British Grand Prix: Max Verstappen beats Lando Norris to win

[ad_1]

There were 160,000 fans in Silverstone for the race on Sunday

Max Verstappen claimed victory at the British Grand Prix to secure his sixth consecutive win and Red Bull’s eleventh consecutive victory.

McLaren’s Lando Norris fended off an attack from Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton after a late safety car to finish second to give the 160,000 fans a double podium finish to cheer.

Verstappen’s eighth win in 10 races this year brought Red Bull equal the record McLaren achieved in the historic 1988 season with Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost.

Oscar Piastri made it a great day for McLaren as his team finished fourth ahead of George Russell’s Mercedes.

Verstappen was untouchable at the front, once he re-passed Norris for the lead on lap five after his McLaren jumped to the front when the reigning world champion suffered a lot from slipping at the start.

But the race came alive after the safety car was called when Kevin Magnussen’s Haas car caught fire down the Wellington road.

The different tire choices provided danger and excitement for the last 14 laps.

The double podium was eyed by Norris and Bestre for McLaren, who gave Norris a huge promotion to great effect at the last race in Austria and handed it to Pastre at Silverstone as well.

But the safety car changed everything and gave Hamilton a chance to not only jump in front of Piastri but also briefly threaten Norris.

Fans flocked to Silverstone from Friday through Sunday

The seven-time champion, who finished seventh, drove steadily in the opening laps, biding his time once he passed Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin, who overtook him on the first lap.

He took the lead as the pit stops started in front of him, with Charles Leclerc putting his Ferrari into fourth, followed by the second Ferrari of Carlos Sainz, and the Mercedes of George Russell and Pestre.

Hamilton was on course to finish fifth behind Piastri and Russell, but a stop under the safety car allowed him to jump and line up behind Norris on the restart.

Norris expressed concerns over the radio that he would struggle to keep Hamilton behind, with Mercedes on soft tires and McLaren solid, but the 23-year-old weathered an early storm after the restart with aplomb and then pulled away from holding onto second place.

Piastri, also with solid tires on his pit stop, was equally impressive, and with Norris’ Hamilton out, Mercedes came under pressure from the rookie Australian, who crossed the line less than a second in arrears.

Russell was the only man in the top ten to opt for the soft tires at the start over the medium tyres, and he jumped at the start to threaten Leclerc with fourth.

But he lost out by stopping to the safety car and came home fifth as Sergio Pérez recovered from another poor qualifying session to finish sixth from 15th on the grid.

Ferrari’s day collapsed after a promising start. Leclerc had no pace in the early part of the race, stopping early for the fanatics and then coming back under the safety car for the moderators.

But he struggled again and lost eighth place to the impressive Williams of Alex Albon, who opted for the soft tires for the safety car, in the closing laps.

Sainz, who was left on hard tires when he didn’t stop under the safety car, lost three places in a handful of corners as Perez, Leclerc and Albon all passed him after the restart, for a disappointing tenth.

[ad_2]