Lando Norris wins home British Grand Prix in wet and chaotic conditions

SILVERSTONE – Lando Norris won a treacherous rain-hit British Grand Prix at Silverstone on July 6 from his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri.

Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg, meanwhile, took third spot for the veteran German’s first podium in 239 races.

Norris returned to a rapturous reception from British fans as he won his home race for the first time and moved to within eight points of leader Piastri in the drivers’ standings.

“It’s beautiful, everything I ever dreamed of, this is everything I wanted to achieve, aside from winning the championship, this is as good as it gets,” beamed Norris.

He added: “In terms of being a stressful race, this is as stressful as you can get. It was a good race for Oscar as well. I’ve got to give credit to Oscar, he was fast the whole way. So a round of applause Oscar, because he put up a good fight.”

Piastri, who finished less than seven seconds behind Norris, threw away the win after the Australian was hit with a 10-second penalty for a safety car infringement.

As last week’s heatwave gave way to a more typical British summer’s day – spells of blue sky mixed with torrential showers – drivers had to keep their wits about them with puddles forming on the track.

And Norris emerged from the chaos all smiles as he added to his earlier wins this season in Austria, Monaco and Australia.

Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton came in fourth ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.

Piastri fell foul of the stewards when braking heavily before the safety car peeled off, a decision that left him feeling robbed.

“I’m not going to say much, I don’t want to get myself in trouble,” he said in the post-race interview.

“Apparently, you can’t brake behind the safety car any more,” he added.

McLaren chief executive Zak Brown admitted Piastri’s penalty was a right call.

He told Sky Sports: “The safety car seemed like it was called in a bit late. The leader controls... I think Max accelerated, Oscar braked, which made it look worse than it was. The telemetry didn’t look like it looked on TV. But it is what it is.

“I think any time you get into these penalties, there’s an element of subjectivity. I think when they’re pounding on the brakes, they’re 130-140 PSI, so trying to get temperature in the tyres, it’s wet, late call – a close one.”

For Hulkenberg, 37, this was a day to remember as he climbed the podium for the first time since joining the F1 grid way back in 2010.

“Podium – P3 baby!” said his ecstatic race engineer on the team radio after he crossed the line.

“I don’t think I can comprehend what we’ve just done,” replied the German.

He later added: “It feels good. It’s been a long time coming, hasn’t it? But I always knew we have it in us, I have it in me, somewhere. 

“What a race. Coming from virtually last, doing it all over again from last weekend. It’s pretty surreal, to be honest. I’m not sure how it all happened, but obviously crazy, mixed conditions. 

“It was a survival fight for a lot of the race. I think we just were really on it with the right calls, the right tyres in the right moment, made no mistakes – quite incredible.”

The German veteran made up 16 places to shed an unwanted record of the most races without a podium in F1 history – July 6 being his first in 239 starts.

Pierre Gasly’s Alpine took sixth, with Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), Alex Albon (Williams), Fernando Alonso in the other Aston Martin and George Russell (Mercedes) rounding out the top 10. AFP, REUTERS