Formula 1 British Grand Prix - Silverstone 2025
STARTING GRID:
1) VERSTAPPEN 2) PIASTRI 3) NORRIS 4) RUSSELL 5) HAMILTON 6) LECLERC 7) ANTONELLI 8) BEARMAN 9) ALONSO 10) GASLY 11) SAINZ 12) TSUNODA 13) HADJAR 14) ALBON 15) OCON 16) LAWSON 17) BORTOLETO 18) STROLL 19) HULKENBERG 20) COLAPINTO
FORMATION LAP: Due to the conditions at the track, the formation lap was started behind the Safety Car. A lap in which most teams were conflicted as to whether they should keep the intermediate tyres or if they should switch to slick tyres due to the changing conditions.
At the end of the lap, a number of teams decided to box their drivers. A gamble from any team that decided to do this due to the conditions of the last sector in particular. A matter of time would prove if that gamble would pay off. The Safety Car also came in at the end of the Formation Lap.
LAP 1: Into the first corner, it was a good start from both of the front cars with Piastri seeming to get the better initial reaction. However, Verstappen kept his lead as he went round the first corner.
Both McLaren drivers held their positions behind as Piastri needed to look in his mirrors to defend an attacking Norris. A fellow Brit in Lewis Hamilton also in the hunt as he tried to move into the podium places. A mighty start from Gasly as he moved up 3 places before reaching the Wellington Straight, up to 5th for the French driver.
Not a good start to the race for the Racing Bulls as Liam Lawson was out of the race before it had properly begun. An incident with Esteban Ocon coming through Aintree corner. As Lawson tried to go round the outside of the Haas, Ocon was left in the middle of the RB and Red Bull of Yuki Tsunoda, with nowhere to go. Lawson clipped his rear left tyre on Ocon’s front right tyre and was left spinning round with immediate damage to his car forcing him to retire from the race.
LAP 4: On lap 4, the gamble with slick tyres became a big problem for Sauber as Bortoleto spun and ended up hitting the barrier. This caused damage to the rear wing of his car and he was unable to continue. The roll of the dice from the teams with the slick tyres did not work out for any of them as the weather forecast for not long into the race stopped any progress they may have made.
LAP 8: Max Verstappen had a McLaren of Oscar Piastri looming behind him as he got closer and closer lap after lap. As they went through Maggots and Becketts Piastri was under 0.5 seconds from Verstappen. Coming through Chapel Curve, Verstappen was sliding as he nearly lost the back end of his car onto the Hanger Straight. That was the opportunity Piastri needed as he closed in with the DRS. Piastri moved past the Red Bull on the inside of Stowe corner as he took the lead of the British Grand Prix.
LAP 11: As the rain continued to fall with a heavy downpour covering the track, the grip for the Red Bull of Verstappen dropped even further. Another McLaren was lurking in one of the crowd favourites of Lando Norris. A man that had his own grand stand renamed the Landostand for the weekend.
The tricky conditions seemed to play right into the hands of Norris who tried to look for a gap in Maggots and Becketts but waited for his moment. Coming out of Becketts and into Chapel Curve again Verstappen struggled massively. This time not only sliding but fully going off the track, opening the door for Norris. Onto the Hanger Straight Norris moved past and into P2. A loud cheer from the British fans and in particular from the Landostand which he passed just seconds later at Stowe corner. A nightmare couple of laps for Verstappen and Red Bull.
LAP 12: Despite getting past Verstappen, Lando Norris found himself back behind the Red Bull due to a slow pit stop from his team at McLaren. A slow stop as there appeared to be a problem getting the front left tyre off. During these struggles Verstappen was able to come in and pit with a quick stop from Red Bull to put him back into 2nd. Quick work from the Red Bull mechanics to put Verstappen back in the hunt.
LAP 18: After a Safety Car once again due to the conditions, the cars were up and running again. With minimal visibility for everyone apart from the race leader Piastri it seemed difficult to keep the grip. George Russell was the first person to make a move as he went up the inside of Lewis Hamilton at Abbey corner. A brave move on his former teammate.
However, just a couple of corners later Hamilton came back at Russell. On the outside of Village, Hamilton came daringly swooping round Russell (8th) and Ocon (9th) to take 7th place. A great move from the 7-time World Champion. There appeared to be contact between Ocon and Russell as that move happened with Russell looking up the inside of Ocon as he seemed to be dropping down the order pretty rapidly.
There was another retirement on the same lap with another rookie out of the race in Isaac Hadjar. Both Racing Bulls were now out of the race with the car in quite a state due to going into the wall. The replay showed that Hadjar was unsighted in his car and rear ended Kimi Antonelli due to the spray and conditions. He went into the back of the Italian then seemed to be a passenger from then on and had no chance of stopping the car and the damage to follow. Unlucky for the rookie but thankful reported that he was ok on the radio.
LAP 21: A controversial restart as the Safety Car ends from the Hadjar crash, with Piastri appearing to slow down for the restart but not in the safest way. With Verstappen coming up behind him a sudden stop from the Aussie seemed to catch him off guard and almost caused an accident between the pair. With conditions also not the best which may have made the braking seem more erratic than it was with poor visibility for most cars.
When the restart finally got underway it was a good restart from Piastri with Verstappen playing catch up he lost the rear of his car once again. He spun round as he came up to Vale corner ending up near the pit entry line. At possibly the worst time of the Safety Car restart with all cars bunched up. Therefore, the maximum number of cars overtook the Red Bull who dropped down to 10th in between both Williams cars.
