The battle for the race lead was, once again, much closer in Austria, but the championship gap has widened as Lando Norris was forced to retire from the race, while Max Verstappen finished in the points despite a 10-second penalty.
Temperatures rose between the two drivers afterwards, and it remains to be seen if the pair can continue their friendly games of padel outside F1.
The last 10 laps did spice things up for the rest of the field with George Russell and Mercedes gifted a race victory — a welcome result since their previous one was Brazil 2022. The other McLaren of Oscar Piastri earned his fourth podium, alongside Carlos Sainz racking up his fifth of the year.
The battle between Verstappen and Norris looks set to continue this weekend at Silverstone — the last of the triple header — before a break, and the two drivers did finish one-two last year.
British summer hasn’t quite got going yet with high temperatures of around 17-18°C forecast for the weekend, along with scattered showers across the weekend.
Latest news
Norris has labelled Verstappen’s defending at the Austrian Grand Prix “stupid” and “reckless,” and said he will lose respect for the three-time world champion if the Dutchman claims to be the innocent party in their collision.
Meanwhile, McLaren team principal Andrea Stella believes the collision was a legacy of the Dutchman’s driving style going unpunished during his title battle with Lewis Hamilton in 2021. Laurence Edmondson has dug into the claims in his analysis.
George Russell said he nearly crashed out of the lead when Mercedes’ team boss Toto Wolff screamed his encouragement to him over his pit-to-car radio.
British Grand Prix preview — listen to the latest podcast episode.
Circuit stats & history
Silverstone is as old as Formula One itself as the former airfield hosted the inaugural grand prix in 1950. Nino Farina won the race for Alfa Romeo, and took a clean sweep of pole, race win and fastest lap.
The circuit has had many changes over the years, but the iconic corners of Maggots, Beckets, and Abbey remain favourites of fans and drivers alike.
Laps: 52 laps of 5.8km. Total distance 306km.
Lap record: 1:27.097 Max Verstappen (2020).
Most wins: Hamilton is King of Silverstone with eight wins (2008, 2014-2017, 2019-2021)….
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