Norris wins dramatic wet-dry British GP from Piastri as Hulkenberg claims maiden F1 podium

Lando Norris has taken victory in an eventful wet-dry British Grand Prix, the McLaren driver leading home team mate Oscar Piastri on an action-packed afternoon that also saw Nico Hulkenberg finally clinch his maiden F1 podium.

With the race starting in dry conditions, polesitter Max Verstappen initially led away from Piastri – but the Australian soon got ahead just as rain started to fall heavily at Silverstone.

While the McLaren quickly built a strong lead, this was neutralised when the Safety Car was deployed, marking the first appearance for the vehicle during the event.

An action-packed event ensued from there, with Piastri receiving a 10-second time penalty for slowing too much when preparing to lead the pack away following another Safety Car restart, while a spin for Verstappen moments later saw the Dutchman drop backwards.

As conditions changed and drivers started to switch to slick tyres later on, Piastri served his penalty during his pit stop and Norris took over the lead of the race – and from there Norris maintained his advantage to seal the win in front of a cheering crowd, crossing the line 6.812s ahead of Piastri.

Behind them the big story came courtesy of Hulkenberg, the Kick Sauber driver remarkably climbing from P19 on the grid to claim his first podium in third place on his 239th Grand Prix start, having fended off a potential challenge from Lewis Hamilton to hold onto the dream result.

Hamilton had to settle for fourth in his first race at Silverstone as a Ferrari driver, while Verstappen recovered to fifth following his earlier spin in the Red Bull and Pierre Gasly claimed a solid sixth place for Alpine.

Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll was seventh – having just lost out on sixth to Gasly in the final moments – with Alex Albon taking eighth for Williams. The other Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso crossed the line in ninth, while George Russell rounded out the top 10 for Mercedes.

Ollie Bearman just missed out on points at his home race, the Haas driver ending up in P11 ahead of Williams’ Carlos Sainz in P12 and the other Haas of Esteban Ocon in P13, the Frenchman having made contact with team mate Bearman in the latter stages.

Charles Leclerc was 14th on a difficult day for the Ferrari man, having been one of those to gamble on swapping to slick tyres following the formation lap, while Yuki Tsunoda was the final driver classified in 15th for Red Bull.

Five drivers retired from the event, with Franco Colapinto the first to do so after stalling his Alpine in the pit lane.

Liam Lawson exited on Lap 1 following a collision with Ocon, the Racing Bulls driver having to pull off the track, while Kick Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto was the next to record a DNF after a spin into the gravel.

Isack Hadjar suffered a heavy crash in the mixed conditions, though fortunately the Racing Bulls man reported that he was okay, and Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli became the final retiree following a tough afternoon for the Italian.

AS IT HAPPENED

One day on from a thrilling Qualifying session – in which Verstappen stormed through to claim pole position ahead of the McLaren pair of Norris and Piastri – the attentions of the paddock had switched to the 52-lap British Grand Prix.

There had been two changes to the starting order following that session, with Antonelli moving from seventh to 10th thanks to a grid drop for his Lap 1 collision with Verstappen in Austria, while Bearman had taken a 10-place penalty due to a red flag infringement in third practice, meaning that he would line up in 18th.

Colapinto, meanwhile, was set to start from the pit lane, Alpine having made changes to his car under parc ferme conditions following his spin into the barriers during Q1 of Saturday’s Qualifying.

Rain had been falling on and off at Silverstone in the hours prior to the race, leaving plenty of question marks over the forecast for the Grand Prix. While the intermittent showers looked to have abated as the start time neared, conditions remained damp and gusty when the cars started to line up on the grid.

Given the weather, it was confirmed that the formation lap would be started behind the Safety Car, while it was also revealed when the tyre blankets were removed that all 20 cars would start on fresh intermediate tyres. However, a number of cars – Russell, Leclerc, Antonelli, Hadjar and Bearman – dived into the pits to bolt on slick tyres prior to the start, leaving gaps on the grid.

Verstappen made a strong launch from pole, holding onto the lead ahead of Piastri and Norris, before Norris soon faced a challenge from a racy Hamilton. The Ferrari had to back out, allowing Gasly to get in on the action and close in on the seven-time World Champion.

