SILVERSTONE, England - Once again, Max Verstappen couldn't be stopped as the two-time Formula 1 World Champion stood on the top spot of the podium for the sixth consecutive race after winning the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.
Verstappen won his eighth race of the year, keeping Oracle Red Bull Racing perfect in the win column after the first 10 races. This is also Red Bull's 11th straight F1 win as the team continues to be an unstoppable powerhouse.
"I'm very happy that we've won here again, 11 wins in a row for the team is pretty incredible, the whole team can be proud of that," Verstappen said. "It definitely wasn't straightforward today though, we had a bad start which made it more exciting for the fans, but we definitely need to look into that, improve on it."
While Verstappen was the victor, McLaren's Lando Norris and Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton, shined in their annual home race to claim the remaining spots on the podium. With McLaren bringing an updated car to Silverstone, this allowed Norris to shine by managing a great start off the line and was able to jump polesitter Verstappen before Turn 1.
Norris said he did what he could do and took the fight to Verstappen for as long as possible. His rookie teammate, Oscar Piastri, fought Verstappen for a few corners before happily settling into third place.
Meanwhile, further down the grid, Hamilton started the lap from seventh, his worst starting position at Silverstone since 2012. After locking the rear tires, Hamilton ran wide and slipped back to ninth before the end of the first lap.
“I can't tell you the actual words I was thinking, but it was one of the worst opening laps that I've had for a while," Hamilton said. "It was very tricky on the first lap but then after that, just try to find my feet."
On Lap 5, to the disappointment of all the British fans in attendance hoping to see a British driver win, Verstappen passed Norris into Brooklands to reclaim the lead of the race.
Verstappen acknowledged both McLarens being super quick and how it took a few laps to complete the overtake, but felt things would be fine once he built a gap to the competitors behind him.
After Norris' got demoted to second place, Piastri was instructed to hold third place to allow the McLarens to work together.
Five laps later, Alpine's Esteban Ocon became the first retirement of the race. Ocon was able to safely navigate the car back to the pits and the race continued without interruption for the rest of the field.
However, on Lap 33, Haas driver Kevin Magnussen's power unit failed and he exited the race in a more dramatic fashion. The timing of the safety car benefitted the drivers who had yet to stop. Hamilton was able to leapfrog his way over several early stoppers and moved into third.
“I basically put on the Medium tyre in the hope and plan to just stay out on them until the very end, until the Safety Car potentially would come, and fortunately it did,” Hamilton said.
With 18 laps remaining, Hamilton opted for the softer tire compound while McLaren opted for the harder compound tire. Norris disagreed with the team’s decision although everything worked out perfectly for him in the end.
“I wanted the Softs. I feel it made a bit more sense, especially with the Safety Car coming out,” Norris said.
On the restart, Verstappen managed to pull a two-second gap within one lap while Hamilton and Norris battled for second. Piastri, also on the harder tire compound, was able to fend off George Russell in the other Mercedes.
On the radio, Russell said he was very impressed by the pace of the McLaren on the harder tire compound.
GRID Ranking
The 2023 GRID Ranking is the seventh year of the premier motorsport ranking in the world and it was initially released on Sunday, April 2.
Drivers in the seven racing series participating in the ranking (NASCAR, IndyCar, Formula 1, Formula E, World Rally Championship, Repco Supercars, MotoGP) have earned GRID Ratings, which help determine their seeding each week in the 2023 GRID Ranking.
GRID Ranking Week 15 Formula 1 Drivers:
DRIVER | OLD RATING | PREVIOUS RANKING | MOST RECENT FINISH | NEW RATING | NEW RANKING |
Max Verstappen | 21.98 | 1st | 1st | 22.49 | 1st |
Sergio Perez | 12.83 | 12th | 6th | 12.41 | 14th |
Fernando Alonso | 10.52 | 23rd | 7th | 10.01 | 24th |
Lewis Hamilton | 9.18 | 29th | 3rd | 9.61 | 27th |
Carlos Sainz | 7.94 | 35th | 10th | 7.13 | 35th |
The next FIA Formula 1 World Championship race will take place on Sunday, July 23 at the Hungaroring for the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Full results from the 2023 British Grand Prix can be found here:
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