That’s all for our live coverage, but here’s Giles Richards’s report to keep you going. Thanks for reading, as ever, and enjoy the rest of the weekend.
Norris wins driver of the day, as voted for by the fans.
Absolutely no doubt who was getting this one 😉@LandoNorris is your #F1DriverOfTheDay!#BritishGP #F1 @salesforce pic.twitter.com/4l8sBCHH4n
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 9, 2023
Norris, slightly frustrated, admits he wanted softs as opposed to hards over the second part of the race, but otherwise he seems pleased with his podium finish. Hamilton praises Norris and McLaren for a “rapid” run. “We had a good little battle there, but I just didn’t have the grunt on the straights. To start seventh and finish third is a great, great run.”
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Verstappen takes a moment out of his victory celebrations to speak to Channel 4. “We had a terrible start so we need to look into why that was. Even after that, I think Lando, well, both McLarens, were super quick, so it took quite a few laps to pass them but then it was all right again.
“I’m very happy that we won again, I think 11 wins in a row for the team is incredible, but it wasn’t straightforward today.”
It’s six wins in a row for Verstappen, who continues to cruise serenely towards the world championship. The top three congratulate each other as they clamber out of their cars, with the Silverstone crowd going wild for Norris and Hamilton.
How we crossed the line after 52 scintillating laps around Silverstone#BritishGP #FG2 pic.twitter.com/gC0i3yL0vi
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 9, 2023
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We’ve got some email correspondence under the subject line “polite request”, which is highly unusual. It’s not even sarcastic, which is even more odd. “Afternoon Will,” writes Simon McMahon. “Not normally much of an F1 fan, but I’m invested this week as daughter Anna and partner Ross have been at Silverstone since Wednesday and providing us with regular updates from the circuit. That’s Anna McMahon and Ross Sangster. I’m sure they’d love to see their names in lights, as it were.”
Happy to oblige, Simon. “Ross is a big McLaren fan,” he adds, “so he [was] rooting for Norris. Whereas Anna’s highlight of the week was seeing Brad Pitt and Calvin Harris. So I think they’re both happy.”
Max Verstappen wins the British GP!
He came, he saw and, once again, he conquered. Norris finishes second, with Hamilton rounding off the podium in third.
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Lap 51/52: Verstappen is 3.513sec ahead as the penultimate lap draws to a close. He’s done it again.
Lap 50/52: Stroll is given a five-second time penalty for causing a collision with Gasly. Albon and Leclerc are gunning for Alonso in seventh.
Lap 49/52: Norris is shown a black and white flag for exceeding track limits. He’ll have to be careful here.
Lap 48/52: With four laps to go, Verstappen has extended his advantage to 3.714sec. Hamilton is still looking to get in front of Norris, but remains 1.559sec behind.
Lap 47/52: It looks like Gasly is going to be forced to retire, meaning both of Alpine’s drivers will have made early exits.
Lap 46/52: Verstappen is 3.291sec ahead and looks confident as ever. Pérez overtakes Alonso and, having started 15th, is now up to sixth.
Lap 45/52: Gasly makes a move on Sainz, but the bruised Ferrari driver defends tenaciously. Gasly then gets into trouble, suddenly dropping down to last place.
Lap 44/52: Gasly regains 11th position from Stroll. Sainz loses three places in as many corners, dropping down to 10th with Pérez, Albon and Leclerc now ahead of him.
Lap 43/52: Stroll will face no further investigation for leaving the track and gaining an advantage, though he’s given the black and white flag for multiple track limit violations.
Lap 42/52: Hamilton is still less than half a second behind Norris. Further back, Stroll has been noted for leaving the track while passing Gasly.
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Lap 41/52: Verstappen will be pleased with his restart, having opened up a 2.635sec lead already. Norris and Hamilton are in a running battle now, with the seven-time champion almost nudging ahead on several occasions.
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Lap 40/52: Hamilton immediately puts pressure on Norris, but the McLaren driver defends desperately and just about holds him off.
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Lap 39/52: The safety car exits the track, we’ve got the green flag and Verstappen is straight back at it.
Lap 38/52: Most of the drivers are on softs now, with Norris, Piastri and Sainz, all on hards, the notable exceptions.
Lap 37/52: Magnussen’s car is still being recovered, so the safety car remains on track.