There was drama further back for Lawson, who found himself out of the running following a collision with Ocon. With the Racing Bulls car pulling off the track, the Virtual Safety Car was deployed, while elsewhere Colapinto also retired early on after stalling in the pit lane.

Just as the VSC period was ending, Bortoleto became the next car to spin off into the gravel, though fortunately the Kick Sauber was able to get going again. There remained a piece of the Brazilian’s front wing near the track, however, sparking a yellow flag.

Bortoleto subsequently stopped, meaning that another VSC was called on Lap 6 – which also brought a pause to an increasingly interesting battle at the front between Verstappen and Piastri, with the Australian having been closing the gap to the World Champion.

Behind them, Norris remained in third ahead of Hamilton, Gasly, Alonso, Sainz, Albon, Tsunoda and Hulkenberg. By Lap 7 the VSC had come to an end, allowing Piastri to recommence his chase of Verstappen, bringing the margin down to less than half a second.

After looking at making a move a few times, Piastri surged ahead of Verstappen just one tour later to take the lead of the race, sparking cheers from the crowd. Further back, Antonelli was tussling with Leclerc back down the order, the former having pitted under the first VSC for another set of hard tyres.

While Antonelli initially got ahead, Leclerc went on to retake the position – before Antonelli headed into the pits on Lap 10 to switch to intermediate tyres amid increasingly dark skies at Silverstone, rain seemingly on the way.

And soon the rainfall had indeed arrived, sparking several more pit stops as Verstappen tried to fend off Norris. Going side by side, Verstappen ran off the track which allowed Norris through before both dived into the pit lane.

McLaren double-stacked their drivers and it proved to be a slightly slow stop for Norris, meaning that Verstappen found himself ahead of the Briton as they re-emerged from the pits. By Lap 12, Piastri was still in the lead, with Albon running amongst the leaders having not yet pitted.

The Williams soon made a pit stop, allowing Verstappen to again run in second from Norris in third amid heavy spray being kicked up. In the increasingly tricky conditions, on Lap 14 the Safety Car was deployed, neutralising what had been a significant lead for Piastri.

Replays showed Leclerc having an off, the Monegasque reporting water in his visor as he bounced across the grass. Meanwhile, as the Safety Car continued to lead the pack around, Piastri led from Verstappen and Norris with Stroll an eye-catching fourth, the Canadian known to perform well in wet conditions.

The other Aston Martin of Alonso, however, was not quite so happy in P10. The Spaniard voiced his annoyance about his strategy, given that he had started P7 in comparison to Stroll in P17 – but would things change when the Safety Car came into the pits on Lap 17?

With plenty of spray still around, Piastri maintained his lead as racing recommenced – but the Safety Car was then called out again on Lap 18 after Hadjar crashed heavily, the Racing Bulls machine running into the rear of Antonelli.

Fortunately the Frenchman radioed in to report that he was okay, before admitting that he could not see the Mercedes. Antonelli, meanwhile, was able to continue on down in P15, with the incident set to be investigated after the race. The total number of cars left in the running was now down to 16.

Antonelli made his third pit stop of the afternoon on Lap 21, before the Safety Car period again came to an end later in the lap. Piastri was noted for a potential infringement, the Australian having seemingly slowed too much at the restart – leading to Verstappen briefly getting past. The Dutchman then dramatically spun as the race recommenced, dropping him down to P10.

By Lap 24, Piastri was leading by three seconds from Norris, with Stroll now in third ahead of Hulkenberg, Gasly, Hamilton, Russell, Alonso, Sainz and Verstappen. That soon changed when Hamilton went wide through Copse, allowing Russell to go through.

While Piastri remained in front, the Australian was handed a 10-second time penalty for slowing too much behind the Safety Car. The stewards were also kept busy as they prepared to investigate Tsunoda and Bearman for a collision at the restart, which sent Bearman into a spin, while Antonelli had also joined the list of retirements.

