Lewis Hamilton produced one of the best drives of his career to deliver a 104th win under the stormy skies of Silverstone. A tense three-way battle for the lead that came down to the final laps and changeable conditions made for one of the best Formula 1 races in recent memory.
Here are the winners and losers from a packed British Grand Prix.
Lewis Hamilton: 9.5
Qualifying: P2, Race Finish: P1
Hamilton was pipped to pole by his team-mate, but he showed great poise in the opening laps of the race on Sunday. The wetter the track got, the more Hamilton seemed to shine, passing George Russell on Lap 18 to assume the lead as the conditions deteriorated.
However, Hamilton couldn’t match either McLaren for pace in the final throws of the first stint as the rain intensified, however, and a mistake saw Hamilton run wide, eventually ceding his position to Norris and then Piastri.
But it would be a rare misstep in an otherwise brilliant drive, with Mercedes getting the call to box to intermediates spot on, and Hamilton showcased great pace on his out-lap and measured management in the final stint on Softs to clinch a record ninth Silverstone success.
George Russell: 8.5
Qualifying: P1, Race Finish: DNF
Russell produced a mighty pole lap on Saturday, but as the race settled down following the opening laps he looked noticeably less confident than Hamilton as the track started to soak up the afternoon rain. He was passed by his team-mate on Lap 18, then both McLaren drivers and then lost a place to Verstappen as a result of Merc’s double stack pit stop.
Ultimately, his afternoon was cut short by a water system failure, without which a podium or even a win was surely within reach should he have remained in the race.
Max Verstappen: 8
Qualifying: P4, Race Finish: P2
Verstappen battled floor damage in qualifying after an early off, putting his wounded RB20 a respectable fourth. A snappy move on the opening lap took him past Lando Norris, however, his Red Bull was the third-fastest car on paper in the opening Medium stint and he had relinquished places to both McLarens once Lap 17 had been completed.
Verstappen made a calculated call for Intermediates on lap 26 to put himself back in contention, crucially boxing earlier than both McLaren and Mercedes. Red Bull made the correct call again to box on lap 39 for Hards, and Verstappen put his durable rubber to good use, passing Norris for second and finishing just 1.465 seconds behind Hamilton’s Mercedes.
Sergio Perez: 2.5
Qualifying: P19, Race Finish: P17
Perez’s qualifying ended in the gravel at Copse Corner, an inauspicious start to another weekend to forget for Red Bull’s beleaguered second driver. The resulting P19 drew Red Bull into an engine change and a pit lane start. By Lap 19 he’d caught the pack and picked off several backmarkers, but an early gamble onto the Intermediates sealed a dismal weekend.
When it came time to revert to the slicks, Perez was slower than team-mate Verstappen despite running a softer compound. Red Bull boxed Perez on Lap 48 for a set of softs to try and steal the fastest lap, but he was told to abort his attempt so as not to take the point from Max.
Lando Norris: 7.5
Qualifying: P3, Race Finish: P3
Norris was left ruing yet another missed Grand Prix win at the chequered flag on Sunday. Pipped to the front row by the Silver Arrows, Norris again showed opening lap struggles, losing a place to Verstappen on the first lap.
But the young Brit showed excellent pace on the Mediums, cruising past Verstappen, Russell, and Hamilton to take the race lead as the rain came down.
McLaren got the switch to Intermediates right but badly fumbled the crossover back to dry. Poor radio communication and indecision saw Norris pit from the lead a lap too late, and onto the Soft compound despite having saved a set of brand-new Mediums.
Norris also missed his mark on pit box entry, and the resulting 4.5-second stop ensured he came out behind Hamilton minus a crucial front wing adjustment for his final stint. Not only could he not hold onto Hamilton, but he slipped behind Verstappen too.
Oscar Piastri: 8
Qualifying: P5, Race Finish: P4
Despite McLaren’s best efforts, Piastri delivered a stellar performance at Silverstone. While lacking some of the early pace, he followed Norris past the Mercedes of Russell and Hamilton in the worsening conditions, with both McLarens showing great pace in the slippery conditions.
McLaren’s fateful decision not to double stack its cars left Piastri languishing on slicks on a fully damp circuit, such that by the time he made it back to the pits a lap later, his team-mate was already on his gearbox.
Piastri was adamant his team should fit the new Mediums denied Norris for the final stint and showed astonishing pace as a result. Despite losing an entire pit stop to Norris at the hands of his team, he finished just 12 seconds behind the lead and could have easily won the race.
Carlos Sainz: 8
Qualifying: P7, Race Finish: P5
Sainz enjoyed a much better qualifying than his team-mate and gained a place from Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg at the start. Sainz didn’t fall foul of the early Intermediate pit stop inflicted on his team-mate and passed Piastri for fifth as conditions worsened.
