SILVERSTONE, England — Max Verstappen won the British Grand Prix as Red Bull stayed unbeaten for the Formula One season and equalled McLaren’s 1988 record of 11 victories in a row.
McLaren’s Lando Norris finished second in front of a 160,000-strong home crowd at Silverstone, with fellow Briton and seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton third for Mercedes.
“Eleven in a row. That’s pretty crazy,” said Verstappen over the team radio.
Second place to him with Lewis Hamilton third. So the younger man, who fell in love with Formula One watching Hamilton light up the world, ended the day as the top Briton on display.
He did so on merit and by holding off Hamilton’s charge on soft tyres – to his hards – during a couple of heart-stopping minutes in which they close danced around the fast and famous corners of the former World War Two airfield.
This was after the withdrawal of the safety car, which had moved Hamilton from seventh to third. Lap 39 of 52, and Norris weaved left to break the tow. Hamilton went down the outside of Brooklands and Luffield and, pulled by a slipstream, attempted to pass on the outside at Copse. Norris was having none of it.
“It’s very confusing, to be honest, because every single race it’s someone else,” Verstappen said according to AP.
Filming for Pitt’s upcoming F1-themed movie had been taking place all weekend around the F1 sessions, using black-and-gold cars from the fictional APX team. Pitt himself and co-star Damson Idris joined the grid in racing suits before the start.
Verstappen extended his overall lead to 99 points over teammate Sergio Perez. First place in a race earns 25 points.
Starting on pole position, Verstappen was overtaken off the line by McLaren’s Norris in what he later admitted was a “terrible” start but swept back into the lead on lap five and held on until the end. Red Bull has won all 10 races this year, 11 in a row including the final race of 2022, matching the record of McLaren with 11 consecutive wins in 1988.
Norris had been expected to drop back after qualifying a surprise second on the grid, but instead remained Verstappen’s closest challenger throughout the race. After a safety-car restart, he fought wheel-to-wheel with Hamilton, who had what were in theory faster tires, but held on to second for his and McLaren’s best result since 2021. “It was an amazing fight,” Norris said.
Hamilton had started seventh and credited the crowd for powering him to a 14th career podium finish at his home race. “I didn´t do it, the crowd did,” he said. “I felt the energy, I felt the support. This is the reason we got back up there.”
McLaren rookie Oscar Piastri was a career-best fourth ahead of Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate George Russell as McLaren’s upgraded car proved far more competitive than even the team had predicted.
Perez was off the podium for the fourth time in five races, finishing sixth after starting 15th, with seventh for Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and an impressive eighth for Alexander Albon of Williams.
When Kevin Magnussen broke down with flames coming from the back of his Haas on lap 33 of 52, it gave drivers including Verstappen, Norris and Hamilton the chance to pit under the safety car without losing time. Ferrari was among the losers because Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz had just pitted. They finished ninth and 10th respectively.
Race organizers and police were on high alert to prevent a repeat of the protest at last year´s race when environmental activists stormed the track. That included police using a facial recognition system on the entry gates to the circuit, a relatively new and controversial technology in Britain.
Drivers had warned against a repeat of track protests, arguing it would risk their safety and that of any protesters entering a live track. Last year´s protest took place shortly after a crash had caused a red-flag stoppage, meaning cars were already going more slowly on their way to the pits.
