Max Verstappen overtook Lando Norris for the lead and out-ran the McLaren driver to win an enthralling British Grand Prix at Silverstone.
The Red Bull driver lost the lead at the start to the McLaren driver but overtook him soon after. After a Safety Car period in the second half of the 52-lap encounter, Verstappen pulled a small gap to the McLaren and led him home to win by three seconds, with Lewis Hamilton completing the podium in third place.
All of the top 10 drivers fitted the medium tyre for the start of the grand prix, save for sixth-placed George Russell who opted for softs. When the lights went out, Norris leapt ahead of pole winner Verstappen to take the lead into Abbey, as Oscar Piastri fought hard to pressure the Red Bull driver for second.
Hamilton ran wide at Village, dropping a pair of places to Fernando Alonso and Pierre Gasly. Piastri had a half-hearted look at Verstappen into Copse, but backed out and held third ahead of Charles Leclerc.
Verstappen stalked the leader over the first handful of laps to remain within a second of Norris for when DRS was activated at the start of lap three. At the start of lap five, Verstappen used DRS to slipstream the McLaren down the Wellington Straight and easily take the lead into Brooklands. Norris remained within DRS range of the Red Bull, with team mate Piastri within a second of Norris in third, but ordered to hold position by McLaren.
Verstappen broke clear of DRS from Norris on lap eight, with the leader informed that “light rain” was expected in a matter of minutes. The leader reported “light drizzle” at the start of lap 15, but was informed it was dissipate after a couple of laps. Verstappen slowly pulled away from the McLarens behind, opening up a lead of five seconds by the 22nd lap.
Piastri was the first of the leaders to pit at the end of lap 29 – well over half distance – fitting the hard tyres and emerging in sixth place, ahead of Alexander Albon and Charles Leclerc, who had pitted ten laps earlier from fourth.
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
On lap 33, Kevin Magnussen came to a stop on the Wellington Straight with smoke and some licks of flame from the rear of his Haas. The Virtual Safety Car was deployed to help recover the Haas, just after the leaders had passed the pit entry. They would all pit by the end of the next lap, by which time the race was now under a full Safety Car. Verstappen and Hamilton were both fitted with soft tyres, but McLaren opted to put hard tyres on Norris.
Verstappen emerged from the pit lane still in the lead of the race, with Norris behind him in second, while Hamilton left the pits in third position, having jumped Piastri thanks to being able to pit under the Safety Car. After five laps behind the Safety Car, the race resumed at the start of lap 39 with 14 laps remaining. Verstappen led Norris away, while Hamilton quickly put the McLaren under pressure for second place, looking to the outside of Luffield but unable to get by.
The next lap, Hamilton looked to the inside of Norris at Luffield, but again the McLaren driver fended off the Mercedes. Despite DRS being activated the following time around, Hamilton appeared unable to get close enough to challenge Norris further, noting how fast the McLaren was in the high speed turns and down the straights.
Verstappen’s lead over Norris stabilised at around three-and-a-half seconds as the McLaren pulled out of DRS range of the pursuing Mercedes behind. With some drivers including Norris and Russell receiving black-and-white warning flags for three track limits strikes, Verstappen was told to keep pushing until the end.
He duly checked off the final laps to take the chequered flag and secure his sixth consecutive victory. Norris secured his and McLaren’s first podiums of the season, just over three seconds behind the winner, with Hamilton taking the final podium position in third. Piastri took his best-ever finish in fourth, ahead of Russell in the second Mercedes.
Sergio Perez climbed from 14th on the grid to finish sixth, with Fernando Alonso taking seventh place. Alexander Albon held onto eighth place for Williams, ahead of the two Ferraris of Leclerc and Sainz, who rounded out the top ten
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
2023 British Grand Prix reaction
- Check back shortly for more race reaction
