As Verstappen and Redbull continue to the Championship with a faultless drive, the 2023 British GP belongs to McLaren with Lando Norris taking second and Oscar Piastri finishing fourth. Are McLaren back?
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The Start
Max Verstappen started in a now familiar pole position at the British GP, however he was joined by a new driver, Lando Norris and McLaren took second and third. The lights went out and the race was on! To the delight of the Papaya/McLaren fans Lando takes the lead, and for a few corners it looked as though he was following his McLaren teammate.
Verstappen takes the Lead as the Race Settles Down
Lando Norris put up a spirited defence, keeping Verstappen behind until lap 5, when the reigning champion swept past the MCL60, it was an entertaining 5 laps for the McLaren fans. Although the race lead did not last long, the McLaren cars were on pace with the Redbull, keeping the Dutchman honest.
Further down the order, Lewis Hamilton had a slightly frustrating start, having to take to the run off early on lap one, this dropped the Mercedes driver down the order, by lap 13 Hamilton had moved up to seventh.
Sergio Perez and another Recovery Drive
Sergio Perez is having a nightmare in the Redbull, qualifying in 16th (starting 15th due to Bottas’s penalty), while his teammate is sailing off into the distance. His recovery drive would begin as soon as the light went out, passing drivers like the HAAS of Hulkenberg and Stroll, by lap 17 he would head into the points in 10th after passing Albon.
Ferrari and Mercedes
The Ferrari and Mercedes drivers found themselves together early on in the race with Hamilton chasing down Sainz for 6th and Russell hunting Leclerc for 4th. Unfortunately for Mercedes it would seem that they just couldn’t quite pass the Ferrari’s.
George Russell would finally be released when Charles Leclerc pitted for the hard tire on lap 19, a slightly early stop for the Monegasque.
It soon became clear that the Ferrari’s did not have the pace that most seemed to expect. The prancing Horse was unable to challenge the McLaren of Piastri and quickly fell in to the clutches of the Mercedes drivers.
The lack of pace was evident when Leclerc, who had pitted to change onto the hard, was unable to keep the pace even on brand new tires, left himself open to the overcut from Russell. The call came in for Russell on 29, unfortunately for George, he was unable to jump the Ferrari, a 3.9 second stop also helped to end the overcut opportunity. The pace of the Mercedes allowed Russell to get up to the rear of the Ferrari, he would pass the Leclerc by lap 31.
As the race headed to the final stages, the pace difference would be evident as Hamilton would finish in third and Russell fifth, while the Ferrari pair would finish in ninth and tenth respectively. A disappointing result for Ferrari.
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Alpine Out and Anonymous
Continuing with the largely underwhelming season for the Alpine team, Esteban Ocon would last 10 laps before a hydraulics leak ended the race.
Pierre Gasly would spend the early laps 8th just behind Fernando Alonso in the Aston Martin. The race would not get any better with the Alpine team suffering a double DNF.
HAAS burns out!!
Kevin Magnussen would cause a full Safety Car when his HAAS Power Unit would give up in fiery fashion, this prompted a flurry of activity in the pits as several cars headed to change tires, including Hamilton, who was able to jump Oscar Piastri into third, interestingly Lando Norris and McLaren decided to go with the hard tire against the wishes of Norris. During the same SC period, race leader Verstappen would take a set of soft tires.
Safety Car Restart
The restart began on lap 38, Verstappen took off with no challenge from Norris, however the racing came from Hamilton, who had put on the faster soft tire against the McLaren who was wearing a set of the hard tire, both driver put on a show of fierce and close racing, however it was McLaren and Norris who maintained second with Hamilton remaining third.
The Final Stages
As the final laps for the British GP counted down, the battle for the final points was intense with Albon, Gasly, Perez and the Ferrari pair of Leclerc and Sainz. Unfortunately for Sainz the hard tire just did not suit the Ferrari he would slide down to tenth, with his teammate, Leclerc in ninth. The battle continued for a couple of laps, with Gasly in the Alpine retiring after contact with Stroll leading to broken suspension for the Frenchman. The contact also lead to a five second for Stroll.
FINAL WORD
The final word has to go to McLaren and Lando Norris, they took the opportunity of a front row start and made it stick. Both McLaren’s were there on merit, what a day for McLaren and Lando.