The 2025 British Grand Prix was a nail-biter, as rain combined with the classic soul of the Silverstone track, which delivered a race that we will be discussing for a while.
There were so many talking points as we headed to Silverstone for round 12 of the 2025 Formula 1 championship, with Lewis Hamilton making his Ferrari debut at home and McLaren aiming to deliver in front of their home crowds.
Lando Norris arrived at his home track on the back of his win in Austria and was naturally aiming to to do the same at a track where there is a grandstand with his name on it, but Oscar Piastri would obviously be planning to deny his teammate a successful home weekend.
Max Verstappen was looking to bounce back after a disastrous weekend in Austria after Kimi Antonelli took him out on Lap 1 due to a rookie moment from the Italian, which meant he had to serve a three-place grid penalty at Silverstone.
But Red Bull struggled from the moment the RB21 hit the track, while McLaren were quietly confident and got on with their work, as Ferrari showed early promise that they couldn't maintain, while Mercedes, with a Brit in one of their cars, George Russell, had a fluctuating form but never genuinely posed any threat to their rivals.
In the end, the British summer did not disappoint, and rain arrived just before the race, to the rejoice of some while breaking the hearts of others.
Ultimately, we were treated to a capricious race, which many will struggle to remember its details as confusion prevailed with a flurry of pit stops, incidents, Safety Cars... you name it.
But it was a memorable weekend, as off-track politics and silly season talks combined with on-track drama delivered a British Grand Prix for the ages.
In 2024, Hamilton took an unexpected win at Silverstone, but this time he was denied a podium appearance by a German who ended a 239-race-long jinx.
for the second year in a row, the British Grand Prix kept us on the edge of our seats for its whole 52 laps.
Verstappen's roller coaster weekend
Verstappen wasn't in the best position in the buildup for last weekend's British Grand Prix, with rumors surrounding his future with Red Bull intensifying while he was simultaneously trying to put his Austrian nightmare behind him.
But the early signs were not good, as his RB21 was all over the place, the front end sliding around, and the Dutchman was not happy.
So, with some overnight work at Milton Keynes between Friday and Saturday, Red Bull arrived with a radical setup change for qualifying, bolting the skinniest of rear wings on the RB21, taking out the downforce in an attempt to shift the load balance to the front.
And it worked out brilliantly, for qualifying that is, as Verstappen took a stunning pole, leaving onlookers in awe at how he manhandled that RB21, especially in the high-speed corners, again showing the extent of his talent.
But little did Red Bull realise that they had dug themselves into a hole that they wouldn't be able to get out of on race day.
They didn't account for rain on Sunday. Either they didn't check the weather forecast, or they just kept their fingers crossed that the expected rain would not last for the whole duration of the race. Well, it did.
The look on Christian Horner's face when interviewed on the grid ahead of the race spelled trouble, and that was indeed the case, as Verstappen, with all his talent, could not fight the McLarens and then had that humbling spin after the Safety Car restart, which basically destroyed any hopes of a podium finish, let alone a win.
The situation at Red Bull is not ok. Their extreme setup change between Friday and Saturday was a reflection of how desperate they were.
With talks about a wet race—I mean, Horner should listen to Zak Brown sometimes—why did they not go with a wet setup and count on Max delivering another "2024 Sao Paulo" performance?
With all the chatter about the future of their star driver and the personnel losses they have recently suffered, the Horner-led team is in disarray, and there doesn't seem to be a light at the end of the tunnel… For now.
McLaren's homecoming
McLaren were naturally the favourites coming into Silverstone, and despite some glory runs from Ferrari, Hamilton topped FP1 and Charles Leclerc FP2—and even with Verstappen taking pole, the Woking squad remained quietly confident that things would go their way in the race, when points are awarded.
Piastri was all over Verstappen from the start and soon passed him as the RB21 was no match for the MCL39, while Norris also patiently drove around waiting for the race to come to him, and it eventually did. It was a calm and mature race from Lando, which proves he is in a much better place these days, and two wins in a row will only strengthen his situation.
Piastri drove a great race, but it was undone after he was given the 10-second time penalty for a Safety Car infringement when he braked hard attempting to bunch up the field at the restart, which caught Verstappen off-guard—he later spun on his own, though.
Now the penalty the Australian received initiated a lot of debate—you should see the discussion on the GrandPrix247 editorial WhatsApp group—and that is understandable.
But trying to make some sense out of it, I would say this: Keeping in mind that the Safety Car was called in late, what Piastri did had a hint of Russell's Safety Car tactics back in Canada, and in both cases Verstappen was the car behind the leader.