LAP 30: Following a review from the Stewards, Oscar Piastri is handed a 10 second time penalty for “erratic driving”. A mistake that would cost Piastri the race win and valuable points in the Drivers Championship.
Another move from Lewis Hamilton on the same lap as he moved in on Gasly in the final few corners. He moved onto the inside of Gasly into Club corner and made the move stick as he moved into 5th. A great move by the man that has won this race 9 times.
LAP 34: The battle for the last podium place continued with Stroll and Hulkenberg battling down Hanger Straight. Hulkenberg had the advantage of the DRS as he moved closer and went up the inside into Stowe corner. The Sauber driver moved into 3rd for potentially the first podium of his career. Lewis Hamilton loomed behind as he was just 0.5 seconds behind Stroll going into the final corners.
LAP 35: It didn’t take long for Hamilton to be close enough to make a move on the Aston Martin. In the opening corners of the lap, Hamilton edged closer and moved up the inside of Stroll into Village corner. He took 4th place and could begin his attempt to track down Hulkenberg and keep his streak of 12 consecutive podiums at Silverstone.
LAP 41: It was damage limitation for Verstappen at this point but he was going to make sure that he gained as many points as possible with the time he had left. He went up the inside of The Loop on Gasly to move to P6. An unusual spot to overtake someone but Max Verstappen took full advantage of the opportunity to make his way past.
LAP 42: A moment to forget for Haas as both of their drivers spun after contact between them both coming off of Wellington Straight into Brooklands. Ollie Bearman looked to go on the inside of his teammate but Ocon didn’t appear to see him and inevitable contact followed. Both cars spun round in identical fashion as they went off the track. The continued out of the points due to the avoidable collision which surely would have been topic of conversation in the race debrief at the team.
LAP 45: An interesting radio message from Piastri to the pit wall as he said he doesn’t think the penalty was fair. Then he said if the team thinks so as well then they should swap the cars and let both of them race.
A radio message that probably would not have gone down well with Norris if the decision was made to swap them round. It was unlucky for the Aussie driver who was probably the person that would have won the race if it wasn’t for the penalty.
LAP 46: A race to forget for the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc which got worse as he went off track again in the final sector. The mishap didn’t cost him a place as he was 30 seconds ahead of the back marker in Yuki Tsunoda in 15th at this point of the race.
LAP 52: There were a number of laps in which Piastri seemed to be gaining on Norris after his pit stop but it cooled off as Lando Norris cruised to his maiden Silverstone victory. Another 1-2 for McLaren as they continue their dominance in the Constructors Championship. An unfortunate 2nd for Piastri due to his penalty in which he did not seem pleased with in his post race interview as he didn’t want to say much about the incident as he may have got in trouble.
A fantastic drive and achievement for the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg with his first podium of his F1 career. The podium came at the 239th time of asking. A collective effort from team and driver to take full advantage of the conditions and opportunities in front of them to get more valuable points for them collectively. A funny moment in the post race interview between Piastri and Hulkenberg as Piastri asked how it felt that after 15 years the podium trophy he got was made out of Lego. A smart and humorous response of “I love Lego” and “It’s good my daughter can play with it too” from Hulkenberg.
A good drive from Lewis Hamilton who came home in 4th, a contrast in fortunes for the Ferrari drivers with Charles Leclerc who finished 10 places below in 14th after a nightmare race with a strategy that didn’t work out. The run of consecutive podiums came to an end for Hamilton after a record breaking run of 12 consecutive podiums and 9 wins so far at the iconic circuit.
Despite a disappointing race Max Verstappen was still able to make it back to 5th place. A good comeback drive from the determined Dutch driver to get maximum points from the position he found himself in after the Safety Car restart.
Pierre Gasly was another driver to take advantage of the chaos amidst the conditions as he gained 5 places to finish 5th from 10th. With a disappointing end to the race for Lance Stroll who looked like he may get a possible podium at one stage but ended up finishing the race in P7.
Another driver to benefit from the strategy calls and conditions was Alex Albon in the points from 14th to take the chequered flag in 8th. A double points finish for Aston Martin with Alonso in 9th was a great accomplishment with McLaren being the only other team to do that. The last of the podium places was rounded out with George Russell taking 10th place.
That will not have been how he would have wanted his home race to finish but at times during the race he may have been grateful for getting points. A team like many others in which one of their drivers was a rookie who didn’t finish the race. The only rookie to finish the race was Ollie Bearman in P11, who was not far behind Russell.
One of the most eventful races of the year as Silverstone always promises to be. From multiple Safety Cars to time penalties that cost one driver the race win. Not to mention only 15 cars classified with all of the retirements being rookies. The first podium for Nico Hulkenberg on a fantastic day for Sauber, with other teams helping them celebrate with gifts from down the paddock. A maiden victory for Lando Norris as he closes the gap on Piastri in the Driver’s Championship with back to back wins. Game on for the rest of the season with Spa, Belgium up next.
RACE RESULT:
1) NORRIS 2) PIASTRI 3) HULKENBERG 4) HAMILTON 5) VERSTAPPEN 6) GASLY 7) STROLL 8) ALBON 9) ALONSO 10) RUSSELL 11) BEARMAN 12) SAINZ 13) OCON 14) LECLERC 15) TSUNODA 16) ANTONELLI (DNF) 17) HADJAR (DNF) 18) BORTOLETO (DNF) 19) LAWSON (DNF) 20) COLAPINTO (DNF)
