09 July 2023 , 15:28
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The Silverstone crowd roared its approval as British Grand Prix winner Max Verstappen was joined on the podium by home heroes Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton.
The Red Bull racer lost the lead to his McLaren rival at the start but soon wrestled it back, and never again looked in danger of letting it go. But the enthralling action was found behind him as Norris and Hamilton fought tooth and nail in the latter stages to be runner-up.
The seven-time world champion had benefitted from a well-timed safety car to be there and was on soft tyres while Norris had harder rubber. But he defended that position with his life to hold off his compatriot and secure his best result of the season so far.
Oscar Piastri performed brilliantly throughout the weekend and deserved a maiden Formula 1 podium himself, but had to settle for fourth after suffering from that safety car. George Russell finished fifth and Alex Albon eighth to round off a superb result for the four British drivers racing on home soil.
Norris got the Silverstone crowd on its feet in unison as he sped off the line and into the lead. Verstappen tried moving over to the right to cut off the McLaren but, because of his unusually sluggish start, the Dutchman had already been passed before he could block the path.
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Not only did Norris take the lead but he stayed there – for a while. On the fifth lap The Red Bull racer took his opportunity to slid back part the man he says is his best friend on the grid. But the Brit, knowing that today's fight was not with Verstappen, will not have been too disheartened.
After all, he was sitting pretty in second place with team-mate Piastri just behind him. To make matters even better for McLaren, the Aussie was also showing great pace and had dropped Charles Leclerc – the gap between then 3.6 seconds by lap 15.
Max Verstappen was victorious again as he held off Norris' challenge to extend his championship lead (Getty Images)Instead of looking ahead, the Monegasque was having to glance nervously over his shoulder. In keeping with much of the rest of this season, Mercedes were making up for their underwhelming qualifying result by showing strong race pace and Russell was on Leclerc's gearbox.
Two places behind the Brit was his team-mate Hamilton, who had been passed by his old F1 rival Fernando Alonso in the early stages but took the place back a few laps later. Leclerc pitted to avoid a fight with Russell and Carlos Sainz followed suit a few laps later to deny the Silverstone crowd any British overtakes to cheer.
Esteban Ocon was the first to suffer an early end to his race. The Frenchman suffered a hydraulics problem 10 laps into the race – a fairly miserable sequel to last weekend's race in Austria which saw him slapped with no fewer than five time penalties for a swathe of track limits violations.
Lewis Hamilton shares a moment with Norris after both finishing on the podium (PA)Regardless, things were going swimmingly for the local lads at half-distance. Norris was being dropped by Verstappen but was very comfortable in second place, while Russell and Hamilton were up to fourth and fifth. Alex Albon dropped a couple of places on the start but was still ticking along nicely just inside the points.
Russell was the first of the Mercedes to pit and that gave him an opportunity to pull off a lovely overtake around the outside of Luffield. But it was Hamilton who was better off as he was still out when flames appeared on Kevin Magnussen's car and brought out the safety car.
The seven-time world champion had not yet pitted and so was gifted a cheap stop, meaning he came back out in third place just behind Norris on the restart. "Wonderful," said the younger Brit over the radio when he was informed of that situation – with more than a pinch of sarcasm.
Verstappen holds his trophy aloft as Hamilton congratulates his rival (Getty Images)Verstappen nailed his restart and immediately removed himself from danger. Norris had Hamilton all over the back of his McLaren, but was fighting with everything he had to keep his fellow Brit behind him to create what turned out to be the battle of the race.
Behind them, Piastri was keeping Russell at bay in similar fashion. "Those McLarens are so quick on the hards – impressive," said the Mercedes driver as he admitted struggling to reel in the Aussie ahead of him.
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And they didn't manage to get past. Norris held on to second admirably while Russell was forced to settle for fifth behind Piastri. Sergio Perez, Fernando Alonso, Alex Albon, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz rounded off the points.
British Grand Prix result
1st - Max Verstappen
2nd - Lando Norris
3rd - Lewis Hamilton
4th - Oscar Piastri
5th - George Russell
6th - Sergio Perez
7th - Fernando Alonso
8th - Alex Albon
9th - Charles Leclerc
10th - Carlos Sainz