Verstappen wins British Grand Prix as home drivers please crowd

F1 Grand Prix, GP United Kingdom, Silverstone Circuit

Max Verstappen for once didn't lead from start to finish thanks to Lando Norris but it was still the Red Bull driver who ended up on top when the chequered flag was waved. Norris finished second while Lewis Hamilton completed a nice recovery in third place.

When the lights went out the unthinkable happened as Lando Norris easily got the best start and moved ahead into the lead. Piastri in the other McLaren had a similarly great start forcing Verstappen to focus on his mirrors rather than Norris ahead, certainly in the first lap.

George Russell meanwhile gained a position from 6th to 5th, probably helped by using the soft tyres whereas the rest of the top 11 started on medium tyres. That meant he found himself in between the Ferrari duo of Leclerc and Sainz. Fernando Alonso moved up two positions into 7th, crossing the finish line of the first lap ahead of Hamilton, Gasly and Albon.

Tsunoda enjoyed the best start of the pack as he gained three positions, up into 13th. Nico Hulkenberg on the other hand lost three places while starting on the hard tyres.

Positions remained unchanged until DRS got enabled on lap 3. This obviously made things tricky for Norris and soon he was passed by Verstappen. The latter then went on to eek out between 0.3 and 0.5s every lap to slowly build up a lead.

Russell meanwhile was battling Leclerc but had much more trouble getting past the Ferrari. His team mate Hamilton seemed to have an easier task with Alonso as the Spaniard was able to hold Hamilton behind for two laps but had to concede when the Mercedes driver got the better drive onto the Wellington straight and made an easy pass with DRS.

As Verstappen recorded another fastest lap on lap 20, Russell happily continued on his soft tyres. Leclerc though pitted to switch his mediums to hards already on lap 18. The other Mercedes with Hamilton at the wheel also enjoyed great tyre durability and closed in on Sainz.

Nothing much changed at the front as most basically started in their normal positions due to absence of penalties after qualifying. Sergio Perez obviously didn't after yet another disappointing Saturday session so he continued to work his way up. By lap 23 he was in 9th, closing in by 0.4s per lap on Alonso and Gasly who had been running closely together ever since Hamilton passed the Spaniard.

Carlos Sainz was the second top 10 driver to pit. The Ferrari driver switched to fresh hard tyres on lap 26, 8 laps later than his team mate. Perez pitted one lap later and switched to soft tyres while Russell took on a fresh set of mediums (exchanging his softs from the start in a slightly slower stop).

Oscar Piastri pitted another lap later and took on hards to return to the track in 6th position, closely behind Gasly as the latter had been falling behind Alonso. The Spaniard recorded some personal bests to shake off Gasly. Piastri needed just a single lap to get past Gasly with the Frenchman then getting pitted to take a set of used soft tyres.

On lap 32 Magnussen saw his engine catch flames and parked his Haas on track. The safety car was brought on track and immediately triggered pitstops. Verstappen switched to soft, Norris to hard, Hamilton to soft as all three maintained position. Alonso also pitted and took on softs to return in 6th position, behind Piastri and Russell who had only stopped 5 laps before the SC and therefore opted to stay out, just like the cars behind, some if whom had only stopped one or two laps before the neutralisation.

On lap 39, that's with just 13 remaining, the race was on again. Verstappen did a quick restart and surprised Norris, leaving him vulnerable to Hamilton. The Mercedes driver looked eager to pass at the end of the Wellington straight and then at Copse but it didn't work out. The next lap was similarly fruitless.

On lap 41 DRS was re-enabled but by then Hamilton had lost a bit of ground and was no longer in immediate striking distance.

Further back, Sainz followed Alonso closely but then got passed by Perez. The Spaniard initially defended but then a lack of traction cost him, enabling Albon to also make it past the Ferrari on the pit straight. Another 3 corners later Leclerc passed his teammate as well, resulting in a 3 place drop in half a lap.

Next up were Gasly and Stroll but those chose to fight it out among themselves, leading to a puncture for Gasly in the final corner after a coming together with Stroll. The Canadian received a 5s penalty for his actions in that event.

Perez then passed Alonso. The latter again simply held the racing line on the straight and didn't really attempt to defend the position, just like earlier on with Hamilton.

Positions didn't change later on, despite a courageous attempt of Leclerc to get past Albon. Verstappen therefore won the 11th consecutive race win for Red Bull to equal the all time record. Home heroes Norris and Hamilton completed the podium with the McLaren driver being voted "driver of the day".