Lando Norris won his home race but Nico Hulkenberg stole the show and another driver also impressed in the rain.
Here’s RaceFans’ verdict on the full field.
Lando Norris
Qualified: 3rd (1 place behind team mate, +0.015s)
Grid: 3rd (1 place behind team mate)
Start: Held position
Strategy: Two-stop (I-I-M)
Finished: 1st (1 place ahead of team mate)
▶ Almost matched Piastri’s time in qualifying
▶ Bided his time at the start of the race to keep his tyres in good condition
▲ Pressured Verstappen and passed him when he went off, but lost position due to slow pit stop
▶ Gained on Piastri before his team mate made his final pit stop, then inherit lead
8/10: Kept it clean in every sense in difficult conditions, was at least a match for Piastri on pace
Oscar Piastri
Qualified: 2nd (1 place ahead of team mate, -0.015s)
Grid: 2nd (1 place ahead of team mate)
Start: Held position
Strategy: Two-stop (I-I-M)
Finished: 2nd (1 place behind team mate)
▶ Damaged his floor on his first run in Q3, didn’t improve on second run and lost pole to Verstappen
▲ Patiently waited for his chance to pass Verstappen for the lead
▼ Penalised 10 seconds for braking sharply at final Safety Car restart
▼ Went off at Maggotts after switching to slick tyres
7/10: Safety Car move was borderline but error in final stint also cost him time
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Charles Leclerc
Qualified: 6th (1 place behind team mate, +0.026s)
Grid: 6th (1 place behind team mate)
Start: -9 places
Strategy: Two-stop (M-I-S)
Finished: 14th (10 places behind team mate)
▼ Mystified by his loss of pace in qualifying after strong run in final practice
▲ Dived past Albon and Sainz at The Loop
▼ Went off at Stowe after switching to slicks, taking Sainz with him
4/10: Unhappy with himself after incomprehensibly poor performance
Lewis Hamilton
Qualified: 5th (1 place ahead of team mate, -0.026s)
Grid: 5th (1 place ahead of team mate)
Start: +1 place
Strategy: Two-stop (I-I-S)
Finished: 4th (10 places ahead of team mate)
▶ Quick from the off, leading first practice
▼ Looked like a contender for pole position after Q2 but error left him fifth on the grid
▶ Lost places before first pit stop
▲ Passed Ocon and re-passed Russell in move at first Safety Car restart
▶ Lost place to Russell when he went off at Copse but re-passed him soon afterwards
▲ Passed Gasly and then Stroll for fourth
▼ Went off at Village after making early final pit stop for slicks and couldn’t catch Hulkenberg for fourth
▶ Reached Q3 but set best time in Q2, 0.011s faster
6/10: Showed flashes of pace in but also missed some opportunities
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Max Verstappen
Qualified: 1st (11 places ahead of team mate, -0.51s)
Grid: 1st (10 places ahead of team mate)
Start: Held position
Strategy: Two-stop (I-I-M)
Finished: 5th (10 places ahead of team mate)
▶ Headed Q1 and Q3 for fourth pole position of the year with low downforce set-up
▼ Lost places to both McLaren drivers due to errors in wet conditions
▶ Regained second from Norris in pits
▼ Spun at second Safety Car restart, then went wide at The Loop, dropping to 10th
▲ Passed Sainz and Gasly before switching to slicks
▲ Passed Stroll for fifth when the Aston Martin driver ran wide
6/10: Set-up focused on dry conditions was clearly too optimistic and led to errors
Yuki Tsunoda
Qualified: 12th (11 places behind team mate, +0.51s)
Grid: 11th (10 places behind team mate)
Start: +1 place
Strategy: Two-stop (I-I-M)
Finished: 15th (10 places behind team mate)
▶ Did not drive in first practice as Arvid Lindblad took over his car
▶ Missed the cut for Q3 by just over a tenth of a second, blaming a loss of engine power
▼ Lost a place to Albon at the start, then ran ninth
▼ Knocked Bearman into a spin and was penalised 10 seconds
▶ Finished last
4/10: Gets the benefit of the doubt for qualifying but not for another poor race
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Andrea Kimi Antonelli
Qualified: 7th (3 places behind team mate, +0.345s)
Grid: 10th (6 places behind team mate)
Start: +2 places
Strategy: Three-stop (I-H-I-I)
