An opportunity of a British lifetime opened itself up to Lando Norris in the most unexpected manner in a rain-punctuated race at Silverstone, handed him by his hitherto dominant team-mate Oscar Piastri.
It was a chance the faultless Norris claimed, winning his home race for the first time in front of a 168,000-strong crowd that had portrayed their affections for him in McLaren’s papaya that was the dominant colour in the stands, at least underneath the ponchos.
It was the Bristolian’s fourth victory of the season, completing his first-ever consecutive wins, burying a hoodoo, and hiked himself to within just eight points of Piastri at the world championship summit.
It was also the culmination of a dream sown when little Lando was a kid knee high to a grasshopper, watching the likes of Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button dazzle on the old airfield.
His mother Cisca embraced him the moment he stepped out of the car, now aged 25. ‘Let me see your eyes,’ she implored of her boy hidden behind his visor. ‘Enjoy, enjoy,’ she said.
‘Beautiful,’ said Norris, his voice thin as he crossed the line, putting triumph in the Midlands ahead even of his delight in Monaco in May. Two landmarks have been ticked in the space of a few weeks.
Lando Norris won his home British grand Prix to close the gap at the top of the standings
Just eight points separates the two McLaren drivers after another action-packed race
There were jubilant scenes as Norris celebrated with his team following his victory
His unexpected break delivered itself as the safety car prepared to turn in on lap 22. Piastri led, a brilliant leader in fact until now, his speed significantly superior to Norris’s.
But the Australian jammed on the anchors on the Hangar Straight, going into Stowe. He plunged from some 135mph to a bus-lane crawl to 32mph, trying to destabilise the pack behind him.
You’d have put on your hazard lights on the road, but here even quicker reactions were called for.
Max Verstappen, then immediately behind Piastri, steered out of the Australian’s path. ‘Woah, mate,’ exclaimed the Dutchman. ‘F***. He suddenly slowed down.’
An investigation was launched. The stewards did not sit in judgment long. They imposed a 10-second penalty on Piastri. At this point, his lead over Norris (who had jumped into third after Verstappen spun as the race restarted, en route to finishing fifth and complaining of an undriveable car) stood at 3.6sec.
All – all! – Norris had to do was to keep it clean and wait for the penalty to play out.
The race would be his, making him only the 13th driver from these shores to win the British Grand Prix, and lift the gold Grand Prix Trophy, transported from its home in the Royal Automobile Club in Pall Mall for the ceremonies.
Names dating back to Sir Stirling Moss, including Jim Clark and Sir Jackie Stewart, Nigel Mansell and Damon Hill, and up to Hamilton, adorn it.
Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg finished on the podium for the first time in his long career
The 37-year-old veteran driver claimed a podium spot for the first time in 239 attempts
It had not looked likely to be Norris’s day. He started third, behind Piastri with Verstappen on pole. Defending champion Verstappen’s lap on Saturday had been supreme, but the last element he wanted as he tried to convert that primacy into victory was rain, and it was soon apparent that Piastri’s McLaren was faster.
Piastri dult passed Verstappen, who ran wide at Stowe, seven of 52 laps into the action on a damp road on which rain intermittently fell.
Stowe, of ironies, is where the ‘Lando Grandstand’ housed 10,000 of his faithful followers. Still, a cheer went up for Piastri, Verstappen being the pantomime villain right on that spot.
The he action was stop-start, and two virtual safety cars and two actual ones came out in the first half of the race. The biggest shunt saw Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar catch the back of Mercedes’ unsighted Kimi Antonelli in the spray. Hadjik careered off into the gravel at Copse, though thankfully the pebbles took the worst of the sting out of it. He retired, as did Antonelli later.
That prang brought out the fateful safety car for which Norris could be so grateful.
Norris grasped this twist of fortune, needing to stay within 10 seconds of Piastri to land glory. Indeed, he narrowed the gap. There was 1.3sec in it with 10 laps remaining.
On the pit wall McLaren chief executive Zak Brown told Sky the team would consider appealing the Piastri sanction – what, and deny his other driver victory at home in front of fervid fans? No chance.
Late on, Piastri asked if he and Lando could be switched over if it was thought his punishment unfair. Try that one, chaps. You may not have got out of Northamptonshire with your lives. They didn’t move them around, clearly. Late into the night, perhaps forever, Piastri, who rarely makes mistakes, insisted he had done nothing wrong and Verstappen had faked his evasive steer.
Piastri (right) was handed a 10-second penalty for slowing down behind the safety car
Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton showed flashes of brilliance on his way to a fourth place finish
Elsewhere, Lewis Hamilton had a day of nearly doing it, but not quite on his first drive at Silverstone in Ferrari red. He has won at the British Grand Prix a record nine times and executed some sweet moves in that tradition, for example passing Mercedes’ George Russell and Haas’ Esteban Ocon in one pass.
He was contending for what would have been his first podium in a red car, but ran wide after his final stop and that left him with too much to do to catch Sauber’s Niko Hulkenberg for third place, the 37-year-old German securing his first podium in 239 attempts from 19th on the grid.
Of the other Brits, Russell never quite found his feet in the wet conditions and moved too early to slick towards the end, and slipped off. He finished 10th.
The final homegrown talent, Ollie Bearman, survived a race that culled the rest of the rookies, to finish a highly creditable if not entirely uneventful 11th for Haas, including a collision with his team-mate Ocon.
