Lando Norris
He is 23. The other 38. Both British. Generational duel on the racetrack, in front of a record crowd of 160,000 spectators. When Norris and Hamilton fought for second place at the end, it was at least the strongest duel of Sunday. The record world champion tried it three times, and the Instagram darling countered brilliantly three times. “It’s unbelievable,” Norris said. The same applied to fourth place for rookie Oscar Piastri, without the safety car phase he would have finished third.
So the second big surprise of the season after the strong start from Aston Martin is perfect: McLaren is revived and was inspired by the racing car creation at Red Bull for the general overhaul of the MCL60. It wasn’t much different at Aston Martin. Now, after the green double, there is also one in papaya, the house color of the team, which last won a world title in 2008 with the young Lewis Hamilton. The Italian Andrea Stella is not yet finished with his conversion work, at the end of the year Rob Marschall is coming as the new chief engineer – from Red Bull Racing.
Max Verstappen
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There are things that you rarely see, if at all, from Max Verstappen. For example: A crash in the pit lane before he gets his fifth pole position in a row. Or a losing maneuver at the start against Lando Norris before claiming his seventh win of the year, sixth in a row. It was probably a bit tighter than usual, but in the end it was comfortable, despite the safety car phase. A racing driver, who seems to be doing everything right, also needs a neutralization – he was able to use it for a quick mandatory stop.
Otherwise, he had plenty of time to think again, which unsurprisingly led to new ambition: “The competitors behind us put pressure on development and closed the gap, so we have to try to find a little more.” Incidentally, he finds the fact that he is dealing with a different pursuer every weekend: “Quite confusing.”
Sergio Perez
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Everyone has their streak at Red Bull Racing, but the Mexican’s is a particularly odd one. Perez, a serious title rival for Verstappen in the early stages of the season, missed out on qualifying’s top ten for the fifth consecutive time at Silverstone. There was definitely bad luck involved, but how can that be justified in a racing team where the other driver succeeds in everything? Red Bull motorsport consultant Helmut Marko expected seventh place as compensation, Perez even exceeded the expectation by one place and claimed: “I’m mentally very strong and that will let me get through this.”
The fact that the beverage company tested the test driver Daniel Ricciardo in the tire tests this week in Silverstone is not a danger for Perez – this reactivation is aimed much more at the Dutchman Nyck de Vries in the sister team Alpha Tauri. Because unlike Perez, the rookie can’t handle the race either.
Lewis Hamilton
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The record world champion and his home crowd is an eternal love story. Dad Anthony believes the son can draw so much energy from the backdrop that they account for two-tenths of a second per lap. The Mercedes driver was only too happy to follow this story: “It wasn’t me who did it, it was the audience. This support is the reason why I’m back up here.”
Mercedes was also moody with the B version of the Silver Arrow, after a disastrous day of training, Mick Schumacher once again had to work overtime in the simulator until 2 a.m. to find a better set-up for the racing car. That worked. Hamilton went from seven to three, George Russell finished fifth instead of on the podium due to the bad luck of a late safety car phase. The record world champion doesn’t want to give a final verdict just yet: “The season has been one of ups and downs so far, and we still have a lot of work to do with our car.”
Brad Pitt
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Finally, Formula 1 has its eleventh team, which has been disputed for ages. It has its garage in the pit lane between Mercedes and Ferrari, right in the middle. However, it is a purely fictitious racing team that goes by the fantasy name APEX, which means apex. It is the team that Apple will field on its streaming platform, and whose main actor is Brad Pitt. The Hollywood star has two co-producers behind him who are supposed to guarantee success: Lewis Hamilton and Toto Wolff.
Mercedes also converted a Formula 2 car and painted it black and gold. However, driving on the Grand Prix circuits is only possible when Formula 1 takes a break. Nevertheless, Pitt took part in the drivers’ briefing at Silverstone and – after a crash course with the record world champion in Los Angeles – ventured onto the track himself. “It wasn’t a hot lap, though, just a warm lap,” said the 59-year-old afterwards with a grin, and also admitted a spin.
Alex Albon
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The hero of the early Williams 800th Grand Prix celebrations was to be Jenson Button, doing laps of honor in Nigel Mansell’s 1992 world-winning car ahead of the British Grand Prix. But then Alex Albon came into play, who drives with a Thai license but was born in London and grew up on the island. Eighth in qualifying with an amazingly improved racing car was almost not enough for the 27-year-old. But the race reconciled him, because this eighth place was a real surprise. And proof that the team is on the right track under new team boss James Vowles, despite a completely outdated racing factory. Everyone has to watch out for the FW 45 on the straights, including Red Bull. “It just has to be cool and then things really go forward,” said Albon – and the British summer did him a favor.
Charles Leclerc
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Radio messages are part of the curse that seems to be hanging over the Italian racing team this season. The audience can’t get enough of the discussions between strategists, engineers and drivers, but it’s still not funny. After an intermediate high, the Scuderia has suffered another severe setback. Charles Leclerc only in ninth place, Carlos Sainz only tenth – and that from starting positions four and five.
This time it was the Spaniard who complained particularly emotionally. Especially about the strong wind that blew over the former airfield as a harbinger of possible showers: “That cost us traction.” The message behind this: The Ferrari remains vulnerable to all sorts of things. The structure between the two pilots was also much more balanced. In qualifying, Sainz did not stick to the internal agreement to let Leclerc go first on the decisive lap and overtake the Monegasque in the last corner. “Really nice,” Leclerc cursed, “strong maneuver.” Listening will continue to be worthwhile.
