F1 British Grand Prix: Oscar Piastri snags fourth, Lando Norris second, Max Verstappen claims sixth straight victory

Fernando Alonso has stolen the show once again, photo-bombing Oscar Piastri’s interview with a sly grin after the Aussie mentioned his former team.

NORTHAMPTON, ENGLAND - JULY 09: Oscar Piastri of Australia driving the (81) McLaren MCL60 Mercedes on track during the F1 Grand Prix of Great Britain at Silverstone Circuit on July 09, 2023 in Northampton, England. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

Aussie F1 star Oscar Piastri has had his first official outing with the big boys, holding his own at Silverstone after blitzing the middle of the pack in qualifying to seize a third place start.

All eyes were on McLaren after Saturday’s Q3 theatrics, with speculation swirling over whether their late adjustments could actually convert their Saturday speed into a podium.

The British team had a dream start to the race, with Lando Norris squeezing past pole sitter Max Verstappen through turn two and Piastri fending off the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc in fourth.

Piastri swerved right from the second row in attempt to make a claim on the first corner, but it was Norris who snuck past Verstappen and sent the crowd into a frenzy.

Piastri had Verstappen in his sights for the first five laps, staying within a second behind the mighty Red Bull in time for the activation of DRS. But by then, Verstappen had reclaimed the lead from Norris, proving yet again that 2023 will remain a “best of the rest” affair with Red Bull simply too fast through the high-speed corners.

Piastri held onto third until the 30th lap when he pitted for hard tyres to see out the remaining 32 laps. He re-entered the field in sixth, while teammate Norris held onto third with his degrading mediums, sitting 11 seconds ahead of Lewis Hamilton in third.

Mercedes snagged a cheap pit stop when the safety car was called following an engine failure to Kevin Magnussen’s Haas on the middle of the track. Hamilton, returning to the pack with a fresh set of softs, was simply too quick for Piastri to challenge to take home a maiden podium.

Fans took particular interest in Piastri’s post-race interview, where he commented on the fact McLaren were leagues ahead of Alpine, the team he had sensationally split from before making his debut.

Former Alpine driver Fernando Alonso, who previously slammed the team for being incapable of propelling itself to the podium while he was signed, was grinning like a schoolboy in the back.

Piastri being interviewed about McLaren leapfrogging Alpine with Alonso smiling in the background is pure poetry 🤣 pic.twitter.com/100XJRsuKq

— Joe (@JoeAeterno) July 9, 2023

The Aussie said he was actually disappointed at coming fourth, but acknowledged the major strides his team had made in the week leading into the iconic race.

McLaren have now shot up to fifth in the Constructors’ Championship standings with a total of 30 points at Silverstone.

“It hurts a little but to be P4 when we were looking on for a podium for so long,” he said.

“A bit unlucky with the Safety Car timing, but just so happy that I’m disappointed with fourth place instead of what we’ve been disappointed with earlier in the season.

“We executed everything we could; we were pulling away from the cars behind, all to be one second too far behind, pretty much, when the Safety Car came out.

“But again, I’m so happy that I’m disappointed with P4 as opposed to what it has been earlier in the season.”

All eyes were on McLaren after Saturday’s Q3 theatrics, with speculation swirling over whether their late adjustments could actually convert their Saturday speed into a podium.

Safety car didn’t get the memo. But what a car! 🧡 pic.twitter.com/LqaQDs2xKN

— Oscar Piastri (@OscarPiastri) July 9, 2023

Sky Sports commentators David Croft and Martin Brundle praised the 22-year-old rookie’s drive, admitting he got unlucky with the safety car.

“It’s worth saying, it’s his best result in Formula 1 but that could have been a podium for him today,” Croft said.

“It was a solid podium opportunity, but what goes around comes around,” Brundle replied. “But he’ll be frustrated. The weekend when McLaren were absolutely on form, he was driving beautifully. He drives like a veteran, doesn’t he?”

Piastri swerved right from the second row in attempt to make a claim on the first corner, but it was Norris who snuck past Verstappen and sent the crowd into a frenzy.

Piastri reflected on the brief moment he was going toe-to-toe with championship leader Verstappen, who has all but sealed his third title at the midway point of the season.

“(It was) pretty exciting,” Piastri said. “When I got off the line I was like ‘Okay, I’ve got the best start out of everyone here’, and I had to find somewhere to go – ran out of space.

“But I think the more exciting part was being able to hand onto the back of him for a few laps. And even for the rest of the race, it wasn’t like he was stupidly quicker than us.

“That was very exciting; to be genuinely the second fastest team today exceeded all our expectations.”

Verstappen, on the other hand, snagged his sixth win in succession, his eighth in 10 races and the 43rd of his career as Red Bull matched the feat of McLaren who won 11 races in 1988.

The double world champion increased his lead ahead of team-mate Sergio Perez in the drivers’ championship to 99 points.

Mercedes’ George Russell finished fifth ahead of Sergio Perez, two-time champion Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin and Williams’ Alex Albon.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz came home ninth and 10th, a disappointing result for the Italian team after they had started from fourth and fifth on the grid.

Martin Brundle said Piastri already ‘drives like a veteran’.

“Eleven in a row! That’s pretty crazy. Well done everyone,” Verstappen said at the close of the race.

“I was doing a bit of drifting on Thursday with marketing and today I felt like I was doing it again! We’ll look into it as it wasn’t very good and I had a bad start too. Lando had a lot of pace today.”

Norris was delighted with the result in front of his home crowd.

“That’s pretty insane, pretty amazing!” he said. “

The team did an amazing job, so big thanks to them, but the team put me on hard tyres at the pit stop. I don’t know why – they’re still beginners at some things!

“They just wanted to give me a test I guess! That’s what Zak (Brown, team boss)said and he probably called the shots on that one! I wanted the softs. It made more sense with the Safety Car, but I don’t care. I am P2!”

Hamilton, who started his F1 career with McLaren in 2007, winning his first race with them and his first world championship, thanked the huge Silverstone crowd – estimated at 160,000 on the day and 480,000 for the weekend – for his pace and performance.

“I didn’t do it,” he said. “The crowd did it! A big thank you to everyone for supporting and the energy which I felt. That’s the reason I got up there. Also, I want to say a big congratulations to Lando and McLaren.”