Finished: Not classified
▼ Said he wasn’t entirely confident in the high-speed corners after being out-qualified by Russell
▶ Pitted for slicks on lap three, a call he admitted he had doubts about, and couldn’t get tyres up to temperature
▶ Let Russell past when instructed to
▶ Lost time after lap nine pit stop to get back onto intermediates
▶ Suffered race-ending floor damage when he was hit by Hadjar
5/10: Not on team mate’s pace, had poor strategy and was taken out
George Russell
Qualified: 4th (3 places ahead of team mate, -0.345s)
Grid: 4th (6 places ahead of team mate)
Start: -10 places
Strategy: Two-stop (H-I-H)
Finished: 10th
▶ Mercedes came good as the track cooled and Russell capitalised to take fourth on the grid
▶ Pitted for slicks before the start but lost places as a result
▶ Got ahead of Hamilton after second restart then was re-passed by him
▼ Made early final stop for slicks and was surprised to receive hard tyres, then spun
5/10: Another driver who made his last pit stop hastily and paid the price
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Lance Stroll
Qualified: 18th (9 places behind team mate, +0.396s)
Grid: 17th (10 places behind team mate)
Start: +5 places
Strategy: Three-stop (I-S-I-S)
Finished: 7th (2 places ahead of team mate)
▼ Almost four tenths of a second off Alonso in Q1, where he was eliminated
▲ Ran 11th after start after passing Ocon
▶ Only driver to pit for softs before the rain returned (unlike Alonso he had fresh sets due to his Q1 elimination)
▶ Early pit stop for intermediates vaulted him to fourth
▼ Lap times dropped off more quickly than Alonso’s at the end of stints
▼ Passed by Hulkenberg and Hamilton in final stint on intermediates
▼ Passed by Verstappen and, on the final lap, Gasly
5/10: A decent result and a clean drive but a higher finish was clearly possible
Fernando Alonso
Qualified: 9th (9 places ahead of team mate, -0.396s)
Grid: 7th (10 places ahead of team mate)
Start: +1 place
Strategy: Two-stop (I-I-M)
Finished: 9th (2 places behind team mate)
▲ Grabbed a place in Q3 and took advantage of rivals’ penalties to start seventh
▶ Took sixth after start, fell to 10th through first pit stop and wasn’t happy about it
▶ Was the first driver to switch to slicks for the final stint, but it was too early and he lost places
▲ Passed Albon for eighth after switching to slicks
▶ Reached Q3 but set best time in Q2, 0.028s faster
6/10: Last pit stop felt like an overreaction to missing out on Stroll’s strategy earlier
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Franco Colapinto
Qualified: 20th (10 places behind team mate, +0.732s)
Grid: 20th (12 places behind team mate)
Finished: Not classified
▼ Tricky Alpine handling got the better of him in Q1, where he spun out
▶ Opted for pit lane start so Alpine could make power unit changes
▶ Intended to start on slicks but technical fault meant he never got going
4/10: Driver and team both under-performed
Pierre Gasly
Qualified: 10th (10 places ahead of team mate, -0.732s)
Grid: 8th (12 places ahead of team mate)
Start: +3 places
Strategy: Two-stop (I-I-M)
Finished: 6th
▲ Superb Q2 lap got his Alpine into Q3
▲ Passed Alonso at start to run fifth
▶ Well-timed pit stops kept him in the hunt
▶ Ran fifth after the final restart
▲ Passed Stroll for sixth place on the final lap
▶ Reached Q3 but set best time in Q2, 0.074s faster
9/10: Dogged in his pursuit of Stroll for two more points
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Esteban Ocon
Qualified: 15th (7 places behind team mate, +0.416s)
Grid: 14th (4 places ahead of team mate)
Start: +1 place
Strategy: Two-stop (I-I-M)
Finished: 13th (2 places behind team mate)
▶ Had to take evasive action not to impede Verstappen in Q2, leading to his elimination
▶ Couldn’t have done more to prevent first-lap collision with Lawson as Tsunoda was on his inside
▼ Gambling not to pit for intermediates when rain returned did not pay off
▶ Collided with team mate after switching to slicks
6/10: Regularly in the thick of incidents through little to no fault of his own
Oliver Bearman
Qualified: 8th (7 places ahead of team mate, -0.416s)
