Eighth win of the season for Max Verstappen

Series winner Max Verstappen on relentless approach to his third world title, exciting young McLarens Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri second and fourth – and world superstar Brad Pitt on the starting grid at Silverstone: while Verstappen in Red Bull took his sixth consecutive win and eighth in race ten Almost comically from the season, Pete stole the show from the champions at least a little bit at the start of filming his new Formula 1 movie.

Not yet, however, was McLaren’s grumpy young duo of Norris and Bestre, who have breathed new life into the somewhat drab Formula 1 of late. In qualifying, the two only had to give way to Verstappen in second and third places, and in the race they kept the established teams in check for a long time. “How long can you keep up, Lando?” asked the box. “It feels great,” her response was. He found the tires “awesome, yeah really, really cool”.

Exciting start

To the thunderous cheers of spectators in the packed stands, Norris feinted the reigning world champion at the start and took the lead. Verstappen also had to fend off Pistry hard in the second McLaren, and the young Australian put a lot of pressure on the series winner. Verstappen played for five laps, then the champion accelerated and reclaimed his usual first place from Norris at the end of the Wellington straight.

However, Verstappen wasn’t completely satisfied. “The car pulls to the side pretty much,” he told the box. A fine drizzle remained constant over the track, and the wind also affected the stability of the cars. “The wind makes it more difficult to drive,” said Verstappen, but that didn’t stop him from increasing his lead slightly at the front from lap to lap. After 10 out of 22 races, he already has a 99-point lead over teammate Sergio Pérez, who finished the following weekend in sixth place.

In the back third of the field, Nico Hulkenberg led a lone race in a Haas with no prospect of the lead. A piece of his car’s front wing broke off when he braked early, and the pit stops and part change cost Hulkenberg time he could not make up. Thirteenth place was damage reduction at best.

At the halfway point of the race, Verstappen was already over seven seconds ahead, but behind him, Norris and Bystry led an inspiring race. After a tire change, Piastri trailed record world champion Lewis Hamilton in fourth in the Mercedes, but his astonished parents saw in the pits holding hands how their son kept Mercedes driver George Russell in check.

No points for Alfa-Sauber

Prior to the warm-up round, the drivers had an unusual amount of space on the grid. Paparazzi followed Brad Pitt and his film crew on their heels, escorting the global superstar on their way to the cars of the fictional APEX team at the end of the field. Filming has begun in Silverstone for the yet-to-be-named Hollywood movie, which is supposed to tell a Formula 1 story with Pitt in the lead role.

There were no points for the Alfa Romeo team. Valtteri Bottas ended up in 13th place, and Zhou Guanyu had to settle for 16th. As a result, the Hinwil racing team moved back to ninth in the manufacturers’ standings.(master/dry)