For the first time ever in his Formula One career, Lando Norris stood on the top step of the podium at Silverstone. The McLaren driver finished in P1, while teammate Oscar Piastri finished P2.
McLaren picked up maximum points on Sunday through their first and second place finishes, helping to boost their gap to second placed Ferrari in the constructors championship. The leaders find themselves 238 points clear of Ferrari.
In the drivers championship, Australia’s Piastri leads with 234 points, eight points clear of teammate Norris, who has 226 points.
Image: Wikipedia
A rainy Grand Prix saw a mix of tyre choices, with some of the grid on wet weather tyres, while some took the gamble of putting on dry weather tyres.
The teams who decided to stay on the wet tyres were the ones who performed better off the start, as all 10 teams had different strategies on an unpredictable weekend of racing.
As the racetrack started to dry up, teams decided to make up time by switching to dry tyres, even though rain was forecasted. It was a huge risk but one that would pay off if it was successful. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Mercedes’ George Russell were two of the drivers to try and gain on their rivals through a pit stop change.
But the track was not suited to dry tyres and the punt did not pay off for the two drivers, who quickly changed back to wet tyres.
As the race went on, the leader Piastri had over a 10-second gap to second place Max Verstappen. With a rainy, wet track, it was just a matter of time before a safety car was brought out due to the treacherous conditions.
Image: Wikipedia
The safety car dived into the pit lane following Isaac Hadjar’s heavy hit into the barriers, meaning the cars were going to go racing once again. The lead driver, Piastri, slammed on his brakes which forced the reigning world champion Verstappen to brake heavily as well. Max was angry as he lost crucial temperature in his tyres, helping car number 81 of McLaren to get a better start than his rival.
Piastri started to drive at full speed to begin the restart, but Verstappen spun out due to his colder tyres, seeing him drop down from second to ninth place. The incident was then looked at by the racing stewards, who deemed the Australian to be in the wrong and he was handed a 10-second penalty for his actions.
When Oscar came into the pits and served his time penalty, his teammate Norris became the leader of his home Grand Prix.
The rain stopped and the race standings started to take shape, with British driver Norris leading from Piastri, and Nico Hulkenberg, who had never had a podium in F1 before the weekend, found himself third.
Lewis Hamilton was chasing down the Kick Sauber driver, but the German had too big a gap to the Brit.
As the chequered flag was waved, Lando Norris finished first at his home race, bringing an emotional interview from him, where he said: “In terms of feeling, apart from winning a championship, this is as good as it gets (winning his home GP).” Via ESPN.
Piastri came home to finish second, behind his teammate, but the Australian was visibly disappointed with his finishing position. Hulkenberg brought the end to a 238 race wait for a podium. The 37-year-old for the first time in his Formula One career, stood on the podium at a Grand Prix.
McLaren have one hand on the constructors championship title again, even though only 12 races have been completed. A 200-point gap to second place in the standings means the team in papaya should retain their title, unless a major change happens.
Piastri leads the drivers’ standings, but the result saw Norris close in on his teammate, with the Belgian Grand Prix potentially bringing a change to first and second in the drivers championships.
A 60-point gap from Norris to Verstappen sees the Red Bull Racing driver sat third in the standings, but if he is to finish second or even third, the Dutchman’s second half of the season needs to be phenomenal.