Lap 36/52: The safety car is still out, but the green flag should be imminent.
Lap 35/52: Russell is back up to fifth, but sounds frustrated over the timing of the safety car. The threat of rain seems to have passed, meaning it’s a sprint to the finish.
Lap 34/52: There are tyre changes galore, with Hamilton pitting under the safety car and coming out ahead of Piastri. Verstappen also pits, joining Hamilton on softs, while Norris is now on hards.
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Lap 33/52: Kevin Magnussen comes to a stop with smoke pouring from his Haas and will be forced to retire. The virtual safety car comes into force.
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Lap 32/52: Gasly pits, as does Stroll. The former drops down to 11th, the latter to 14th.
Lap 31/52: Russell makes his move and earns his reward, overtaking Leclerc to go eighth. The Silverstone crowd howls in approval.
Lap 30/52: Russell has come out all guns blazing and is right on Leclerc’s tail. Hamilton is up to third, but still to pit.
Lap 29/52: Pisastri pits and it’s a slick stop, with the McLaren driver re-emerging in sixth on hards.
Lap 28/52: Russell finally pits, swapping his softs for mediums. He drops to ninth, with Hamilton, Alonso, Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon and Leclerc pulling ahead of him.
Lap 27/52: Sainz is down to 12th with Leclerc, his Ferrari teammate, up to 10th. The majority of drivers are still on mediums with over half the race gone.
Lap 26/52: Verstappen is almost seven seconds in front. Sainz pits, switching to hards.
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Lap 25/52: Zhou is the next driver to pit. He’s now 18th, with Hülkenberg, who was forced to pit early after damaging his front wing, in 19th.
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Lap 24/52: Russell is still over five seconds behind the McLaren pair, who have held off the challenge from those behind them even as Verstappen has stretched his lead at the front.
Lap 23/52: Verstappen opens a 5.368sec gap at the front. Those tyres are still holding up.
Lap 22/52: Weather update: it seems that, apart from a few droplets, the rain has indeed missed the circuit. Leclerc can breathe a sigh of relief.
Lap 21/52: Verstappen is 4.645sec ahead as he continues to edge away from Norris and Piastri. Russell, in fourth, is 5.322sec behind.
Lap 20/52: Verstappen’s lead breaks the four-second mark. The frontrunners are pushing their tyres hard.
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Lap 19/52: Russell is up to fourth, Sainz to fifth and Hamilton to sixth. Leclerc drops to 12th for now.
Lap 18/52: Verstappen reports “light drizzle” on the radio. Leclerc is called to the pits and takes a gamble on fresh mediums, so he’ll have his fingers crossed the heavens don’t open.
Lap 17/52: Verstappen’s lead continues to grow and is now up to 3.752. Pérez, his Red Bull teammate, is up to 10th.
Lap 16/52: Russell is only half a second behind Leclerc and pushing hard for fourth place. Meanwhile, Hamilton is just over a second behind Sainz.
Lap 15/52: “Wind is making it difficult to drive at the moment,” Verstappen says over the radio. Even so, his lead is up to three and a half seconds.
Lap 14/52: Verstappen has extended his advantage to 2.844sec. Norris and Piastri are still within touching distance, however, and battling hard.
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Lap 13/52: It’s almost time for pit stops, with the drivers still eyeing the skies nervously.
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Lap 12/52: Sergio Pérez is up to 11th, making light work of Lance Stroll. Verstappen continues to pull ahead.
Lap 11/52: Verstappen is 1.920sec ahead and gradually extending his lead. The latest radio chatter suggests incoming rain will narrowly miss the circuit.
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Lap 10/52: It looks like Ocon is going to have to retire, a bitter disappointment for the Alpine driver.
Lap 9/52: Verstappen maintains his lead, tearing along the track. Can Norris produce a moment of magic from somewhere?
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Lap 8/52: Norris is 1.163sec behind Verstappen, losing a little ground. Piastri is close behind, with McLaren still flying.
Lap 7/52: Hamilton gains a position, overtaking Alonso to a deafening roar from the home crowd.
Lap 6/52: Norris is now around half a second behind Verstappen. It’s a battle of wills, this.
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Lap 5/52: Verstappen takes the lead! What an overtake. Norris tries to hit back immediately, but the Dutchman fends him off. Leclerc, Russell and Sainz are gunning for the front three now.
