Oscar Piastri leaves the 2025 British GP with the sole consolation that he bagged the fastest lap of the race with a 1:29.337 as he could only watch McLaren’s Lando Norris eat into his championship lead.
The Australian seemed as though he was destined to claim his sixth win of the season when he passed Red Bull’s Max Verstappen at Silverstone and quickly began checking out from his teammate in third.
Whilst virtual safety cars and full safety cars had interrupted the smooth running of the race, the 24-year-old generally navigated them masterfully to either keep up the pressure to defend his lead.
However, that changed on Lap 21 when he was deemed to have braked in an erratic manner and forced Verstappen to take avoiding action, handing himself a 10-second time penalty in the process.
He kept the lead until he finally served the punishment during the switch to slick tyres for the final stint when it was eventually surrendered to Norris, who evaded his clutches by just over six seconds to the chequered flag on Lap 52.
At one stage, he had brought the gap down to four seconds before an error into Maggotts saw a trip through the gravel and a blown chance to win the race, although Piastri was quick as he set the fastest lap in his pursuit at the 2025 British GP.
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“I’m not going to say much. I’ll get myself in trouble,” Piastri told F1 TV after the race. “Well done to Nico. I think that’s the highlight of the day.
“Apparently you can’t brake behind the Safety Car any more. I did it for five laps before that. I’m not going to say much because I’ll get myself in trouble. I still like Silverstone, even if I don’t like it today…”
Lando Norris triumphs at 2025 British GP and cuts championship lead down
Meanwhile for Norris, he kept his composure and delivered the performance expected of him in his seventh season in the sport as the likes of Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc all made costly errors.
It handed the Brit his first victory at his home Grand Prix and crucially saw him move to just outside of touching distance of Piastri in the drivers’ standings, bringing the margin down to eight points with 12 rounds to go.
“It’s beautiful,” Norris said of winning at Silverstone to F1 TV. “Everything I dreamed of, I guess. Everything I’ve ever wanted to achieve.
“Apart from a championship, I think this is as good as it gets in terms of feelings and in terms of achievement, being proud, all of it.
“This is where it all started for me, and now thankfully I’ve been able to have my go. Incredible race, stressful as always, but the support from the fans made the difference today, so I’ve got to thank them for it all.”
