Max Verstappen extends his Championship lead with victory in Britain, although most of the headlines will belong to McLaren – who secured their first podium of 2023 with Lando Norris.
An electric start saw Norris take first place off the line, with Piastri consolidating his great qualifying and spending most of his race in a career-high third.
Both McLaren drivers were on track for a top-three finish, but an untimely Safety Car ruined Piastri’s chances of taking a deserved podium in Silverstone.
Still, finishing 2nd and 4th is a fantastic result squad for the Woking-based squad, with the MCL60’s updates proving highly effective. Only Red Bull’s Max Verstappen had more pace this weekend.
Lewis Hamilton capitalised on the Safety Car to secure an unlikely podium finish, although Mercedes will be concerned that – once again – they have been out-developed by a customer team.
How we crossed the line after 52 scintillating laps around Silverstone#BritishGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/aoEDDRfdTL
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 9, 2023
Perez climbed the field after another difficult qualifying to finish in 6th, whilst Fernando Alonso and Aston Martin struggled for pace and could only take home seven points in Silverstone.
Williams had similar pace to the AMR23 this afternoon, with Alex Albon claiming another fantastic result to finish in P8 and – more importantly – emphasise the step forward taken at Grove.
Logan Sargeant’s P11 is further evidence of the upward trajectory at Williams, another team proving that mid-season development is a game changer in Formula 1.
Ferrari will leave Britain disappointed, unable to follow up on their impressive result from Austria and only taking three points from Silverstone.
Although the SF-23’s pace was not as bad as the final results would suggest, a lack of performance and tyre preservation are still significant issues to overcome.
With teams starting to switch their focus to next season’s car, the Maranello squad must understand their weaknesses quickly – else they risk encountering similar issues in 2024.
A reliability issue for Ocon and some late contact for Gasly cost Alpine in Britain, whose pace was reasonable but somewhat concerning when compared to the inspired McLaren.
The likes of Alfa Romeo, Haas, and AlphaTauri have some catching up to do, clearly lacking the pace to score points on merit.
Author: Jaden Diaz-Ndisang