“You have a 17-second gap to Stroll – head down,” Piastri was informed by his race engineer upon being told of his penalty. Tsunoda, meanwhile, had been handed a 10-second time penalty of his own for causing a collision with Bearman.

Elsewhere, Hamilton was making moves after snatching P5 from Gasly, with Hulkenberg the next in the Briton’s sights – but the German was in fighting mood himself, having closed to within a second of Stroll in the battle for third. Could the German achieve a long-awaited debut F1 podium?

While Hamilton had brought the gap down to 1.7s by Lap 34, Hulkenberg was now around half a second behind Stroll – and just one lap later, the Kick Sauber swept through to move up into third. This left Stroll at the mercy of Hamilton, the Ferrari man soon following through to take fourth.

Further back, with DRS having been enabled, Verstappen had taken P9 from Sainz, with Alonso some three seconds up the road from the Dutchman in P8. Up at the front, Piastri was leading Norris by two seconds.

“The track is pretty decent – it’s starting to dry up a bit,” Hamilton reported when asked about the conditions, the Ferrari man suggesting that there would be a “crossover” in the laps ahead. Come Lap 38, Alonso became the first to make that switch, bolting on the medium tyres, while Russell was the next to stop for the hard compound.

The call did not initially look to be paying off for Alonso, the Aston Martin driver sliding around as he struggled for grip – before Russell had a spin through the gravel, the Mercedes man subsequently managing to return to the track.

After struggling to pass Hulkenberg, Hamilton pitted on Lap 42 for slicks, the World Champion returning to the track with soft tyres bolted on. A flurry of action saw several others make the call, with Stroll also opting for softs while Verstappen, Gasly, Sainz, Bearman and Tsunoda had gone for the mediums.

The next to make the move was Hulkenberg who pitted for the medium compound – and, with Hamilton having a wide moment, the German emerged back in third place. Piastri then made a stop on Lap 44, serving his penalty in the process which brought him back out in second.

Intra-team drama hit for Haas when contact occurred between Ocon and Bearman, with both making synchronised spins. Meanwhile Norris stopped for medium tyres before returning to the track ahead of his team mate – but an aggressive Piastri was chasing him down, running wide at one point as he tried to cut the gap.

Piastri radioed in to suggest that the team could consider swapping positions if they felt that his penalty was unfair – an idea that Norris would perhaps be less inclined to support. McLaren went on to state that they would not be making any team orders as the race entered into the final laps.

As the chequered flag fell, Norris crossed the line to take his first home victory and the eighth win of his F1 career, the Briton sparking cheers from the fans along the way. Piastri followed 6.812s down the road – and behind him, Hulkenberg claimed third to seal that long-awaited first podium.

Hamilton took fourth place after being unable to catch the Kick Sauber, with Verstappen ending up in fifth following his earlier spin. Gasly was still on the move until the very end, the Frenchman overtaking Stroll on the final lap to snatch sixth on an impressive afternoon for the Alpine driver.

With Stroll having to settle to seventh, Albon followed in eighth – the Thai driver breaking a string of consecutive DNFs – while Alonso and Russell rounded out the top 10.

Bearman took 11th place in his first home race as an F1 driver, ahead of Sainz in 12th and Ocon in 13th. The Haas duo are amongst those set to visit the stewards following the Grand Prix regarding their collision in the latter stages.

Leclerc’s difficult afternoon ended in 14th, while Tsunoda was the last classified runner in 15th place.

A total of five drivers did not make the finish, with Colapinto, Lawson, Bortoleto, Hadjar and Antonelli all failing to reach the end, with both Hadjar and Antonelli due to visit the stewards after the race over the contact that occurred between them.

Following the race, Norris is now just eight points behind Piastri in the championship standings, with Verstappen still in a more distant third.

Key quote

“The last few laps I was just looking into the crowd," said race winner Norris. "I was just trying got take it all in, enjoy the moment because it might never happen again. I hope it does but these are memories that I’ll bring with me forever so – incredible achievement.”

What's next

After a couple of weekends off, F1 will return to Spa-Francorchamps for the Belgian Grand Prix on July 25-27. Head to the RACE HUB to find out how you can follow the action.