Max Verstappen storms to British Grand Prix victory with two Brits on the podium
World championship leader Verstappen fell behind at the start but soon fought back to take the chequered flag ahead of Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton at Silverstone
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Max Verstappen extended his championship lead with a convincing victory – and sixth win on the spin – at the British Grand Prix on a day of success for McLaren too.
Red Bull’s Verstappen, starting on pole, lost the lead to driver of the day Lando Norris at the start but soon took back first place on lap five and maintained position despite a safety car just over halfway through the race.
McLaren star Norris finished second for his joint-best result in Formula 1 with eight-time winner at Silverstone Lewis Hamilton completing the podium in third.
George Russell finished fifth with Norris’ McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri unluckily missing out on a first podium in F1 with a nonetheless highly-respectable fourth place.
“We had a good race. Last stint was difficult with these tyres but overall pace was good,” said Verstappen, after picking up Red Bull’s 11th victory in a row.
After all the pre-race hype on an overcast day, including Brad Pitt striding down the grid after the national anthem while filming a scene for the highly-anticipated new F1 film, the start saw Norris roar into a thrilling lead.
As Verstappen’s RB19 baulked with wheelspin on lights out, Norris took advantage down the inside at turn one.
Verstappen also came under immense pressure on lap one from Piastri but, crucially, managed to keep at least one McLaren behind him.
Norris maintained excellent pace at the start and throughout the race but could not keep the Dutchman behind him for long, with the Red Bull soaring past on lap five on the Wellington Straight with the help of DRS.
The pack was then set for the first half of the race, with Hamilton losing a spot from seventh at the start but quickly overtaking old foe Alonso.
But when Kevin Magnussen’s engine blew on lap 32 and the safety car came out, it triggered the frontrunners to pit and changed the order with Aussie rookie Piastri in particular missing out.
TOP-10 - BRITISH GRAND PRIX
1) Max Verstappen
2) Lando Norris
3) Lewis Hamilton
4) Oscar Piastri
5) George Russell
6) Sergio Perez
7) Fernando Alonso
8) Alex Albon
9) Charles Leclerc
10) Carlos Sainz
The incident worked wonders for Hamilton, though, who came out in third place for a lengthy safety car period.
Verstappen, in familiarly comfortable fashion, stole a march at the restart while Norris had to dig deep in defence to keep Hamilton, on quicker soft tyres, behind him.
The top-three remained as the race concluded, with Hamilton claiming his 14th podium at Silverstone and Norris his first podium since Imola last year.
The Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz only managed to finish in the final points positions in ninth and tenth respectively, while Alex Albon sealed a terrific eighth place for Williams on the weekend they celebrated their 800th race in Formula 1.
Sergio Perez came home sixth – up ten places from starting the grid in 16th – with Fernando Alonso finishing seventh for Aston Martin.
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