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The tenth race of the 2023 season, the British Grand Prix, now belongs to the history books. A race which was changed after a safety car intervention makes the job of rating the drivers harder and more interesting, so let’s get into it!
Max Verstappen, 1st – 9
Contents
- 1 Max Verstappen, 1st – 9
- 2 Lando Norris, 2nd – 10
- 3 Lewis Hamilton, 3rd – 7.5
- 4 Oscar Piastri, 4th – 10
- 5 George Russell, 5th – 7.5
- 6 Sergio Perez, 6th – 3.5
- 7 Fernando Alonso, 7th – 5.5
- 8 Alex Albon, 8th – 9
- 9 Charles Leclerc, 9th – 5
- 10 Carlos Sainz, 10th – 4.5
- 11 Logan Sargeant, 11th – 7
- 12 Valtteri Bottas, 12th – 6.5
- 13 Nico Hulkenberg, 13th – 6.5
- 14 Lance Stroll, 14th – 3
- 15 Zhou Guanyu, 15th – 5
- 16 Yuki Tsunoda, 16th – 4.5
- 17 Nyck de Vries, 17th – 4.5
- 18 Pierre Gasly, DNF – 7
- 19 Kevin Magnussen, DNF – 5
- 20 Esteban Ocon, DNF – 4.5
For the first time in his career, Max Verstappen has won the British Grand Prix, ending an eleven-year drought for Red Bull at the race. He converted his fifth consecutive pole position to his sixth victory in a row, despite relinquishing the lead until the fifth lap, as a bad start put him behind Norris. An easy race and his championship lead is up to 99 points.
Lando Norris, 2nd – 10
McLaren stole the show during the weekend, as its upgraded car is performing brilliantly. Lando Norris performed at his best, qualifying and finishing second, whilst leading for a few laps early on. He defended brilliantly after the safety car to hold his position despite being on hard tyres, whilst the attacking Hamilton was on softs.
Lewis Hamilton, 3rd – 7.5
Quite an unexpected podium at home for Lewis Hamilton, his fourteenth at the venue! The Brit was outqualified by his teammate and started seventh. He did not make up any ground on the first stint, but stayed out longer and benefitted from the safety car to leap up to third. His attack on Norris was not successful, but the final result certainly was.
Oscar Piastri, 4th – 10
What was a brilliant weekend must have ended with a bittersweet taste for Oscar Piastri. The rookie had an unremarkable start to his F1 career, but the upgraded car suited him. He was the big surprise of qualifying and started third, stayed there for a substantial amount of the race, but lost out on his maiden podium because of the safety car. At least he was able to hold onto fourth, despite restarting on the hard tyres.
George Russell, 5th – 7.5
A good weekend in terms of pace from George Russell, but not the result he wanted. The Brit was sixth on the grid and made up a spot as he took advantage of his soft tyres at the start. Due to Mercedes’ low top speed he was unable to pass Leclerc and was thus held up by the Ferrari. He was looking at a fourth place finish without the safety car, but his teammate jumped him because of that.
Sergio Perez, 6th – 3.5
Another weekend, another disappointment for Sergio Perez. Again, the reason was the same, an early elimination in qualifying. This time it was in Q1, which Perez attributed to a long wait in the pitlane. His recovery from fifteenth to seventh today was okay, however this cannot carry on for the Mexican and Red Bull.
Fernando Alonso, 7th – 5.5
A second underwhelming race in a row for Fernando Alonso and Aston Martin. It probably shows that their development rate is not as fast as the one of their competitors, although things should be better at Hungary, which suits the car better. Alonso was one of the beneficiaries of the safety car, but was overtaken by Perez and finished seventh, one place higher than what he was running in the first stint.
Alex Albon, 8th – 9
Alex Albon is on brilliant form and he has displayed it once again! He finished eighth, just two races after finishing eighth in Canada. Both Williams cars were rapid on Friday, but Albon was able to somewhat carry that momentum into qualifying and the race, as he qualified and finished in eighth position.
Charles Leclerc, 9th – 5
After two very good races pace-wise, Silverstone was a disaster for Ferrari. Charles Leclerc pitted first among the leaders and it proved to be the wrong choice. Fourth was still on the cards though, until he elected to pit again when the safety car came out, this time for medium tyres. He was unable to make any progress and took the chequered flag in a disappointing ninth place.
Carlos Sainz, 10th – 4.5
The safety car ruined the Grand Prix for Carlos Sainz too. Pitting just before that period meant he would restart with hard tyres among a gaggle of drivers on the soft compound. Trying to defend from Perez for seventh proved to be a mistake too, as he went off track and lost three positions as his tyres got dirty.
Logan Sargeant, 11th – 7
The best result of the season for Logan Sargeant so far, but no points, despite that looking like a real possibility when he ended Friday practice in fifth. However, more positive signs from the upgrade package of Williams, as well as the American rookie, who has shown improved form lately.
Valtteri Bottas, 12th – 6.5
Valtteri Bottas did a good job to progress to Q2, but not all was well with his Alfa Romeo, as it stopped on track. The reason for that was revealed to be insufficient fuel in the car, which led to a disqualification. The car clearly had no pace at Silverstone, but Bottas did very well to drive it up to thirteenth, which turned into twelfth post-race.
Nico Hulkenberg, 13th – 6.5
Another weekend with a good Saturday and a mediocre Sunday for Nico Hulkenberg. On the verge of promotion to Q3 another great qualifying performance for the German. In the race, he was the first to pit after light contact with Perez damaged his front wing early on, which dropped him to last. Being one of the few to start on hard tyres meant he would be in prime position to benefit from the safety car, but it wasn’t meant to be. Thirteenth at the end is an okay result though.
Lance Stroll, 14th – 3
Lance Stroll had another mediocre weekend at Silverstone. He was unable to join Q3 and started twelfth. He spent all of the race outside the points and a penalty the incident that ended Gasly’s race ended his hopes of a top ten finish in the end.
Zhou Guanyu, 15th – 5
An anonymous race from Zhou Guanyu, for whom the 2023 season has been very quiet and consistent. It wasn’t good enough at the British Grand Prix though, as he finished fifteenth, gaining two places over his starting position.
Yuki Tsunoda, 16th – 4.5
For the sixth race in a row, no points for Yuki Tsunoda and Alpha Tauri, after a very strong to the season that saw him finish no worse than eleventh for the first five races. He was eliminated in Q1 and finished where he started, but we didn’t see much from him today.
Nyck de Vries, 17th – 4.5
As the season progresses, Nyck de Vries looks closer and closer to losing his seat at Alpha Tauri. Another weekend where he failed to impress, losing out to his teammate in both the qualifying session and the race, as he finished last of all finishers at Silverstone.
Pierre Gasly, DNF – 7
An eventful race with an utterly disappointing finish for Pierre Gasly. Having qualified tenth, he pressured Alonso for eighth for much of the last stint. But pitting before the safety car killed his race, putting him eleventh for the restart. He was unable to progress and fell into the clutches of Stroll, with whom he had an interesting battle which ended earlier than expected because of a collision.
Kevin Magnussen, DNF – 5
Kevin Magnussen continues to struggle on Saturdays and his deficit to his teammate grows ever larger. He is usually able to somewhat fight back on Sundays, but it wasn’t the case today. His engine blew up, which was the reason for the safety car, thus his race ended early.
Esteban Ocon, DNF – 4.5
A very disappointing weekend for Esteban Ocon. Qualifying just thirteenth was a bad result and things would not get better in the Grand Prix. An early retirement on the ninth lap because of a mechanical failure was the final nail on the coffin for his hopes in regard to the race.
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