Now with Max being one penalty point away from a race ban, Russell has been keen to capitalize on that, and it seems Piastri tried to do the same in Silverstone.
Verstappen was hovering behind Piastri at the restart, something he usually does, and Piastri might have thought: "I'm going to teach you a lesson."
And he did, but he probably took it too far, and I feel the stewards were trying to avoid a Safety Car restart trend from developing. They looked the other way in Canada but decided to take action this time, and the wording of the rules allows it, to be honest.
"Article 55.15 of the FIA Sporting Regulations required Car 81 [Piastri] to proceed at a pace which involved no erratic braking nor any other maneuver which is likely to endanger other drivers from the point at which the lights on the safety car are turned off."
That is what the stewards stated when explaining Piastri's penalty. The definition of erratic braking and a manoeuvre that would endanger other drivers is very fluid.
Regardless, Oscar was being naughty, and the penalty was deserved. Its severity, however, can be questioned.
Naturall,y he was livid afterwards, but I feel it was not just the penalty that caused that.
The fact that McLaren—with a one-two finish—couldn't care less about challenging it, and the way they put Piastri in place when he asked to switch the cars was what made the usually calm Aussie lose his composure, and it would be intriguing to see how he responds in the future.
The Hulk finally arrives in Formula 1
Nico Hulkenberg is a Formula 1 podium finisher! Finally, and about time.
The 37-year-old German was lauded as one of the greatest talents that joined the top flight back in 2010 as a Williams rookie, and his pole position in the wet in Sao Paulo that year is one of his famous moments in the sport.
That is until he stepped on the podium of the British Grand Prix last Sunday after a faultless drive from 19th on the grid on a day when Sauber were also faultless with their pit wall operations, something Jonathan Wheatley can take credit for.
The former Red Bull Racing Sporting Director has whipped Sauber into shape recently as they edge closer towards becoming Audi in 2026.
What is sure is that this team will not have to worry about trackside operations in 2026, while their Audi power unit and chassis might be an issue—we've heard rumours—but that is Mattia Binotto's headache.
Back to Hulkenberg, he used all his experience to keep his Sauber on track and finish behind the McLarens. That car is far from being the second-best F1 machine on the grid, but the Hulk flattered it with his driving.
He attacked when he needed to and was clinical in that, while the manner in which he soaked the pressure from Hamilton was impressive, he ultimately managed to keep him at bay.
It was such an unexpected result for Sauber, and they didn't even have champagne to celebrate. They never thought they would need it. But Toto Wolff, ever the gentleman, solved that problem.
But now, with celebrations over, Sauber need to get back down to earth and focus on their path into 2026, which is surely going to be a rough one.
British Grand Prix Quick Hits
- Fourth place is not what Hamilton would've hoped for on his first home race with Ferrari, but again, that Red Car was not up to the task despite showing some flashes of speed in practice.
Hamilton and Leclerc were lucky to escape Q1 in qualifying after some questionable pit wall decisions. Hamilton wanted another run but was told he didn't have enough fuel.
Leclerc's gamble on slicks at the start of the race was a rash decision. Moreover, the Monegasque was all over the place in the race.
Overall, a subpar weekend for the Reds. - The same applies to Mercedes, who were celebrating 75 years of F1. The first race was back in 1950, and Mercedes won.
They brought out the flat hats for the occasion, something they should've learned not to do after their horrible 2019 German Grand Prix.
Antonelli's lack of experience showed again in mixed conditions, and he retired after being rear-ended by Isack Hadjar, who retired as well.
Russell was erratic and all over the place with wrong tyre calls despite a decent qualifying. Maybe he needs that contract to calm down and was hoping for an announcement at his home race. - A decent race for Aston Martin. Lance Stroll appeared to be on for a podium finish after some slick early race decisions on tyres, which Fernando Alonso was amused about.
But when the race settled down towards the end, Stroll dropped down the order, which meant GrandPrix247's Paul Velasco avoided eating a humble pie. - A terrible race for Haas, especially Ollie Bearman, who had the pace with a Q3 finish in qualifying, which was undone by his grid penalty following his Red Flag infringement in the final practice session.
Both Haas drivers had an eventful race, with Esteban Ocon hitting Liam Lawson at the start. The two drivers ultimately crashed into each other. - Another tough weekend for Williams, who seem to be fighting some gremlins with their cars, which needed new power units.
- And another decent performance from Pierre Gasly, which looks even better given how Franco Colapinto's weekend from hell panned out.
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