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Lando Norris Finally Wins at Home as British Grand Prix Turns Into Weather-Fueled Circus

NORTHAMPTON, ENGLAND – JULY 06: Oscar Piastri of Australia driving the (81) McLaren MCL39 Mercedes leads Lando Norris of Great Britain driving the (4) McLaren MCL39 Mercedes on track during the F1 Grand Prix of Great Britain at Silverstone Circuit on July 06, 2025 in Northampton, England. (Photo by Alastair Staley/LAT Images)

Somewhere between the soggy English summer, the questionable decisions from race control, and the sound of nearly 160,000 people collectively holding their breath, Lando Norris finally did it. The McLaren man conquered the chaos at Silverstone, claiming his first British Grand Prix win and sending the home crowd into the kind of euphoric delirium normally reserved for soccer riots or cheap lager festivals.

It wasn’t just victory—it was a McLaren 1-2, with Oscar Piastri in second, though the Aussie was more sour than celebratory thanks to a 10-second penalty for braking behind the Safety Car, a rule that apparently exists now. Nico Hulkenberg, Formula 1’s version of the nearly man, completed the podium after a drive from 19th on the grid that can only be described as heroic—or statistically improbable, depending on how cynical you are.

As is tradition, the British summer resembled a weather roulette wheel. It started dry, got wet, got very wet, dried out again, and generally made life miserable for engineers, strategists, and anyone wearing suede shoes.

Max Verstappen led off the line in the dry, but his day quickly unraveled like a poorly made pub sandwich. Piastri muscled his way past, the rain came down, Norris sailed by, and before long, Verstappen was spinning off at Stowe like he’d mistaken his Red Bull machine for a rental car.

The biggest controversy came during one of the Safety Car periods, when Piastri, leading the field, hit the brakes harder than most people’s bank accounts after buying Taylor Swift tickets. Verstappen, confused and frustrated, shot past him before hastily giving the spot back. The stewards, never missing a chance to insert themselves into the narrative, handed Piastri a 10-second time penalty.

Piastri, understandably, wasn’t thrilled.

“I’m not going to say much, I’ll get myself in trouble,” he muttered post-race, before diplomatically congratulating Hulkenberg and offering a few vague barbs at the stewards.

Later, with the emotion simmering down but the annoyance still lingering, he admitted, “It’s disappointing when what you deserve gets taken from you, but that’s how it goes.”

Still, if you’re going to lose, doing so in a McLaren 1-2 at Silverstone is about as palatable as losing gets.

But the real feel-good moment belonged to Nico Hulkenberg, the man once destined to be the most talented F1 driver never to step on a podium. After 239 races of heartbreak, bad timing, and cars that were either allergic to performance or simply exploded, Hulkenberg clawed his way to third for Kick Sauber.

“It’s been a long time coming, hasn’t it?” he grinned, trying to process what had just happened. “It was a survival fight… mixed conditions, crazy conditions. We made no mistakes. Quite incredible.”

In other words, it took biblical weather, front-running chaos, and tactical brilliance—but the Hulk finally smashed his podium curse.

Lewis Hamilton, making his first Silverstone start as a Ferrari driver, came home fourth. Verstappen salvaged fifth after his off-road excursion, while Pierre Gasly slipped into sixth for Alpine, further proving that on weird race days, anyone can look like a genius.

Lance Stroll flirted with a podium but eventually tumbled to seventh, Alex Albon scored more points for Williams in eighth, Fernando Alonso and George Russell rounded out the top ten.

Further down, the Haas duo of Ollie Bearman and Esteban Ocon continued their ongoing love affair with mid-pack collisions, Charles Leclerc’s day went from bad to “get me on the next flight home,” and Kimi Antonelli’s Mercedes career hit a speed bump—literally—after being rear-ended by Isack Hadjar in the spray.

Silverstone delivered its usual drama: unpredictable weather, fanatical crowds, and just enough controversy to keep F1’s social media arguments alive for weeks. But for Norris, it was a fairy-tale finish.

“The last few laps I was just looking into the crowd,” Norris admitted, eyes probably half-watering from the emotion and half from the spray. “I was just trying to take it all in… incredible achievement.”

It certainly was—and for Hulkenberg, a decade’s worth of frustration finally washed away in the English rain.

Winners podium – Head of Aerodynamics McLaren Racing, Peter Prodromou (L), Oscar Piastri of Australia, McLaren, Lando Norris of Great Britain and McLaren, and Nico Hulkenberg of Germany and Kick Sauber Ferrari (R) during the Formula 1 Qatar Airways Grand Prix of Great Britain at the Silverstone Circuit in Towcester, England, on July 6, 2024. (Photo by Jon Hobley | MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

 

FORMULA 1 QATAR AIRWAYS BRITISH GRAND PRIX 2025 – RACE RESULT

Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone

POS. NO. DRIVER TEAM LAPS TIME / RETIRED PTS.
1 4 Lando Norris McLaren 52 1:37:15.735 25
2 81 Oscar Piastri McLaren 52 +6.812s 18
3 27 Nico Hulkenberg Kick Sauber 52 +34.742s 15
4 44 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 52 +39.812s 12
5 1 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 52 +56.781s 10
6 10 Pierre Gasly Alpine 52 +59.857s 8
7 18 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 52 +60.603s 6
8 23 Alexander Albon Williams 52 +64.135s 4
9 14 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 52 +65.858s 2
10 63 George Russell Mercedes 52 +70.674s 1
11 87 Oliver Bearman Haas 52 +72.095s 0
12 55 Carlos Sainz Williams 52 +76.592s 0
13 31 Esteban Ocon Haas 52 +77.301s 0
14 16 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 52 +84.477s 0
15 22 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull Racing 51 +1 lap 0
NC 12 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 23 DNF 0
NC 6 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls 17 DNF 0
NC 5 Gabriel Bortoleto Kick Sauber 3 DNF 0
NC 30 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls 0 DNF 0
NC 43 Franco Colapinto Alpine 0 DNS 0
* Provisional results.
Greg Engle
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