UK GP: Norris - Piastri - Hulkenberg
Cloudy. Occasionally raining. Air 18°C, track 26…23°C
The Silverstone round was the twelfth in the calendar and marked the end of the first half of the season. The balance of power had long become clear, yet almost every race held surprises. Teams improved their cars, circuits, conditions, and weather varied. The last season before the regulation change turned out to be interesting and unpredictable. Before the start at Silverstone, hardly anyone could confidently name the winner.
In the four sessions held before the race, four drivers led—Hamilton and Norris on Friday, Leclerc on Saturday morning, while Verstappen took pole position.
Verstappen and Piastri started from the front row, Norris and Russell from the second, Hamilton and Leclerc from the third.
Two drivers lost positions on the starting grid due to penalties. Antonelli was penalized three places in Austria for contact with Verstappen, and Berman received a ten-place penalty at Silverstone for violating red flag rules. Franco Colapinto’s engine was replaced during a closed park and he started from the pit lane.
As is tradition, at least one day of the British weekend features rain. This time, it was Sunday. Most of the young drivers and spectators in the stands suffered the most. By the time the Formula 1 race started, the weather had improved, but some parts of the track remained wet.
Pirelli brought softer tires than usual—compounds C2, C3, and C4 used as Hard, Medium, and Soft. All drivers started on intermediate tires after a warm-up lap behind the safety car.
Before the start, Leclerc, Hajjar, Russell, Bortoleto, and Berman pitted for slicks. The grid was formed without them.
At the start, Verstappen maintained the lead. Colapinto failed to start from the pit lane due to a gearbox failure. Ocon, squeezed between Tsunoda and Lawson, collided with Lawson but continued. Liam’s car was damaged and stopped.
A safety car deployment followed. Antonelli pitted for slicks.
On the third lap, the top ten was: Verstappen - Piastri - Norris - Hamilton - Gasly - Alonso - Sainz - Elbon - Tsunoda - Hulkenberg.
On the fourth lap, Bortoleto went off the track, crossing the gravel trap and hitting the barrier. He attempted to continue but stopped at the team’s request. A virtual safety car (VSC) was deployed for car removal.
On the seventh lap, Stroll changed tires and, on softs, quickly moved up the order.
On the eighth lap, the restart was announced. Piastri attacked Verstappen and overtook him to take the lead, breaking away.
On the ninth lap, Antonelli overtook Leclerc for 14th position, but on the tenth, Charles regained the position.
On the tenth lap, Hulkenberg and Antonelli changed tires, leaving intermediate compoounds. On the eleventh lap, Stroll, Russell, and Leclerc pitted. Rain began falling. Hajjar and Berman changed tires accordingly.
On the eleventh lap, Verstappen made a mistake, went off track, and lost time to Norris.
On the twelfth lap, Piastri, Norris, and Verstappen pitted for new tires. Lando experienced a wheel attachment delay with the front-left. Those yet to pit switched to intermediates.
On the thirteenth lap, Russell overtook Alonso; Gasly passed Hamilton.
The top ten at the 14th lap: Piastri - Verstappen - Norris - Stroll - Hulkenberg - Gasly - Ocon - Hamilton - Russell - Alonso.
Heavy rain started. Leclerc spun into the gravel but continued. Race control deployed the safety car.
The rain was brief; cars quickly cleared the track, and a restart was announced on the 18th lap.
Piastri kept the lead. Russell overtook Hamilton, but Lewis soon regained the position and passed Ocon as well. George overtook Ocon.
On the same lap, Hajjar crashed heavily after hitting the rear of Antonelli’s car in spray. The safety car was out again. Ocon changed tires.
On the twenty-first lap, Antonelli pitted with the rear-right diffuser damaged after Hajjar’s crash but was given new tires and returned to the track.
The top ten behind the safety car: Piastri - Verstappen - Norris - Stroll - Hulkenberg - Gasly - Hamilton - Russell - Alonso - Sainz.
On the 22nd lap, the restart was signaled. Just before the green, Piastri nearly stalled, allowing Verstappen to overtake, but Max immediately regained the position. During the restart, Piastri kept the lead. Verstappen spun off, dropping to tenth. Tsunoda spun Berman, and both continued.
For the maneuvers before the restart, stewards penalized Piastri with a 10-second time penalty.
On the 24th lap, Antonelli pitted and retired. Hamilton ran wide at the first turn, and Russell overtook him.
The top ten on the 25th lap: Piastri - Norris - Stroll - Hulkenberg - Gasly - Russell - Hamilton - Alonso - Sainz - Verstappen.
On the 27th lap, Hamilton overtook Russell for sixth place.
Tsunoda received a 10-second penalty for incident with Berman.
On the 30th lap, Hamilton passed Gasly for fifth.
On lap 35, Hulkenberg and Hamilton overtook Stroll.
On lap 36, Leclerc overtook Elbon for 11th.
On lap 38, Alonso switched to slicks first but was too early—the position was lost to Tsunoda, and he was a lap down. On lap 39, Russell changed tires, ran off track, and fell back.
