Red Bull’s Max Verstappen won the British Grand Prix, round 11 of the 2023 Formula One World Championship.
Despite losing the lead to McLaren’s Lando Norris at the start, Verstappen passed him after five laps and, despite a safety car stoppage, took another win – surprisingly his first with the British GP title.
Norris finished second ahead of Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), who dropped to tenth on the first lap, putting two British drivers on the podium.
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2023 British F1 GP results
How the 2023 British F1 GP unfolded
Verstappen lost his pole position advantage heading into turn one when Norris passed him after a superb start. Verstappen stayed second despite a tough challenge from Oscar Piastri (McLaren) at Copse Corner, ahead of Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), George Russell (Mercedes, who started on soft tires in a pack of mid-weight cars) and Carlos Sainz (Ferrari). . Hamilton (Mercedes) dropped to tenth after making a mistake at Village.
Verstappen passed Norris with DRS and moved on Brooklands on lap five while Russell attacked Leclerc for fourth and the recovering Hamilton edged out Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) for seventh. Hamilton passed him two laps later at Brooklands.
Starting from 15th on the grid after his last qualifying disaster, Red Bull’s Sergio Perez had to fight his way through the field, overtaking Nico Hülkenberg’s Haas on The Loop. It wasn’t until lap 17 that he worked his way into the top 10.
Leclerc was the first of the frontrunners to stop on lap 19 and swap his medium tires for hard tires after the threat of a rain shower passed the track.
At half distance, Verstappen was 6 seconds ahead of Norris, with Piastri a further 2 seconds behind. Sainz came into the pits a lap later from fifth on the grid and was five seconds behind Leclerc again.
Russell pitted from fourth place on lap 29, but a slow stop saw him trail well behind Leclerc. But on his medium tires after starting on soft tires Russell quickly caught up with Leclerc and passed him on lap 31 at Luffield on the outside.
Kevin Magnussen’s Haas burst into flames on the Wellington Straight, resulting in a virtual safety car. Leclerc pitted for the Mediums, losing places to Sainz, Perez and Alex Albons Williams.
A full safety car was then called with Verstappen and Hamilton switched to soft tyres, Hamilton jumping ahead of Piastri in third place but Norris went to hard tyres.
The race was restarted on lap 39 with Verstappen (used soft tyres) ahead of Norris (new hard tyres), Hamilton (used soft tyres), Piastri (hard tyres), Russell (medium tyres), Alonso (soft tyres), Sainz (hard tyres) and Perez (fresh soft tyres). .
Hamilton immediately went on to attack Norris, who defended hard over the next two laps while Verstappen was able to pull clear. Even with DRS activated, Norris narrowly managed to defend his second place ahead of Hamilton, while Piastri also managed to edge out Russell in fourth place.
Sainz lost three places to Perez, Albon and Leclerc with eight laps to go after Perez crashed him offline at Vale. Pierre Gasly (Alpine) and Sainz were fighting fiercely for the final point until Gasly sustained damage to the right rear corner in a collision with Lance Stroll’s Aston.
Verstappen won by more than three seconds ahead of Norris, Hamilton, Piastri and Russell. Perez passed Alonso for sixth with five laps to go and Alonso struggled to hold onto seventh place ahead of Albon, Leclerc and Sainz in the closing stages.
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Fastest laps at British F1 GP 2023
Pit stops at the 2023 British F1 GP
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