty patient. I didn’t push too much. I tried to look after my tyres a little bit more for some of the later stages when it started to rain again, but it was probably the wrong thing to do. I probably should’ve just pushed because we went onto another set of Inters. It’s just tough to not crash in these conditions. It sounds so obvious and easy, but the amount of moments you have, at Turn 1, the aquaplaning in 2 , the aquaplaning into 9, where Hadjar crashed – you don’t realise how close sometimes we are to crashing and it all being in the bin in a matter of tenths.
“They are scary moments inside, but then they excite you in a way, and then you open your eyes, you concentrate again. It’s scary and thrilling at the same time. But they’re also fun races, but they take a lot out of you in one single race. So, a lot of decisions, but I think as a team, we talked through things perfectly well and we kept calm through the whole thing, and that paid dividends at the end.”
Stella: “I think the race today needs to be looked at, especially in the first part of the race, not only from a pure speed point of view, but also there were some tactical elements. Because we needed to get to a certain stage of the race where there could have been some more rain. So I think Lando, when he saw that he was not in condition to take the lead, he started to save a bit to make sure that he had tyres to go through the rain that would have come at some stage. While Oscar decided to just go for the lead, in fairness to Oskar, he also had great speed. It’s not only determination, you also have to be able to realise the lap times that he was able to realise.
“And definitely in terms of race craft, we know Oscar is very effective when he goes for an overtaking, and he did it today once again. So it’s not only the speed, but also what was the objective at that stage. And definitely with Lando, there was a consideration of making sure that there were good tyres for when the rain would have come. Then actually everyone, once the rain came, decided to go for a new set, or most people decided to go for a new set of intakes. But Oscar is a very fast, very strong, very determined driver. He proved that today, he didn’t lead to a win, but I’m sure he will lead to many more wins this season already.”
Emotions –
Norris: “No. No tears. I tried, but no. I don’t know. When I get emotional, I don’t cry, I just smile. It’s pure happiness. It’s pure enjoyment of the moment that you’re in. I wish I could cry because I think it looks better for pictures sometimes. But no, I just smile instead. Like I said before, this is where it all started for me, seeing this, having all my grandstands here, and even before the race just thinking like, someone’s got to win today. I probably have a better chance than most. There’s no reason why it can’t be me. I always find it at times hard to picture and be too positive prior to races and never say today is going to be my day. But I was actually surprisingly hopeful this morning that today I could do well, and I had the pace when I needed it. I’ve joined a long list of pretty incredible winners who have won here in the past. Most of them are Lewis! But to join him and, from a British side, to continue the reign of the British here is pretty amazing.
“And just for the fans. The last two laps, looking up at the fans and seeing them on their feet and cheering – these are moments that no one really gets, none of you guys get to witness. This is something that I and very few others, especially Brits, get to witness. It’s a very selfish moment, but it’s one of the most special, the most incredible, because it’s such a rare thing that someone gets to feel and to see and to witness. For me, the best win. Maybe not the best way to win, I’m not going say it’s my best win, that’s not true. But in terms of what it means to win here at home, the want, the desire to do it in front of my own grandstand, my family, my friends, McLaren, His Royal Highness is here, to win in front of all of them and to make amends for last year makes it all even more special. So, yep, very memorable.”
Stella: “Certainly, looking at Lando’s enthusiasm and happiness, I think he definitely got the full experience, he knew that he drove very well today and in fairness to Lando, he lost a position because of a problem of the team. He was second at some stage and he ended up from a pit stop sequence third, so I think Lando has done his job, he has done it fair and square, no faults at all of his own, he drove very well, he drove fast, he found himself in the lead and he won the British Grand Prix and I think he should completely and fully enjoy this great experience and this immense joy. I’m sure in the in-lap he was crying and very deservedly and we shared this joy with him.”
Here’s race start: https://www.formula1.com/en/video/2025-british-grand-prix-verstappen-holds-off-piastri-at-the-start-to-lead-the-opening-lap.1836907254283884952
Here’s win for Lando Norris: https://www.formula1.com/en/video/2025-british-grand-prix-norris-crosses-the-line-to-take-his-first-british-grand-prix-victory.1836914893202123568
Here’s Oscar Paistri on loosing the win
Here’s how F1 British GP panned out
