British Grand Prix: Norris wins chaotic race, Hulkenberg on podium!
F1 NewsSunday, 06 July 2025 at 22:29
Lando Norris emerged from the chaos of the 2025 British Grand Prix to take his first victory at home on a day when Nico Hulkenberg took his maiden Formula 1 podium.
This was the second win for Norris in a row after winning in Austria the last time out as he closed in further on his teammate Oscar Piastri in the drivers' championship.
There was never a moment of calm since the lights were out as the British weather made sure the 75th F1 race at Silverstone was an epic one.
And while the rain gave the race a break for some time, it soon returned and mixed things up making sure big names flopped while drivers from the lower midfield emerged and benefitted.
Piastri was on his way to take victory having passed Max Verstappen early on in the race and especially after the latter spun on a Safety Car restart.
However, the Australian was given a ten-second time penalty for braking erratically trying to bunch up the field as the Safety Car period was ending and that was it.
What a difference 24 hours make
As for Verstappen, he paid the price for his extreme choice of setup with which he took pole in qualifying on Saturday. His RB21 was undriveable with so little downforce in the rain and his spin did not help his mission as he had to settle for fifth.
But let's come to Hulkenberg. After 239 races in the top flight and after coming close several times, The Hulk finally took his first ever podium finish for the German.
Hulkenberg's podium was extra special as he started from 19th on the grid and also had to fend off a seven-time F1 champion in order to secure it. He was under extreme pressure from Lewis Hamilton in the final part of the race but the Sauber man stood firm and delivered.
As such, Hamilton's dream of getting on a home podium in a Ferrari did not materialize and he had to settle for fourth on what was a rollercoaster of a race for the Briton.
His teammate, Charles Leclerc, was down in 14th at the chequered flag having taken a risk, pitting at the end of the formation lap for slicks which was not the right decision. From there the Monegasque had a clumsy race with several off moments costing him.
With Verstappen sixth, Pierre Gasly drove a steady race for Alpine to take sixth doing a decent job fighting with much faster cars to score points for the French outfit in such treacherous conditions.
Then came Lance Stroll in seventh, the Canadian reaching as high as third at some point in the race after a timely pitstop at the start of the race for Intermediate tyres.
But as the track dried, the Aston Martin driver's race unraveled and dropped down the order but at least managed to finish ahead of teammate Fernando Alonso who was ninth as Alex Albon split the the green cars to finish eighth.
Another driver who must be disappointed by his result was George Russell who took the final point in tenth after an early gamble on slick tyres at the end of formation lap backfired with rain returning.
Later on in the race, Russell pushed his team for slicks, a lap too early probably, and ended up spinning down the order but could only recover to claim the final point-scoring position.
In the end, the 2025 British Grand Prix delivered a great show with the mixed conditions testing teams and drivers alike with some making the right choices and others failing to do so and paying a hefty price.
What the top three said
An elated Norris said in parc ferme: "It's beautiful. Everything I dreamed of, I guess. Everything I've ever wanted to achieve.
"Apart from a championship, I think this is as good as it gets in terms of feelings and in terms of achievement, being proud, all of it.
"This is where it all started for me, and now thankfully I've been able to have my go," he added.
Piastri was visibly annoyed after his penalty, and for a driver who already speaks so little, his answers simply reflected his state of mind.
"I'm not going to say much. I'll get myself in trouble," the Aussie said. "Well done to Nico. I think that's the highlight of the day.
"Apparently you can't brake behind the Safety Car any more. I did it for five laps before that.
"I'm not going to say much because I'll get myself in trouble," he repeated. "I still like Silverstone, even if I don't like it today..."
It was second race in a row that Hulkenberg drove up the order from almost last. He cored points in Austria that way and did even better this time around.
"It feels good. It's been a long time coming, hasn't it?" the German told 2009 F1 champion Jenson Button after the race. "But I always knew we have it in us, I have it in me, somewhere.
"What a race. Coming from virtually last, doing it all over again from last weekend. It's pretty surreal, to be honest. I'm not sure how it all happened, but obviously crazy, mixed conditions.
"It was a survival fight for a lot of the race. I think we just were really on it with the right calls, the right tyres in the right moment, made no mistakes - quite incredible," Hulkenberg concluded.
How the British Grand Prix panned out
Just as the pitlane was opened for the cars to make their way out on the grid, the skies also opened up as the British weather delivered a curve ball, and while the rain stopped before the start of the race, the track was still wet enough for Intermediate tyres to be the compound of choice at the start.
With a dry line showing, Russell, Leclerc, Hadjar, Bortoleto and Bearman take a risk an pit at the end of the formation lap for slicks.
Piastri had a better start than Verstappen but the Dutchman kept his lead as the top four kept the same order as a Gasly had a great start up to fifth.
But then the Yellow flag came out after an incident between Lawson and Ocon which was followed by a Virtual Safety Car which Antonelli made use of to pit for slicks. Lawson was out, Ocon kept going with damage.
