Lazy Thoughts on the British Grand Prix

Note: This piece was originally published on my Substack as part of an earlier rollout. I’m archiving it here on Beehiiv for accessibility and continuity. Minor edits may have been made for formatting.

The weather at Silverstone may be unpredictable, but I was expecting the usual results from this race at first—Lewis Hamilton making the podium, Max Verstappen making a comeback after a disastrous home race for his team last week, and so on. Qualifying solidified this belief, and who could blame me? Verstappen snatched pole position from Oscar Piastri by just over a tenth of a second. McLaren scored a solid 2-3 result. George Russell was fourth. And Hamilton himself was in fifth, close enough to taste the home-crowd glory.

But once the lights went out, Silverstone tossed the script into the rain and decided it had other plans. Early retirements commenced— Liam Lawson skidding off the track after getting clipped by Esteban Ocon in the opening lap, Gabriel Bortoleto sliding into the gravel by lap six. The virtual safety car was deployed. Repeatedly.

And in the controlled carnage, I couldn’t help but notice Piastri was itching for that first-place position. Following the timings live showed his McLaren breathing down Verstappen’s neck, hunting the incumbent world champion like he was out for revenge. And by lap 8, Piastri made his move, slicing past Verstappen to snatch the race lead amid the spray-soaked madness.

That wasn’t even the end of the Piastri-Verstappen drama. A third safety car had to be deployed, and another glitch in the matrix was getting ready alongside that. While Piastri continued his lead, he slammed on the anchors at Brooklands straight, catching Verstappen off‑guard and causing the Dutchman to nearly barrel into the back of him. Verstappen responded on the team radio as one would expect:

The stewards ultimately gave Piastri a 10-second penalty for this stunt. And for once, I agree with them. What Piastri did wasn’t clever racing; it was playing with fire. You’re supposed to maintain a consistent speed under SC conditions. But Piastri was recklessly toying with danger.

In fact, FIA investigators cited telemetry showing Piastri “suddenly braked hard (59 psi)[…] reduc[ing] speed in the middle of the straight between T14 and T15, from 218 kph to 52 kph,” forcing Verstappen into evasive action. That’s reckless, not racecraft.

But Verstappen’s bad luck didn’t stop at that. Once the green flag was waved, his chances of a podium finish were crushed. His Red Bull spun on the track and plummeted from P2 to P9, with some data even pegging it at P10 or P11. Props to him for clawing his way back to P5— again, after the disaster that was the Austrian race last week. It serves as a reminder that even though this season is his worst in a while, he’s still the reigning world champion for a reason.

Meanwhile, Lando Norris seized the moment. He took advantage of his teammate’s penalty and Verstappen’s spin to push his way into a home race win. Once in front, he held strong with an unbreakable focus. As the leaders behind him faltered, he built a buffer, eventually crossing the line 6.8 seconds ahead of Piastri and scoring his second consecutive win this season— his first-ever in the UK.

It serves as another upend in the boys’ team hierarchy. Norris’ triumph cuts Piastri’s championship lead to just eight points, and tightens the title fight more than ever at the season’s midpoint. McLaren, once a harmonious papaya fairytale, is now on the brink of a civil war masked as a championship charge.

I can’t talk about today’s race without mentioning the podium’s twist ending: Nico Hülkenberg. The 37-year-old German finally shattered a streak of over 200 non-podium finishes, taking his first career top-three after a staggering 239 Grands Prix. That’s the most starts before a podium debut in F1 history.

Qualifying 19th, he then orchestrated a miraculous charge through the muddied field, honing in on perfect strategy and restraint in the trickiest conditions. A switch to slicks and flawless tire calls carried him into podium contention as others faltered. It’s a Cinderella story for not just Hülkenberg, but his team, too— it’s Kick Sauber’s first podium finish since 2012.

Not to mention that it’s also Hülkenberg’s fourth consecutive points-scoring finish—a remarkable run following impressive showings in Spain (P5), Canada (P8), and Austria (P9). Those earlier results were the proof of his driving ability; Silverstone was the payoff.

Of course, Hülkenberg’s record-breaking finish came at the expense of Hamilton’s. The Brit’s 12-year podium run at Silverstone ended today with a fourth-place finish. Not only is it the end of his ironclad home-track dominance, but it also shows that Ferrari’s momentum last week quickly fizzled out.

The team arrived in England riding what felt like upward momentum: Hamilton topped first practice, and both Ferraris were flagged as “in the mix” by Friday. But qualifying exposed cracks—Hamilton losing time to understeer in Turn 16 and ended up just ahead of teammate Charles Leclerc in P5. Come race day, they fizzled just as the storm broke.

And that’s not even getting into Leclerc finishing in 14th.

I guess the lesson to be had here is that no reputation is sacred. Not Hamilton’s home race record, not Verstappen’s pole position dominance, and most certainly not Piastri’s picture-perfect rise to McLaren’s golden child. Silverstone tore through every carefully curated narrative like a thunderstorm through silk.

But at the end of the day, isn’t that why we watch?

Here are the various thoughts I had during and after the race that don’t fit in the main piece:

One more thing before I go: A big thank you to Daily Mirror correspondent Daniel Moxon for featuring last week’s Lazy Thoughts on his Substack!

For context, here was his very on-brand rec:

I haven’t been doing Lazy Thoughts for very long— this one you’re reading now is only my third. So it means a lot to see it recommended by someone who writes about F1 for a living.

Most of you know a lot of my F1 work these days orbits around the Piquets and the skeletons they hide in their closet. That exposé is still my grand opera. But Lazy Thoughts is a place for me to unpack the sport’s chaos outside of that, and I’ve had a lot of fun writing it so far.

I don’t talk about Formula One all the time. I’m not solely a motorsport channel. There are many other things I like to talk about, both here and on my YouTube. Still, I hope you’ll stick around. You won’t regret it. 🖤

That’s all for now. See you in Hungary.

-Flower