Grid: 18th (4 places behind team mate)
Start: Held position
Strategy: Two-stop (H-I-M)
Finished: 11th (2 places ahead of team mate)
▼ Earned unprecedented penalty for failing to slow sufficiently for red flags and crashing in practice
▲ Capitalised on Haas upgrade with superb lap which would have delivered his best starting position yet
▶ Lined up 18th on the grid after penalty
▶ Another of the drivers who gambled on pitting for slicks before the start, which left him last
▶ Knocked into a spin by Tsunoda at second Safety Car restart
▶ Risked a pass on his team mate after switching to slicks and tangled with him
4/10: Good pace marred more by serious error in practice than tangle with team mate
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Isack Hadjar
Qualified: 13th (3 places ahead of team mate, -0.263s)
Grid: 12th (3 places ahead of team mate)
Start: -4 places
Strategy: One-stop (M-I)
Finished: Not classified
▶ Racing Bulls looked like Q3 candidates but Hadjar narrowly failed to make the cut
▶ Joined other drivers pitting for slicks at the end of the formation lap
▶ Persisted with slicks until the rain returned, then switched back to intermediates
▼ Ended his race when he crashed into Antonelli at the first Safety Car restart
5/10: Led the Racing Bulls in qualifying, crash was somewhat understandable given the conditions
Liam Lawson
Qualified: 16th (3 places behind team mate, +0.263s)
Grid: 15th (3 places behind team mate)
Finished: Not classified
▼ Disappointing Q1 elimination after team’s practice form
▶ Taken out in collision with Ocon and Tsunoda on first lap
5/10: Blameless for his retirement
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Alexander Albon
Qualified: 14th (3 places behind team mate, +0.143s)
Grid: 13th (4 places behind team mate)
Start: +4 places
Strategy: Two-stop (I-I-M)
Finished: 8th (4 places ahead of team mate)
▶ Questioned team’s qualifying tactics after being sent out for a run when a red flag was imminent
▶ Ran behind his team mate which compromised his strategy
▶ Like Sainz, was never likely to keep Verstappen and Hamilton behind
▶ Benefited from Leclerc’s collision with Sainz at Stowe
▲ Passed Alonso for eighth place on final lap
7/10: Shaded by Sainz but had better luck and kept it clean for valuable points
Carlos Sainz Jnr
Qualified: 11th (3 places ahead of team mate, -0.143s)
Grid: 9th (4 places ahead of team mate)
Start: +2 places
Strategy: Two-stop (I-I-M)
Finished: 12th (4 places behind team mate)
▲ Out-qualified Albon but failed to reach Q3 by three hundredths of a second
▶ Ran seventh but dropped out of points along with team mate when rain returned
▶ Resisted Verstappen for many laps until track started to dry out; Hamilton came by too
▶ Forced off at Stowe by Leclerc while running ninth with eight laps to go
7/10: Miserable luck continued in tangle with Leclerc at Stowe which TV director overlooked
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Nico Hulkenberg
Qualified: 19th (2 places behind team mate, +0.128s)
Grid: 19th (3 places behind team mate)
Start: +8 places
Strategy: Two-stop (I-I-M)
Finished: 3rd
▶ Missed first practice so Paul Aron could drive his car
▼ Said the car wasn’t quick enough in the high-speed corners after dropping out in Q1
▲ Passed Stroll at the start
▲ Perfectly-timed first pit stop moved him up five places to fifth
▲ Passed Stroll again, for third place
▶ Stayed out of reach of Hamilton for dream podium finish
9/10: Exceptional drive for fully deserved first podium. Only qualifying took the shine off his weekend
Gabriel Bortoleto
Qualified: 17th (2 places ahead of team mate, -0.128s)
Grid: 16th (3 places ahead of team mate)
Start: -1 place
Finished: Not classified
▼ Spun at the end of final practice, damaging his suspension
▶ Beat Hulkenberg in Q1 but neither Sauber driver went any further
▼ Took slicks for the start but crashed out early on
4/10: Took a big risk with his starting tyre choice which didn’t pay off
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Over to you
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