By Lap 4, the VSC ended and the racing resumed with threat of rain expected in 10 laps but then Bortoleto crashed at Turn 2 but made his way back to the pits with a damaged rear wing. That did not interrupt the racing.
Then by Lap 5 the Yellow flag was out as Bortoleto could not make it back to the pits and parked his car on the side of the road with the VSC coming out again.
That was around Lap 6 as the threat of rain increased with the drivers having to keep their Inters alive until it arrives, and by Lap 7, the VSC ended.
Piastri was on the attack immediately with Verstappen defending with all the talent he had, but the Australian soon had DRS but Verstappen held firm.
But then by Lap 8, Piastri made his way past the reigning world champion whose tyres were cooked at that point but needed keep going since more rain was coming in.
By Lap 10, Antonelli pitted again to get rid of his slick tyres while other drivers also followed suit for another set of Inters in anticipation of the rain.
Verstappen radioed informing his team his Inters were shot and he needed to pit for a new set should the rain arrive, as by Lap 11, the DRS was disabled and skies opened up properly.
Then Verstappen went off and lost another position to Norris as the top three drivers box for a new set of Inters. Verstappen regained his position as Norris had a bad stop as McLaren went for a double stack.
Piastri maintained the lead while Norris was on the attack trying to retake second from Verstappen as conditions worsened.
By Lap 14, the Safety Car was sent out neutralizing the race with Stroll a surprising fourth after gambling on slicks and then switching for Inters in the right time.
Order as the Safety Car ended and just ahead of the restart on Lap 18: Piastri - Verstappen - Norris - Stroll - Hulkenberg - Gasly - Ocon - Hamilton - Russell - Alonso - Sainz - Albon - Tsunoda - Leclerc - Antonelli - Hadjar - Bearman.
Piastri raced into the distance leaving the following pack to deal with his spray, as Russell tried a move on Hamilton but then got held up by Ocon with the #44 Ferrari benefiting and passing both.
But then the Safety Car came out again with Hadjar in the barriers at Copse. The Frenchman radioed that he was ok.
Replay showed that Hadjar rear-ended Antonelli who kept going but was down in 15th with only Ocon behind him.
Mercedes called Antonelli for a new set of Inters and to assess the damage on his car. He was almost running without a diffuser but the team kept going.
Order ahead of the restart: Piastri - Verstappen - Norris - Stroll - Hulkenberg - Gasly - Hamilton - Russell - Alonso - Sainz - Albon - Leclerc - Tsunoda - Bearman - Ocon - Antonelli.
On Lap 21, the Safety Car ended and on the restart, it was disaster for Verstappen who spun and rejoined in 11th as he was clearly struggling with the low downforce configuration on his RB21.
Just before the restart Verstappen complained about Piastri being erratic and the Australian was soon under investigation for a Safety Car infringement.
Then on Lap 24, Hamilton had a huge slide and while he held it, he lost a position to Russell who took sixth place as Antonelli then retired.
But then the bombshell dropped as Piastri was slapped with a 10-second time penalty for his driving behind the Safety Car.
By Lap 27, Hamilton retook sixth position from Russell, despite earlier complaining that his car was hard to drive. He set out chasing Gasly for fifth.
By Lap 28, Verstappen was till in tenth and complaining over the team radio that he couldn't keep up with the cars ahead of him.
By Lap 30, Hamilton made his way past Gasly and set his eyes on the Sauber of Hulkenberg who was closing in on Stroll in third.
By Lap 34, the DRS was enable and Hulkenberg immediately made use of that and passed Stroll for third as Hamilton started his attack on the Canadian and does that a few corner later.
Verstappen made it past Sainz for Sainz as well as Russell was still trying to find a way to pass Gasly for sixth. Leclerc passed Albon for 11th.
By Lap 38, Alonso dived into the pits and took on a set of Medium compound, as conditions seemed to be drying up a bit.
Russell followed and took on Hards, but then soon after that he almost binned his car in Maggots and Becketts, but somehow stayed out of the barriers. He dropped down to 14th.
Verstappen in the meantime has been going up the order and by Lap 41 was past Gasly into sixth.
By Lap 42, Hamilton pulled the trigger among the top teams and pitted for Softs as Verstappen followed suit but took Mediums. Several other drivers copied them.
Hamilton soon went off track as soon as he rejoined. He was fifth as Hulkenberg pitted as well. He rejoined in third ahead of Hamilton as Leclerc pitted then Piastri followed.
The Australian served his penalty and rejoined on Mediums in second place as replay showed the Haas driver having contact, Ocon worse off.
The Norris pitted on Lap 15 and rejoined just under six seconds ahead of Piastri. The latter was on it by had a wobble at Becketts.
But Piastri could not reel his teammate in and had to settle for second place with Hulkenberg taking his first F1 career podium the second for Sauber.
Order outside the top three: Hamilton - Verstappen - Gasly - Stroll - Alonso - Albon - Russell.
British Grand Prix Provisional Classification
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