F1 | Race | British GP | Norris takes victory at home, Hulkenberg gets first podium - Motorsport

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Max Verstappen started from pole after logging a blistering 1:24.892 lap time in the late stages of Q3. The McLarens of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris lined up second and third ahead of George Russell in fourth. Lewis Hamilton started from fifth, hoping to extend his streak of podium finishes that goes all the way back to 2014 at the F1 British GP.

A streak of rainy conditions in the lead up to the start caused the majority of the grid to start the race on intermediate tyres. The effect of the sun was powerful, however, and many drivers opted to pit for slicks after the formation lap, starting the race from the pit lane but on the correct tyres.

Partial grid takes the five red lights, multiple drivers starting from pit lane

Fifteen cars began the race from their designated pit boxes, while five drivers, including Charles Leclerc and George Russell, started from the pit lane. Max Verstappen maintained the lead, leading from the McLarens and Lewis Hamilton. Hamilton had a decent start, gaining on Lando Norris before an incident further back in the pack brought out a yellow flag. Franco Colapinto failed to start the race due to a stall on pit lane.

An early incident involving Esteban Ocon and Liam Lawson sent Lawson off the track with significant damage and brought out a VSC. Under yellow flag conditions, Kimi Antonelli pitted for hard tyres and narrowly avoided running wide off the track on his out lap. Shortly after going green again, Gabriel Bortoleto found a wet part of the circuit on his slick tyres and spun into the wall in turn 2 on lap 4. The young Brazilian driver was able to get the car moving. However, he later had to retire the car on track between turns 9 and 10. This brought out the VSC once again.

The green flags waved once again on lap 7. Due to the VSC, the battle between Piastri and Verstappen had essentially been paused. Piastri went instantly on the offensive, making moves for the lead throughout lap 7. At the Hangar Straight, Piastri overtook for the lead, quickly building a ~2-second gap to Verstappen.

Massive weather system moves in

George Russell was on the radio complaining about the rain, as another weather system crept in. Nico Hulkenberg and Kimi Antonelli came in to put intermediate tyres back on as the sky darkened. Five cars remained on slick tyres on lap 10. Those who stayed on the inters they started on were starting to see significant degradation. Starting with Stroll, the slick tyre runners quickly came in as proper rain started to fall on lap 11.

At the front, Norris gained a position on Verstappen after the Dutchman ran off the road. Shortly after the McLarens arrived for a double stack, both were fitted with new inters. Norris’s pit stop went long and cost him track position. On lap 12, the entire grid was running inters as the McLaren engineers were heard over the radio predicting 10 minutes of rain.

Intense rain conditions necessitated a full safety car on lap 14. Charles Leclerc ran off the track briefly but rejoined soon after. On lap 15, Lance Stroll was running up in fourth place, followed by Hulkenberg P5 and Pierre Gasly P6.

One safety car ends, bringing out another shortly after

The green flag came out on lap 17, with Piastri leading Verstappen and Norris. The rain was significantly more manageable, but still a lot of standing water. Lewis Hamilton pulled off a double overtake on Russell and Ocon. Ocon had run on the same set of inters since the start. Isack Hadjar had a huge shunt into Copse Corner, drilling into Antonelli, and bringing the safety car back out on lap 18. With zero visibility, the rookie-on-rookie crash was found faultless.

Antonelli came into the pits on lap 21, changing onto another set of inters. The Mercedes team deemed that the car was fit to continue despite damage to the rear diffuser. After backing up the field, Piastri took off under the green flag into the final corner. Max Verstappen spun unassisted coming up to the front straight and dropped down to P11. Ollie Bearman also spun after being clipped by Yuki Tsunoda on the restart. Tsunoda and Bearman were noted by stewards for this incident. Piastri was noted for a potential safety car infringement.

Antonelli’s race engineer called the young rookie into the pits to retire the car on lap 23. The damage to the Mercedes car was too substantial to continue. Sitting water on the track continued to cause trouble into lap 24. The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton briefly ran off track, losing a position to former teammate Russell.

Huge penalty dealt to the race leader

Oscar Piastri was dealt a 10-second time penalty from the race stewards for his safety car infringement. The stewards believed that the Australian driver was driving erratically. The driver came to almost a complete stop on the track when he saw the safety car lights go out. Yuki Tsunoda was also handed a 10-second penalty for causing a collision with Bearman on the restart.

Down in P9, Verstappen complained over the radio about being stuck behind Carlos Sainz’s Williams on lap 29. The race order was significantly jumbled at this point of the race, with Stroll and Hulkenberg sitting in P3 and P4. Hamilton completed a move on Gasly, climbing to P5.

The track began drying noticeably on lap 32, favouring Lewis Hamilton. Hulkenberg filled the mirrors of Lance Stroll on lap 33. The veteran was desperately chasing down his first career podium in F1. DRS was finally enabled on lap 35, as Russell and Gasly duked it out for P6.

Hulkenberg successfully made the dive on Stroll for P3, Hamilton soon overtaking the Canadian driver as well. With 17 laps remaining, Hulkenberg sits on the provisional podium with a rapidly drying circuit and a Ferrari in his mirrors. The German driver managed to match Norris’s lap times on lap 36, pushing his Sauber car to the limit.

A drying track causes chaos through the field

The weather report from Hamilton forecasted a transition into dry conditions in 5-10 laps, right in time for a big push on the final laps. Fernando Alonso came into the pits on lap 38, Aston Martin gambling on the drying conditions with a still-wet track. George Russell and his Mercedes team toyed with the same gamble over the radio one lap prior, and brought the British driver into the pits for hard slick tyres on lap 39.

The slick tyres caused Alonso to lose eight seconds on his out lap, and George Russell had a dramatic spin into Maggots and Becketts. The slick tyres did not look like the right call. Former teammates Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc narrowly collided on lap 39 after Leclerc made a brave dive.

Hamilton, Stroll, Verstappen, Gasly, Sainz, and Bearman came into the pits for slicks on lap 42, trying for the undercut on the drying track. Hamilton went straight off the track after exiting the pit lane. Hulkenberg came into the pits but came back out in P3, thankfully not losing track position. Oscar Piastri entered the pits on lap 44 to serve his penalty and fit medium tyres, reemerging in P2. Ocon had a big moment with teammate Bearman, both on slick tyres, that caused them to synchronize spin on track. Ocon seemed to suffer some damage to the side of his car from the collision.

Drama in the late stages, Hulkenberg closing in on a dream podium finish

Piastri was driving angrily in P2, logging fantastic sector times but then going off track in Maggots and Becketts. The championship leader was under the impression that he and Norris should swap, giving him the lead. Hulkenberg was still running in a comfortable P3 on lap 46 of 52. Leclerc went off the track once again on lap 44, a rough day for the Monagasque driver down in P14.

Russell came under fire from Bearman on lap 48 for P10. Russell’s hard tyres seemed to be the wrong call from the Mercedes strategy team. Norris leads comfortably from Piastri and Hulkenberg on the penultimate lap. Verstappen makes a move on Stroll for P5, now running behind Hamilton in P4.

Coming around the final corner, Lando Norris heard the roars of the crowd as he took victory at his home Grand Prix. Oscar Piastri held onto P2 despite his large penalty. After 239 starts in F1, Nico Hulkenberg silenced the nay-sayers and brought home a podium finish for the first time in his career.