F1 British GP: Max Verstappen beats Lando Norris to victory as Lewis Hamilton completes podium
Max Verstappen beat home favourites Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton to victory at the British Grand Prix to further strengthen his F1 world championship bid.
Norris sent a packed 160,000 home crowd into raptures when he snatched the lead from a slow-starting Verstappen into Turn 1, but the Red Bull driver reclaimed the position back five laps later.
A Safety Car following a fiery engine failure for Kevin Magnussen’s Haas on Lap 33 saw Verstappen’s lead evaporate, but the Dutchman held on to claim a sixth consecutive victory and his seventh win from 10 races this season.
Verstappen has now opened up a 99-point lead over Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez, who recovered to sixth after his latest disastrous qualifying.
Norris robustly fended off Hamilton to claim second, despite the seven-time world champion having faster soft tyres, as they completed a popular British 2-3 on the podium behind Verstappen.
Oscar Piastri was unfortunate to miss out on a first F1 podium after losing out to Hamilton under the Safety Car, but the McLaren driver was able to keep George Russell’s soft-shod Mercedes at bay for fourth.
Behind Perez, Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso was seventh, ahead of Alex Albon, who impressively beat the Ferrari pair of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz to claim yet more points for Williams.
Despite warnings that Just Stop Oil were willing to put "bodies on the line" and disrupt the Silverstone race, there was no repeat of their 2022 protest when activists managed to get onto the track during the opening lap.
