British GP: Martin Brundle on Lando Norris’ win, Oscar Piastri’s penalty and first sign of angry side amid Silverstone rain drama | F1 News

What a race we had in Silverstone, as is so often. We were out of breath in comments even before halfway. So many things have happened that it is difficult to remember everything.

Let’s start with congratulations to Lando Norris for his spectacular home victory, and his podium compatriot, in third place, Nico Hulkenberg being up there for the first time in 239 races. It is a much better driver than it suggests.

Commission of Oscar Piastri, second was his victory in many ways, but the security car was paid for this for two reasons.

First, its impressive 14 second advance was extinguished when the safety car was, significantly deployed due to very poor visibility in heavy rain. Secondly, when the race restarted in the 21st round, while the lights of the roof safety car turned off by signaling that he was opposing at the end of this tower, Oscar – who always run – duly took the coat to control the pack in normal.

Unfortunately for him, he was in a brake warming phase, but even he lost 100 MPH at that time and he violated rule 55.15 (yes, there are really a lot of commitment rules ….) Sports regulations concerning braking or erratic maneuvers.

However, this is a very important rule because the concertina effect, in particular in poor visibility, can cause significant incidents in a training effect through the rest of the queue behind the safety car. As is the case well.

The question was the magnitude of the penalty for a clear violation.

Ten seconds would be the standard problem unless there have been extenuating circumstances to make five seconds. But the commissioners decided not to have given the extent of the braking pressure and the reduction in the speed of the data of the car.

Lando would beat Oscar 6.8 seconds and therefore the penalty was the decision -maker, even if we will never know how much of the speed had in their pockets if necessary.

This should not harm Lando’s victory, he should have won the race last year, but for a better choice of final tires, and it was his moment in front of an adoring crowd that begins to reach the frenzy of that of Nigel Mansell and Lewis Hamilton.

“ It was an apparently endless flow of broken and blocked cars ”

Changeable was the word of the day.

We were very surprised to read that the training round would be behind the safety car, but it was largely a dry track. This decision was quickly changed into a normal departure, and George Russell, Isack Hadjar, Charles Leclerc and Gabriel Bortoleto even opposed smooth tires and did not take the grid, from the end of the pitlane.

It would be too far, and Bortoleto quickly found itself in the wall and out of the race.

Mercedes had a curious habit of adapting hard compound tires in marginal conditions, with their slower warm -up capacities but a longer possible longevity, which was surely a case of data that experienced common sense.

We have seen many clumsy contacts, sometimes not really even in combat, just a business. Having driven one of these cars a few weeks ago, I am not surprised at all, they are so long and wide, and the visibility of the cockpit so poor, it is not surprising that they are triggered.

It was an apparently endless flow of broken and blocked cars, while others have pirouet at high speed or had long adventures in an unexplored territory in an out of the track.

Max Verstappen had made a supreme performance to take pole position for Red Bull. It was a six -row shooting, and while the tastes of Norris, Piastri, Hamilton and Leclerc made small mistakes, Verstappen presented a laser guided gem.

But he had cut the wings levels and support for higher peak speeds on straight lines, expecting much less rain on Sunday than the broad sky of Northampothire.

This left him with the difficulties for adhesion, although he always directed the first steps, and despite a restart of the security car, he turned the ground and an “intimidable biping car”, he has always recovered fifth place.

“ One of the worst Leclerc races for Ferrari ”

Generally, it was one of these days to be on the right tire at the right time, whatever the time lost in the stands.

For Hulkenberg, who started the last on the grid, it was the nine of the Tour for fresh intermediaries and Tour 43 for the Slicks.

For Lance Stroll, who started the 17th, it was intermediary to start, dry dry tires with sweet compound, just as his team had said to his teammate Fernando Alonso, he would rain strongly in a few minutes.

Stroll then opposed the intermediaries four laps later, and again for the gentle dry tires in the Tour 42. The choice of the final compound was an error, but it ran to a fourth place for a long time to the FAD to which was relaxed towards the end.

Surprisingly, 15 of the 19 runners were classified.

Franco Colapinto never started the start of the pitlane in his alpine due to transmission Gremlins, but each of these 19 pilots would be able to feast on you for a while on frightening moments and close to this race, such were the difficult conditions.

Hamilton again had a solid race in fourth place, and he surpassed his Leclerc teammate all weekend. Lewis seemed to have a lot of difficulties under the heavy rains and poor visibility, but restored well when the conditions were calmed.

Leclerc said that his more extreme car configuration recently did not work at all at these grip levels in what was to be one of his worst races for Ferrari.

Piastri vs Norris playing state for the second half of 2025

With the Ferrari Boys, Verstappen and Russell Having a More Difficult Day, and with the McLaren Duo A Full Two Seconds Fast Per Lap Than The Rest of the Field in Some Phases, As Silverstone Marks the Halfway Point of the Season, Albeit with Four of the Six Sprint Races Remaining, Drivers’ Championship Showdown Will Indeed Be Between Piastri and Norris, and We Can Expect Some Fireworks there.

This is the first time that we have seen the angry side of the quiet Australian assassin. Oscar’s radio call for places to exchange if the team thought he had received an unfair penalty was more than cheeky, however.

And frankly, they can also put the trophy of manufacturers back to McLaren and save time in what will be a very short winter in F1 Land.

The grid promenade was a reasonable fun. All my apologies to all the famous and very efficient people in which I rushed and that I did not manage to discuss, I am afraid of having a limited capacity to walk, speak, think, listen and discover the faces of hundreds of people to see who they are.

I had a few blows on my head in my old career and I therefore need a new Google search and the fleas AI inserted because my brain still works on floppy disks.

F1 takes a brief break before the season resumed the Belgian Grand Prix while the Sprint format returns, live on Sky Sports F1 on July 25 to 27. Stream Sky Sports with now – no contract, cancel at any time.