The 2025 British Grand Prix was, as always, a monumental event in motorsport. With controversy over at McLaren, strategic gambles at Mercedes and Ferrari and a spinning Max Verstappen – there was one man who stayed cool, calm and collected throughout. That man was Nico Hulkenberg and he’s now a Formula 1 Podium finisher.
The Chronicle Headlines
- Lewis Hamilton topped the time sheets by 0.023 of a second in FP1 in his Ferrari for the British Grand Prix.
- Arvid Lindblad finished FP1 in P14 with Paul Aron in P17 in their debut Formula 1 outings for Red Bull and Kick Sauber respectively.
- Lando Norris went quickest in FP2 with Charles Leclerc taking the honours in FP3.
- Max Verstappen put in a blistering lap in the final moments of Qualifying to steal Pole Position from McLaren and Ferrari.
- Lando Norris won the British Grand Prix after Oscar Piastri was handed a controversial penalty for a Safety Car infringement.
- Nico Hulkenberg secured his first ever podium in Formula 1 history by finishing in P3 for Kick Sauber.
Practice – Ferrari Vs McLaren
FP1
It was a sunny but windy occasion as FP1 got underway on Friday at Silverstone. While there were a few hairy moments out on track for some of the drivers, it was a relatively smooth session for most as they warmed up for the weekend ahead.
Pierre Gasly had a bum clenching moment as he spun 360° at Copse Corner. The French driver kept his Alpine on track throughout and was able to continue on his way as if nothing had happened. A similar incident occurred, albeit with more pirouettes, to Gabriel Bortoleto later on in the session. The Brazilian also kept his Kick Sauber out of harm’s reach, despite the unfortunate moment.
Charles Leclerc, Lando Norris, George Russell and Lance Stroll all had minor moments on differing parts of the track. It was a combination of lock ups, dipping tyres into the gravel and simply going wide in some corners that caught these particular drivers out.
Arvid Lindblad and Paul Aron made their Formula 1 debut for Red Bull and Kick Sauber respectively. Lindblad impressed, finishing the session in P14 as he stood in for Yuki Tsunoda. Aron finished a few places behind him in P17 as he stood in for Nico Hulkenberg.
Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz were vocal about the improvements needed to their cars throughout the session. Verstappen ended the session in P10 with Sainz in P13.
Out in front through, it was the Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton who went quickest overall in FP1. Lando Norris was close behind him with Oscar Piastri in P3.
FP2
Much like the first of Friday’s two Practice Sessions, FP2 was a relatively straightforward affair. Ferrari continued to show strong pace as they brought their updated prancing horse to Silverstone. But the chrome papaya McLarens turned up the wick a little to fight back. Lando Norris would end the session quickest overall with a time of 1:25.816. Leclerc was 0.222 behind in second with Hamilton in third.
Lance Stroll heaved his Aston Martin into a respectable P7 with both Racing Bulls completing the top ten in what was another strong display from the Red Bull junior team. They seem set to go all out in qualifying.
Carlos Sainz had an awkward moment as he span his Williams around while following Lewis Hamilton. Thankfully the pair didn’t make contact. A combination of wind and getting the car out on the very edge of the track was behind the incident.
Yuki Tsunoda and Nico Hulkenberg returned after sitting out FP1 for rookie drivers to get their moments to shine. Tsunoda could only manage P15 in the session, one place behind Lindblad from FP1. Hulkenberg meanwhile equalled Aron’s efforts in his Kick Sauber.
FP3
The drivers were slow to get going in the final practice session of the weekend. In the opening ten minutes or so, it was only the two Alpine drivers and the Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton out on track. Naturally, the British driver led the French and Argentinian drivers when it came to lap time performance.
As the clock ticked down, more and more cars did begin to emerge. McLaren and Ferrari duelled it out with each other for the bragging rights over the fastest lap times. Max Verstappen was never far away either in what looked like a reborn Red Bull and the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli was close behind too. By the end of the session it was Charles Leclerc out front with Oscar Piastri in P2 and Max Verstappen in P3.
A late red flag was caused due to bodywork flying of the Haas of Ollie Bearman. Around ten minutes were left on the clock by the time the session got going again. There was a bit of a traffic jam in the pitlane and more battling for clear air out on track too. Russell went wide at one point, getting in the way of both Tsunoda and Hamilton.