On lap 42, Hamilton, Stroll, Verstappen, Gasly, Sainz, Berman, and Tsunoda switched to slicks.
On the 43rd lap, Hamilton went off and rejoined. Hulkenberg, Leclerc, Elbon, and Ocon changed tires.
On lap 44, Piastri served a 10-second penalty and changed tires, rejoining second. Berman and Ocon collided; both cars spun synchronously but continued.
On lap 45, Norris pitted, emerging five seconds ahead of Piastri. Alonso overtook Elbon for eighth. Piastri ran wide on braking but kept going.
On lap 46, Leclerc spun into the gravel, lost time and positions but kept racing in 14th. Track conditions improved, making the circuit a second faster each lap.
The top ten at the 48th lap: Norris - Piastri - Hulkenberg - Hamilton - Stroll - Verstappen - Gasly - Alonso - Elbon - Russell.
McLaren confirmed they would not use team tactics, allowing drivers to race freely, but Norris set a few fastest laps, and Oscar couldn’t catch him.
On the 51st lap, Stroll made a mistake, and Verstappen overtook him, moving to fifth. On the final lap, Gasly overtook Stroll for sixth.
Lando Norris won the British Grand Prix, his first win at his home race, fourth of the season, and eighth of his career. Oscar Piastri finished second—McLaren achieved its fifth win of the season and the 54th one-two finish in history.
Nico Hulkenberg finished third, gaining 16 positions during the race and, for the first time in his career, stepping onto the podium—in his 239th Grand Prix. This marked Sauber’s first podium since 2012 in Japan.
In three weeks, the fight continues at Spa.
Race results:
| Driver | Team | Time | Average Speed | Pit Stops |
|--------------------|------------------------------------|------------------|-----------------|-----------|
| 1. L. Norris | McLaren | 1:37:15.735 | 188.890 km/h | 2 |
| 2. O. Piastri | McLaren | +6.812 | 188.669 km/h | 2 |
| 3. N. Hulkenberg | Sauber | +34.742 | 187.772 km/h | 2 |
| 4. L. Hamilton | Ferrari | +39.812 | 187.610 km/h | 2 |
| 5. M. Verstappen | Red Bull | +56.781 | 187.069 km/h | 2 |
| 6. P. Gasly | Alpine | +59.857 | 186.972 km/h | 2 |
| 7. L. Stroll | Aston Martin | +60.603 | 186.948 km/h | 3 |
| 8. A. Elbon | Williams | +64.135 | 186.836 km/h | 2 |
| 9. F. Alonso | Aston Martin | +65.858 | 186.782 km/h | 2 |
| 10. D. Russell | Mercedes | +70.674 | 186.629 km/h | 2 |
Fastest lap: Oscar Piastri (McLaren) - 1:29.337 (51st lap, 237.388 km/h).
Did not start / Retire:
| Driver | Team | Laps | Reason |
|--------------------|--------------------------------|-----------------|---------------------|
| F. Colapinto | Alpine | 0 | Did not start |
| L. Lawson | Racing Bulls | 0 | Crash |
| G. Bortoleto | Sauber | 3 | Crash |
| A. Hajjar | Racing Bulls | 17 | Crash |
| K. Antonelli | Mercedes | 23 | Crash |
Championship standings:
**Drivers’ Championship** (Top 5):
1. O. Piastri - 234 points
2. L. Norris - 226 points
3. M. Verstappen - 165 points
4. D. Russell - 147 points
5. S. Leclerc - 119 points
**Constructors’ Championship** (Top 5):
1. McLaren F1 Team - 460 points
2. Ferrari - 222 points
3. Mercedes - 210 points
4. Red Bull - 172 points
5. Williams - 59 points
Other articles
Lando Norris: Everything I've dreamed of has come true!
Lando Norris and his fans' dream came true: he added a victory at the British Grand Prix to his list of achievements...
Pierre Gasly: We took risks, and this approach paid off.
Pierre Gasly finished sixth at Silverstone, and this is currently the best result for the Alpine F1 team in the season. Meanwhile, Franco Colapinto, his Argentine teammate, was unable to participate in the race at all – his car let him down before the start...
British Grand Prix: All weekend quotes
All British Grand Prix materials on one page...
Nico Hülkenberg: I don't quite understand how this happened.
Nico Hülkenberg finished third at Silverstone and stepped onto the podium for the first time in his career. The German driver needed 239 Grands Prix to achieve this.
80 minutes until the start: Lewis Hamilton's commentary
Lewis Hamilton has won nine times at Silverstone, but today he admitted that securing victory this weekend will not be easy…
Russell: That's not how I wanted to run my home race.
For the Mercedes team, the British Grand Prix was unsuccessful: George Russell finished tenth, but at least earned one championship point. Meanwhile, his young teammate Kimi Antonelli withdrew from the race altogether...
UK GP: Norris - Piastri - Hulkenberg
Lando Norris won the British Grand Prix, earning his fourth of the season and eighth career victory...