Rand Norris has won McLaren’s teammate Oscar Piastri at the UK Grand Prix after the Australian penalised for a safe car violation in a race with unpredictable mixed weather.
The dominant McLaren driver led homeiron Nico Halkenberg, who won the first podium of his career in his 239th Grand Prix start.
The Grand Prix got off to a very confused start with a formation lap behind the safety car due to the rain before the race. The circuit was mostly dry, but for the rainy Veil Shikane, six drivers chose the pit before the race began.
Piastri got off to a strong start by lining up Paul Getter Max Verstappen on the first turn, but he thought the inside line diving bomb would be better. However, he had limited time to make another Dutch move, but there was a virtual safety car that was called on lap 2 after Liam Lawson stopped on the Wellington straight.
Lawson was in intense contact with Estvan Ocon. There, the French were trapped between his inner kiwi and the horned horn. The Racing Bulls car suffered terminal damage, but Ocon and Tsunoda continued.
The race was reopened at Verstappen’s gearbox two laps later, but another virtual safety car on Sauber’s lap 6, damaged bolt-rate after a crash on the farm, cooled his attack once more.
The race returned to 8 lap 8, but this time Piastri quickly made his move. He chased the Dutch from Lafield, passing through Copse, over Maggott and Beckett, where a better exit led him to the lead of the Veil.
The title leader felt dominant. He was right in 2.5 seconds, 2.5 seconds ahead of Verstappen. He was struggling to wear mid-tier tires and was suddenly under pressure from Norris.
The McLaren was clearly a faster car in slippery conditions, and Norris needed most of the time to elicit the error. This time, Verstappen skated heavily in the chapel, allowing his rivals to easily make it into second place.
However, there was another twist in the race, with heavy rain hitting the circuit again from lap 11.
Piastri led the leader into the pit for a fresh intermediate, but Norris’ stop was late and Verstappen returned. However, he didn’t get the chance to fight back, but Race Control deployed safety cars to manage the pace through heavy rains. It eliminated what peaked with a 13.5-second advantage for Piastry, and stuck what appeared to be an early sign of domination in the bud.
The field was under control until lap 18, but was called again as soon as Isack Hadjar crashed in Copse. The French were caught up in a heavy spray, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, the aftermath, when Mercedes emerged from the mist in front of him.
The reopening was set for lap 22, but the race was pivoted and controlled the pace as the safety car made a track in the pit lane. The Australian responded by apparently braking the hangar straight and hitting it hard, in order to avoid catching the safety car. It caught a barstappen from off guard. Red Bull racing drivers must take evasive action and pass through Australians temporarily.
The steward began an investigation into Piastri’s driving and then slapped him with a 10-second penalty for unstable driving.
However, Verstappen could not benefit from the penalty. After returning to the second for a reboot, he spins the car at Stowe and drops him ninth.
It set what quickly became the one-two of the dominant McLaren. The MCL39 was peerless in slippery conditions, with Piastri and Norris having no issues opening a 30-minute lead on the field on the next 15 laps.
However, despite Piastri’s early advantage in the wet, he was unable to rock his teammates to second place to explain the teenage penalty. Norris woke up and decided to maximize his profits when he finally returned to Slick.
Piastri was first stopped on lap 43 and offered him a penalty. Norris’ quick stop on the next tour reunites him with a six-second lead.
The Australians decided to fill the gap, and it seemed temporarily that they could have put Norris under pressure, but with a calm slick, they sacrificed a wild snap through Maggott and Beckett. Norris was exploited by putting his foot down and extending his advantage over the final 10 laps, earning a checkered flag with a 6.8-second advantage.
“It’s beautiful – everything I dreamed of, everything I’ve ever wanted to achieve,” he said. “The last few laps were watching in the crowd. I took it all in and enjoyed the moment. I have memories that I’ll bring with me forever.”
Piastri was clearly disappointed in losing a shot in the victory, and shortened his post-race comments to avoid avoiding himself.
“It seems you can’t brake behind the safety car anymore,” he said. “I did it five laps before that. I’m not going to say much – I’m going to annoy myself.”
As a result, Piastry titles scored eight points, with half of the season still running.
Hulkenberg completed the Sauber podium with the sensational end of a drought on a career podium for German veterans. The 37-year-old started 19th and took sixth place after the others before him stopped at the end of the formation lap, but he set fire to the comeback by stopping for the man-in-the-middle on lap 9, taking the rain completely ahead of its arrival to fifth place.
Verstappen’s spin earned him another spot, and the walk pass of Lance – after a stop early for a slick, he took 13th place at his starting location, then reverted his switch exactly to intermediate – moved him to third place.
However, the Germans had to compete with Lewis Hamilton for much of the second half of the race. The Ferrari driver was sure to catch him when his intermediate tires began to disappear with 12 laps remaining.
Ferrari quickly pits him, causing a pause cascade to Slick, which ended up in Halkenberg, but Maggott and Beckett’s oversteer snaps were eventually paid for the chase.
Hulkenberg finished the highly popular third, breaking the record for the 101 start, which Carlos Sainz held in most starts before the Maiden podium.
“It’s been a while,” he said. “I always knew I had it somewhere.
“To be honest, it’s pretty surreal. I don’t know how it happened. Crazy situations, mixed conditions – it was a survival fight.”
Hamilton finished fourth in the irritated Verstappen.
Pierre Guthrie took a strong sixth place after a strong start and solid management in conditions.
Lance’s walk had slid from 3rd to 7th with the tires gone, losing Guthrie’s place on the final lap, and still crossing the flag before Alex Albon for an impressive 10th place profit in the grid spot.
Fernando Alonso was frustrated not to be invited to make an early pit stop, so he was dumped on the field while his teammates strolled forward.
George Russell completed the top 10 with a chaotic race. Britton gambled first with Slicks late in the race, but drastically spun the path for Maggots and Beckett.
Oliver Bareman finished 11th ahead of Charles Leclerc’s Carlos Signes and Esteban Ocon, who gambled at the end of the formation lap and lost after gambling at the slick – and Yuki Tsunoda, who finished his final finisher in the second race.
Antoneri retired from damage and joined Hadger, Boltreto, Lawson and Corapinto, among non-finishers.
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