Lap 4/52: Verstappen ups the pressure, pushing Norris, but Piastri is hot on his heels in third. It looks like we could have a serious contest on our hands.
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Lap 3/52: Verstappen remains sandwiched between Norris and Piastri. The home favourite is 0.564sec ahead as things stand.
Lap 2/52: Alonso is up to seventh, pulling ahead of Hamilton. Russell is in fifth, ahead of Sainz, with Leclerc still in fourth.
Lap 1/52: Verstappen had just a little too much wheel spin off the line, allowing Norris to nip in front. Piastri is pushing the Dutchman hard, but he’s managed to hold on to second place.
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Lights out!
Verstappen roars into action, but Norris tears ahead of him to a huge cheer. A few drops of rain tumble from the skies.
Most of the drivers are on new medium compound tyres, though Russell, Esteban Ocon, Yuki Tsunoda and Nyck de Vries are on softs and Nico Hülkenberg and Valtteri Bottas on hards.
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The skies above Silverstone are a steely grey and, while it’s dry at the moment, there could be rain at some stage. The teams will be monitoring the weather closely.
All eyes on the skies... will it rain? 👀#BritishGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/MzN3TLMckx
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 9, 2023
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Damian Lewis has just sung a jazz version of the national anthem. That wasn’t on our Silverstone bingo card, but there we go.
We’ve got 15 minutes until lights out. Sam Ryder, Pep Guardiola, Cara Delevingne and various other big names are in attendance and ready for some absolute, pure, unadulterated F1.
Speaking before the race, Hamilton has suggested that McLaren’s speed in qualifying should give Mercedes pause for thought. “It’s not a blow, it’s just a wake-up call for us,” he said. “Others are overtaking us and we need to do more.”
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If you’re looking for some more pre-race reading, Giles Richards has been getting his chat on with Charles Leclerc.
The circuit
For those who are unfamiliar with Silverstone, it’s one of the most venerated tracks in F1. The circuit is 5.891km in length and drivers have 52 laps to complete, with Verstappen holding the official race lap record after he clocked 1min 27.097sec in 2020.
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There will be a generous sprinkling of Hollywood stardust at Silverstone this afternoon, not that the race would be lacking in celebrity interest otherwise. Giles Richards has the inside track on Brad Pitt’s latest project.
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Though he ended up 15th in qualifying, Valtteri Bottas was disqualified and demoted to the back of the grid for failing to provide a sufficient fuel sample to the FIA. It compounded an underwhelming session for Alfa Romeo, with Bottas’s teammate Zhou Guanyu set to start in 17th.
The grid
In case you need a reminder, here’s the grid in full:
1 Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
2 Lando Norris (McLaren)
3 Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
4 Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
5 Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)
6 George Russell (Mercedes)
7 Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
8 Alex Albon (Williams)
9 Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
10 Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
11 Nico Hülkenberg (Haas)
12 Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
13 Esteban Ocon (Alpine)
14 Logan Sargeant (Williams)
15 Sergio Pérez (Red Bull)
16 Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri)
17 Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo)
18 Nyck de Vries (AlphaTauri)
19 Kevin Magnussen (Haas)
20 Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo)
After their interventions at Lord’s, Wimbledon and last year’s British GP, Just Stop Oil are expected to make an appearance this afternoon. The group has garnered a mixed reception from the drivers, with Lewis Hamilton voicing his support for “peaceful protests” – as long as activists do not enter the track or endanger lives – and Norris saying: “There are much safer ways to get just as much attention.”
Northamptonshire police, meanwhile, will be using controversial live facial recognition technology to monitor those in attendance. The human rights groups Liberty, Big Brother Watch and Amnesty have all described the technology as “oppressive”.
Preamble
It’s almost time for the British Grand Prix and, surprise, surprise, Max Verstappen starts on pole. He was given a harder time than usual in qualifying thanks to an excellent run by Lando Norris but, despite the British driver’s best efforts, the Dutchman managed to edge in front by 0.241sec. Norris and Oscar Piastri secured second and third for McLaren respectively, a much-improved showing from a team benefitting from recent upgrades. Even so, with Verstappen in pole position for the fifth race in a row and sailing towards a third consecutive world title, it will take something near perfection to put a dent in Red Bull’s extended victory lap.