Gabriel Bortoleto then had an off, bouncing onto the kerbs, across the track and over more kerbs again. In doing so, the Brazilian broke the suspension of his Kick Sauber and brought out the red flags again with forty one seconds left on the clock. FP3 was now essentially over. Finally, on his way into the pits, Bearman’s cold brakes caught him out and he crashed briefly, his front wing coming off his Haas. He would receive a ten place grid penalty for this incident due to it occurring under red flag conditions.
Qualifying
Q1
Gabriel Bortoleto was the first driver out on track, Kick Sauber having repaired his car after FP3. Things were ticking along nicely for the majority of the session with Piastri, Verstappen and, interestingly, Alonso, making up the top three.
Franco Colapinto then lost the rear end of his Alpine coming out of Club Corner and slid off the track, over the gravel and into the barriers. The Argentine was able to recover his car but then was forced to pull over at the side of Farm Curve. Q1 was red flagged as a result with just under seven minutes left on the clock. It’s fair to say Colapinto wasn’t going to make it through to Q2.
Bearman and Albon were the two other drivers who surprised everyone by appearing in the top five by the end of Q1. Ferrari almost stumbled Hamilton’s qualifying by not putting enough fuel in his car. The nine-time British Grand Prix winner scraped through to Q2 in P15.
Lawson, Bortoleto, Stroll, Hulkenberg and Colapinto were the five drivers eliminated at the end of the session.
Q2
By comparison, Q2 was a much calmer affair all round. The most exciting thing to happen was Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri somehow both setting identical lap times in their opening Q2 bids.
Then, with a fresh set of soft tyres at the end of the session, the Ferraris launched to the top of the timings pages. Lewis Hamilton claimed P1 with Leclerc in P2. Norris rounded out the top three.
Ocon, Albon, Hadjar, Tsunoda and Sainz were all knocked out ahead of Q3.
Q3
The third and final qualifying session was a nail-biting affair as Ferrari looked like they were really in the mix against McLaren. Piastri took provisional pole on the first set of run laps for the ten remaining drivers. But when the Australian went back out towards the end of the session, a few small mistakes meant he wasn’t able to improve his lap time. All eyes were then on Ferrari to beat him and Norris. But the Italian outfit simply weren’t able to, having to ultimately settle for P5 and P6.
Instead, out of nowhere, Max Verstappen pulled out an absolutely immense lap in his Red Bull to steal Pole Position from all of them. How he still is able to do this, nobody really knows.
The top ten after Q3 were as follows: Verstappen, Piastri, Norris, Russell, Hamilton, Leclerc, Antonelli, Bearman, Alonso and Gasly. But Bearman would obviously be demoted down ten places for his FP3 antics and Antonelli would be pushed down to P10 because of his three place grid penalty after his clash with Verstappen in Austria. Alonso would therefore start in P7, Gasly P8, Sainz P9 and Antonelli in P10.
The Grand Prix
The 2025 British Grand Prix was once again one for the history books. Gone were the dry and straightforward conditions from Friday and Saturday. Instead, mixed conditions that had plagued both Formula 2 and Formula 3 returned to mix things up for Formula 1 too. And boy oh boy did they mix things up indeed.
Bad Day to be a Rookie
In the early stages of the 2025 British Grand Prix, survival was the aim of the game. Much like in Australia, it was the rookies who were the principal casualties of the changing weather conditions. Colapinto never made it into the race, retiring before the green lights went out with a suspected mechanical issue. Lawson was taken out by Ocon in a racing incident as the Frenchman was squeezed by Yuki Tsunoda, ultimately colliding with Lawson. Bortoleto span out later on. Hadjar rear ended Antonelli when he was unable to see the Italian and both retired as a result. Also like in Australia, Bearman was the only rookie left standing.
Survive to Drive
As the conditions kept flittering between wet and drying, it was desperately difficult to know what the best strategy was. Some gambled early on with a switch to slicks, such as Charles Leclerc and George Russell. Others decided to stay on inters and deal with whatever came next. Both approaches had mixed results. None of this was helped by the recurring appearances of the VSC or the actual Safety Car. Pit stops were a dime a dozen and advantages gained could easily be lost again in an instant.
