British GP: Lando Norris wins at home, Nico Hulkenberg takes first podium finish

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New Delhi: Lando Norris wins at home, taking his first win in the British Grand Prix, taking his back-to-back wins as the first half of the season comes to an end. McLaren finished this half with 1 and 2 finish with Oscar Piastri coming in a close second. However, all eyes would be on Nico Hulkenberg finishing third, taking his first podium ever in his 239th Grand Prix.

It was a perfect start to the race, though even before the lights were out, during the formation lap, all but two cars had pitted. Coming into the race with his fourth pole position of the season, Max Verstappen started his race well, with Piastri challenging him constantly. However, by the eighth lap, with the British weather really acting up with the rain, Piastri took the lead from the Dutch driver. It was pouring down well with five cars going off the track and retiring.

Weather played footsies in the British Grand Prix

The whole race was full of surprises and cars spinning out and slipping on the track, which completely reshaped the lineup. Franco Colapinto retired early in the race followed by Liam Lawson. Gabriel Bortoleto had initially survived a spin-out and was going to the gravel, but ultimately retired his car as well. Isac Hajdar crashed into Mercedes driver Adrea Antonelli due to poor visibility, with the Italian driver following suit soon.

Verstappen had managed to keep the two McLarens separated despite struggling to keep Norris at bay from taking away the second place. However, when the safety car period ended, Piastri slowed down too much, which caused Verstappen to spin out and go as low as eighth place. Stewards were quick to check and found the Australian driver in infringement and gave him a ten-second penalty. The two McLarens are just too fast to be hampered by any of this.

For Piastri, the first safety car wiped away his 13-second lead in the Grand Prix having been in total control of the race for of the early parts of the race. Piastri was told about the penalty and told to build a gap but in the wetter section of the race, it was simply impossible. It worked to Norris’s advantage, who managed to become the quicker of the two in the closing stages of the race. This prompted McLaren to ask Piastri not to put up a fight in case of overtaking. With a huge gap from the third place, the Papaya team made Norris serve his time on the grid and put him on slicks before pitting Norris a lap later to give him the lead. 

Lance Stroll, by the 32nd lap, had been in third place, followed by Hulkberg. Stroll’s teammate Fernando Alonso had shown amazing pace at the start of the race, running in fifth place, but poor strategy ultimately meant that the Spaniard had to be content with a ninth finish.

McLaren makes a claim on two championships stronger

For Verstappen, the hopes of defending his title have diminished by a large margin with no points in the Austrian GP and a fifth finish in the British GP. A podium finish in the Canadian GP had given his title defence a much better chance than now. He now has just 165 points with Piastri still in the lead with 234 points despite two consecutive second finishes and not winning since the Spanish GP. Norris has closed the gap with 226 points. Another title contender George Russell finished tenth, and now has 147 points followed by Leclerc with 119 points who finished 14th.

Lewis Hamilton is now sixth with 103 points, managing to finish fourth and looking rather close to taking his first podium at Ferrari during the final stages of the race. In the constructors’ race, McLaren are leading with 460 points, with Ferrari’s 222 points following in second, with Mercedes om close third with 210 points, while Red Bulls have taken 172 points.

Driver of the Day

For his first podium finish at Formula One, it was Nico Hulkenberg who stood out in the race. Sauber haven’t been the strongest team on the grid, but here in the wet conditions, their German driver gave them something to look fondly at. Hulkenberg first took the podium place from Stroll in the 34th lap.

Then he had to defend a strong challenge from seven-time world champion Hamilton, who was looking well in the final stages of his home race. Hulkenberg pitted late in the race for medium tyres, which set him up for the podium finish. Hulkenberg though had a big gap from the front two, managed to take home the third-place finish.