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Max Verstappen has won a British Grand Prix while an ill-timed Safety Car cost Oscar Piastri a maiden F1 podium.
Results: British Grand Prix
The Australian crossed the line fourth after losing out when the Safety Car was deployed mid-race, Lewis Hamilton benefitting to claim the final podium place behind Lando Norris in second.
Verstappen dominated the race in a class of his own, while Norris proved second fastest all race.
Hamilton mounted a challenge for a time but couldn’t get by the lead McLaren driver and was forced to settle for third.
All three tyre compounds were represented on the grid, the top four on mediums with George Russell on softs in fifth, the only to differ from that in the top 10.
Wheelspin for Verstappen saw Norris lead into the opening corner with Piastri holding third.
The championship leader was forced to go defensive into Brooklands, Piastri looking around the outside before going wheel to wheel into Copse.
The Dutchman held on, doing well not to run wide on exit to end the lap second to Norris.
Charles Leclerc was fourth ahead of George Russel, then Carlos Sainz while Lewis Hamilton fell to ninth after running wide at The Loop.
The front of the race soon stabilised, Verstappen inside a second of Norris while Piastri was just outside DRS range back in third.
After three laps, the Red Bull began to come into its own, closing in on the McLaren ahead at 0.5s a lap.
Piastri was hanging on too, the leading three pulling clear of Leclerc behind.
Verstappen took the lead at Brooklands on Lap 5, Norris realising the Red Bull driver was not his race and offered no defence.
Behind Leclerc, Russell was getting feisty, looking for a move at Stowe and again at Vale.
The Ferrari driver was unshaken, maintaining the place and prompting the Mercedes driver to complain his rival was moving under braking.
Having been passed, Norris remained in contact with Verstappen while Piastri in third was told to hold position as McLaren looked to get towed clear of the pack behind.
Leclerc had fallen more than three seconds back from the second McLaren after six laps.
Norris finally slipped out of DRS range on Lap 9; his team-mate still locked onto his gearbox.
A problem for Esteban Ocon made the Alpine driver the race’s first retirement due to a hydraulic leak.
On the pit wall, teams were closely monitoring a nearby weather system that threatened to douse the circuit.
That saw Verstappen report drizzle on Lap 15, the Dutchman having extended a 3.1s advantage over Norris.
Ferrari pulled the trigger for Leclerc, pitting him after 18 laps.
He switched from the medium tyres onto the hards as he fell back to 12th as he fed out.
That released Russell, the Mercedes driver, 5.2s back from Piastri in fourth.
As the pit sequence began, Verstappen lit the fuse and started turning in faster laps to quickly open the gap back to Norris to almost five seconds by the end of Lap 21.
Nobody felt the need to react to Leclerc’s stop until Sainz boxed at the end of Lap 26.
A set of hard tyres were bolted on, as Ferrari had done for Leclerc, the Spaniard emerging in 12th.
Leclerc had climbed to 10th since his stop but hardly stormed through the field.
Mercedes called Russell into the lane from fourth, swapping his soft tyres onto the mediums, feeding out behind Leclerc and only just ahead of Lance Stroll.
McLaren reacted, pitting Piastri next time around after a 29-lap stint on the mediums.
The Australian moved onto the hard compound rubber, a 2.4s stop that left him sixth on the road.
With more grip than Leclerc, who was struggling on the hard tyres, Russell was about to drive around the outside of the Ferrari at Luffield.
An engine problem for Kevin Magnussen saw the Haas stop on the Wellington Straight on Lap 33.
The Virtual Safety Car was deployed, Leclerc taking the opportunity to swap his hard tyres for a set of mediums.
Verstappen, Norris, and Hamilton were all caught beyond pit entry when the Virtual Safety Car was deployed, leaving them with almost a full lap at reduced speed.
As the race leader pitted, the full Safety Car was sent out.
Verstappen swapped onto the soft tyres while Norris went for a set of hards.
Hamilton also went for soft tyres, which fed him out in front of Piastri into a net third.
The washed order behind the Safety Car left Verstappen out front from Norris, Hamilton, Piastri, Russell, and Fernando Alonso, also on a set of softs.
The race restarted as they completed Lap 38, Verstappen sprinting clear while Norris had Hamilton locked on to his gearbox.
Down the Wellington Straight, Norris defended, forcing Hamilton to the outside through both Brooklands and Luffield.
There was no way through at Copse as the McLaren clung to second place.
Piastri had also seen off the early challenge of Russell too, maintaining fourth on the first racing lap.
A wider line through Luffield next time around opened the door for Hamilton, the pair side by side with the McLaren inching clear by the time they got to Copse.
At the start of Lap 41, DRS was enabled again, ratcheting up the threat the two Mercedes posed to Norris and Piastri respectively.
Hamilton’s ferocious attack eased; while within DRS range he was too far back where it mattered as Norris hung on to the place.
The Mercedes’ best chance was into Brooklands and Luffield, the McLaren enjoying good pace through Copse and the Maggotts/Becketts complex to counter the impact of DRS down Hangar Straight.
A disastrous half lap for Carlos Sainz saw the Spaniard drop three places, first to Sergio Perez, then Alex Albon and finally Leclerc as he tumbled to 10th.
Contact between Pierre Gasly and Lance Stroll left the Alpine driver with broken rear suspension, taking the Frenchman out of the race in a clash the stewards investigated post-race.
Out front, Verstappen was peerless, winning from Norris with Hamilton falling more than two seconds back in third.
Piastri hung on to fourth after a sensational performance from the rookie, unlucky not to have picked up a maiden F1 podium.
Then came Russell, Perez, Alonso, Albon, Leclerc, and Sainz.