Piastri and Verstappen battled hard for the lead as Hamilton kept close tabs on Norris behind. A moment now forever linked with the outcome of the 2025 British Grand Prix occurred just as one of the many Safety Car periods was coming to an end. Backing off from the Safety Car to take control of the pace of the field, Oscar Piastri forced Max Verstappen to take swift avoiding action so as to not collect the Aussie. The stewards didn’t look at him favourably for this and so handed him a ten second penalty. Was this the right call? It’s likely going to be a topic of debate for at least the rest of the season. With Verstappen then spinning out and down the order on the restart, all Lando Norris had to do was stay on track and victory would be assured.
Gambles and What Ifs
Mixed conditions are the great equalizer in Formula 1. It’s a time for gambles and out of the box thinking. Get it right and you look like a hero. Get it wrong and you’ll be lucky to get a positive mention after the race, if any at all. Such was the case for Mercedes and to some extent, Ferrari. With Antonelli out of the race, the Silver Arrows hope were solely with George Russell. In a weekend where there have been a plethora of question marks around his future with the team, the British driver needed a good result.
But he seemed to constantly have case of bad timing during the race for switching to the correct tyre. A grimacing moment saw him spin off the track at speed coming out of copse corner and that essentially surmised his race. He finished in P10. The 2025 British Grand Prix was the first time that Mercedes had missed being on the podium at Silverstone since 2012.
Charles Leclerc was another driver who didn’t have any good luck at Silverstone. He too spun off track at high speed was able to keep it together. Gambling early doors by switching to the slick tyre, it never paid off. Languishing at the back of the pack for the duration of the Grand Prix, the Monegasque would come home in P14 . It was the first time he finished outside the points so far this season.
Nico Hulkenberg – Take a Bow
Piastri served his ten second penalty during his final pit stop and thereafter, simply couldn’t close the gap to Norris out front. Likewise, Lewis Hamilton, chasing his thirteenth consecutive podium at Silverstone, was unable to catch an electric Nico Hulkenberg as he drove the race of his life as he attempted to secure his first ever podium in Formula 1. The Ferrari driver came alive during the race as he carved his way repeatedly through the field but Hamilton’s car simply wasn’t able to perform as well as he needed to in order to get his hands on his first Grand Prix podium of the year.
Having spent 177 laps in a podium position across his career before this race, Hulkenberg finally became the 218th driver to finish on the podium in F1 championship history. It was Sauber’s first podium in F1 since Kobayashi claimed one for them back at the Japanese Grand Prix in 2012. Hulkenberg had been made to wait 238 Grands Prix over 15 years before he could achieve this feat. He’s the first German to finish on the podium since Sebastian Vettel at the 2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix and is the oldest first-time podium finisher (37 years old) since George Follmer (39 years old) at the 1973 Spanish Grand Prix.
The 2025 British Grand Prix
The 2025 British Grand Prix was then won by Lando Norris – the thirteenth British driver to do so and the first for McLaren since Lewis Hamilton back in 2008. He now only has eight points separating him from Oscar Piastri in the Championship. Verstappen recovered to fifth after his spin, having made some neat overtakes in the closing stages. Gasly finished in sixth after a last lap overtake on Lance Stroll (who had run as high as P3 at one point) who ended his race at Silverstone in P7. Albon managed to finish in P8 with Alonso and Russell rounding out the top ten.
Haas just missed out on points with Bearman finishing in P11. Yuki Tsunoda was the driver finishing in last place for the second Grand Prix in a row. He was also the only driver to be lapped.
What Next?
Even in mixed conditions, McLaren are still very much the team to beat. Like in Australia, Norris was able to do what he needed in order to win. Piastri lost out again, albeit for a different reason. As we close the chapter on the first half of the 2025 season, the only people perhaps capable of stopping McLaren are McLaren themselves. Will Norris and Piastri clash in the future and as soon as next time out in Spa? We’ll have to wait and see. One thing is for certain. If they do, they’ll be plenty of people ready to jump into the breach and take full advantage of it.
As ever though, the British Grand Prix remains a classic. In the 75th year of Formula 1, it was fitting to arguably have our best Grand Prix of the year so far here. Silverstone always gives us Formula 1 at its best.
Formula 1 returns for the Belgian Grand Prix on July 27th.
Feature Image: Kick Sauber Media Centre.