Ultimately, however, he didn’t have the pace to challenge anyone further up the field once the track dried, maximising his points with a last-gasp fastest lap.
Charles Leclerc: 5
Qualifying: P11, Race Finish: P14
Leclerc failed to make it into Q1 on Saturday as Ferrari struggled for pace all weekend and he rued not having sufficient practice time with the old-spec SF-24 package. The Monegasque made a valiant first-lap dash up the field and was into seventh in the opening stint.
However, Ferrari gambled on anticipating the heavier rain and Leclerc wallowed around a dry track well off the pace on Intermediates. He showed some early pace on softs in the final stint but had nothing to race for, only passing Valtteri Bottas’ Sauber for a disappointing 14th.
Nico Hulkenberg: 9.5
Qualifying: P6, Race Finish: P6
Hulkenberg made waves on Saturday, placing his Haas an impressive sixth ahead of both works Ferraris, and made it stick on Sunday with a strong drive.
He lost three places on the opening lap thanks to a poor start but managed to get back past Lance Stroll, showing enough pace to confirm Haas’ upgrades have worked a treat.
Kevin Magnussen: 6.5
Qualifying: P17, Race Finish: 12
A big qualifying gap to his teammate saw Magnussen start from 17th, but a rapid opening stint saw him climb all the way to 10th before the pit stops. He ran in 11th on the Intermediates but stopped early for Softs, which grained heavily in the final stint and cost him a place.
Lance Stroll: 8
Qualifying: P8, Race Finish: P7
Stroll out-qualified Alonso and made the advantage stick on race day. Unlike his teammate, Stroll heeded the calls for Intermediates on Lap 26, before using his Mediums to good effect in the final stint, securing seventh, albeit behind Hulkenberg’s Haas at the chequered flag.
Fernando Alonso: 7
Qualifying: P10, Race Finish: P8
Alonso was beaten by Lance Stroll on Saturday, but he was able to match or even beat the pace of Sainz’s Ferrari ahead in the opening stint of the race. Crucially, Alonso rejected calls from the pit wall to box for Intermediates, opting to do one more lap on the Mediums, which may have cost him. By the end, Alonso had floated to a respectable eighth behind his team-mate.
Yuki Tsunoda: 8
Qualifying: P13, Race Finish: 10
Tsunoda out-qualified Ricciardo and made up two places on the opening lap to put himself in contention for a point. RB got its strategy calls right and Tsunoda showed decent pace in the wet. His Softs began to fall away in the final stint and he ceded ninth place to Alex Albon.
Daniel Ricciardo: 6
Qualifying: P15, Race Finish: 13
An anonymous result for Ricciardo saw him gain two places at the expense of Zhou Guanyu and Leclerc. Ricciardo says the team has lost out in the latest upgrades battle to its midfield competitors, a fact that showed on track as he made no in-roads to the cars ahead on pace.
Alex Albon: 9
Qualifying: P9, Race Finish: 9
Albon qualified in ninth and held onto the position to bring home valuable points for Williams, despite sustaining damage following an opening lap graze with Alonso that cost him places.
But the Anglo-Thai driver showed excellent pace on the Mediums in the final stint, nicking ninth back off Tsunoda and even matching the Aston Martin cars further up the road.
Logan Sargeant: 7.5
Qualifying: P12, Race Finish: 11
Sargeant delivered his best qualifying position of the year on Saturday. He even managed to pass team-mate Albon on the opening lap but couldn’t make it stick.
A slow stop for Albon as Williams double-stacked cost him the chance at a point, but he did steal a final place from Magnussen in the final laps.
Valtteri Bottas: 4.5
Qualifying: P16, Race Finish: 15
After losing two places on the opening lap, Bottas clawed his way back past his team-mate, Ocon, and Perez in the opening stint. After that, he trundled around in quiet obscurity, losing an inconsequential place to Leclerc in the final laps.
Zhou Guanyu: 3
Qualifying: P14, Race Finish: P18
After qualifying a reasonable 14th, Zhou tried to capitalise by opening on the Softs. However, the tyre quickly fell away and he was forced to pit onto Mediums after just 12 laps.
Things went from bad to worse when he dived into the pits for Intermediates on Lap 18, before stopping again for Intermediates seven laps later. He was the last car to cross the line.
Esteban Ocon: 5
Qualifying: P18, Race Finish: P16
Ocon was left ruing a decision to switch to Intermediates early, just like Perez and Leclerc, but at least had the good sense to switch back to Mediums when the gamble backfired. His sluggish Alpine lacked pace in every phase of the race in a weekend to forget for Alpine.
Pierre Gasly: N/A
Qualifying: P19, Race Finish: DNS
Gasly qualified slowest owing to a 50-place grid penalty for a power unit change. However, he didn’t even make it to the starting grid, retiring on the formation lap with a gearbox issue.
