Silverstone - Race

On Saturday, Max Verstappen surprised everyone when he snatched the pole away from the McLarens and the Ferraris. But with how capricious his Red Bull can be, will he be able to convert it into a race win, or will the victory go to one of the many British drivers hoping to win in front of their home crowd? 

Franco Colapinto did not start the race due to his accident during qualifying, but the other 19 drivers lined up on the wet grid with intermediate tires bolted to their cars. Since the track was slowly drying, after the formation lap, a few brave souls, including George Russell and Charles Leclerc, decided to take the gamble and switch to slick compounds. This pushed them to the very back of the grid. 

Verstappen managed to keep his lead despite Oscar Piastri's attacks, but they didn't get to fight for long. Before the first lap was over, Esteban Ocon and Liam Lawson made contact. While the Haas driver got away with relatively minor damage, his opponent wasn't as lucky. Lawson went off the road and finished his day much earlier than he had anticipated. A virtual safety car had to be called out as the marshals cleaned up after the incident. 

The VSC rules were in place until lap four, and some drivers, like Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, decided to take advantage of it and pit for softs. While they couldn't have known it at the time, the first race-neutralising moment wouldn't be their last chance to do so. Almost immediately after racing was resumed, Gabriel Bortoleto went off the road at turn two. As he began climbing out of his car, a second VSC was announced, once again prompting many drivers to take their chances and pit for slick tires. This one ended on lap seven. 

Piastri and Verstappen resumed their fight as soon as racing was allowed, and this time the Australian was quick to take the lead. If there wasn't enough tension on track for the more easily bored viewers, soon after, Russell could be heard on his radio reporting rain on some parts of the circuit. As is often the case with British rain, in a matter of a few minutes, cloudy skies turned into a torrential downpour. All the drivers who had chosen to bolt on slick tires had no choice but the pit again and exchange them for intermediates. By lap 11, the track was so wet that DRS was disabled.

The strange conditions weren't bad news only for those who had already pitted during the race. Verstappen had started his race on inters, but by the time it began raining heavily, they were so used up that he needed to pit either way. He was overtaken by Lando Norris right before both of them followed the leader, Piastri, into the pit lane. McLaren, hindered by having to double-stack their drivers, saw an uncharacteristically slow stop that allowed Verstappen to overtake Norris in the pit lane. After the big wave of stops, a somewhat surprising top five emerged from the field. The podium was made up of this season's usual suspects: Piastri, Verstappen, and Norris. But behind them, Lance Stroll sat in P4, despite having already pitted twice. He was followed by Nico Hulkenberg. Both the unexpected guests managed to secure their positions due to great strategy calls, well-timed stops, and some good old impressive driving. 

The rain quickly intensified, and by lap 14, a full safety car was called onto the track to ensure the drivers' safety. This was terrible news for Piastri, who had managed to build up a significant race lead thanks to Verstappen and Norris continuously fighting behind him. The unfavourable conditions saw a few drivers, like Leclerc, go off track, but no major incidents happened until the SC was called back in on lap 17. 

After racing was resumed, Russell managed to overtake Hamilton for P8, but the Silverstone master not only took the place back, but did so while also moving past the Haas of Esteban Ocon. With that, he had moved up to P7. At the same time, his Ferrari teammate also managed to overtake two cars, although in his case, it meant a promotion only to P13. 

Before anyone had the chance to miss the safety car, it was called back, this time because of Isack Hadjar, who had gone off track and found himself in the wall. The driver was unharmed, but his car was too damaged for him to continue racing. He found himself in the unfortunate position after hitting the Mercedes of Antonelli. The young Italian reported some damage and quickly pitted, trying to take advantage of another safety car period. Although he tried to continue in the race, on lap 23 he was told to retire the car. 

The second full SC ended on lap 21. As soon as the cars got back to full speed, Verstappen, trying to attack Piastri, spun and fell from second, all the way to tenth. He wasn't the only one resuming the race with bad news. The race leader, Piastri, was noted for a safety car infringement after he slowed down significantly before resuming racing, which led to Verstappen accidentally moving past him before he was allowed to. The move was deemed unfair and unsportsmanlike, earning the McLaren driver a rather harsh penalty of ten seconds. He wasn't the only one penalised by race control. After an incident involving Oliver Bearman, Yuki Tsunoda also received a ten-second penalty. 

Halfway through the race, after some serious shuffling of the order, Piastri, Norris, Stroll, Hulkenberg, Gasly, Hamilton, Russell, Alonso, Sainz, and Verstappen made up the top ten. On lap 30, Hamilton moved past Gasly's Alpine. Four turns around the track later, DRS was enabled, allowing Hulkenberg to overtake the much slower Stroll. Hamilton followed the Kick Sauber's driver soon after. 

Alonso was the first driver brave enough to try and pit for slick tires, with Russell following his lead soon after. The gamble did not pay out for either of them. Both lost precious seconds with every lap, and Russell spun out of the track. He did manage to rejoin the race but had lost a few positions in the process. Still, a few laps after their decision, other drivers also decided to try their luck on slicks. Another series of pit stops, which included Piastri serving his penalty, revealed a new top five: Norris, Piastri, Hulkenberg, Hamilton, and Stroll. 

Piastri was furious with the possibility of losing a race win he believed he deserved. He drove angrily and could be heard telling his team that he believes some team orders should be put in place. He was told that the team wasn't willing to enforce them and had to settle for a somewhat disappointing P2. His position was still not bad, especially considering drivers like Leclerc, who had struggled throughout the race and spun on one of the last laps, falling from a point-scoring position, all the way to P14. 

For the first time in his career, Lando Norris crossed the finish line of his home Grand Prix before anyone else. His furious teammate followed soon behind, and the top three were closed out by a podium so unexpected, no one could have predicted it. Nico Hulkenberg, a driver who had never scored a podium despite participating in almost 300 races, saw the checkered flag third. The Kick Sauber garage burst with joy as the team achieved their first podium in more than a decade. 

Some hearts were broken, and some lifted into the air as the 2025 Silverstone Grand Prix finished. Either way, it was a race that won't be forgotten, not only because of the way it ended, but also because of how incredibly tense and entertaining it was. 

Order of the grid:

1. Lando Norris

2. Oscar Piastri

3. Nico Hulkenberg

4. Lewis Hamilton

5. Max Verstappen 

6. Pierre Gasly

7. Lance Stroll

8. Alex Albon

9. Fernando Alonso

10. George Russell

11. Oliver Bearman

12. Carlos Sainz

13. Esteban Ocon

14. Charles Leclerc

15. Yuki Tsunoda

DNF: Kimi Antonelli, Isack Hadjar, Gabriel Bortoleto, Liam Lawson

DNS: Franco Colapinto