Lando Norris and McLaren took a one-two on home soil, Nico Hulkenberg ended a record podium wait and two penalties reshaped the order.
Lando Norris of McLaren took the 2025 British Grand Prix on 6 July 2025 at the Silverstone Circuit. Teammate Oscar Piastri finished second and Nico Hulkenberg took third for Sauber. The race was the twelfth round of the season and began on a damp surface that changed through the afternoon.
McLaren secured a one-two at Silverstone on 6 July 2025, with Lando Norris ahead of Oscar Piastri. It was the team's first one-two at the circuit since 2000. Changeable conditions, two virtual safety car periods, two full safety car periods and a ten-second penalty for Piastri shaped the finish.
Silverstone staged its 60th Formula One Grand Prix over the weekend of 4-6 July. The circuit had previously hosted 58 editions of the British Grand Prix, plus the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix in 2020, so this meeting was the 76th running of the British race as a round of the world championship.
Going into the weekend, Piastri led the drivers' table with 216 points, 15 ahead of Norris and 61 clear of Verstappen in third. McLaren held the constructors' lead on 417 points, with Ferrari on 210 and Mercedes on 209.
Who won the 2025 British Grand Prix?
Lando Norris won for McLaren, finishing ahead of Piastri, while Hulkenberg came home third for the Sauber team. The win was Norris's first British Grand Prix victory and made him the 13th British driver to win the race at home. Norris reduced Piastri's lead in the drivers' standings to eight points.
The decisive moment came on lap 44. Piastri switched to slicks while serving his ten-second penalty, and Norris pitted the following lap and rejoined ahead of him with more than five seconds in hand. Piastri told his team over the radio that the penalty was 'not fair' and suggested that Norris should let him back into the lead. Norris kept the gap to the chequered flag.
A damp start, two safety car periods and a penalty for Piastri rewrote the McLaren order at Silverstone.
Entries, practice and qualifying
Yuki Tsunoda filled a Red Bull seat that Liam Lawson had held until Lawson was moved to Racing Bulls, effective from the Japanese Grand Prix. Franco Colapinto had taken over Jack Doohan's Alpine seat on a race-by-race basis, and it was confirmed before the Austrian Grand Prix that he would keep it.
Two teams had to name drivers who had not raced in more than two Grands Prix for first practice, a requirement set out in the regulations. Arvid Lindblad stood in for Tsunoda at Red Bull and Paul Aron replaced Hulkenberg at Sauber. Both made their Formula One practice debuts.
Pirelli brought its C2 hard, C3 medium and C4 soft compounds to the event. Kimi Antonelli carried a three-place grid penalty from his collision with Verstappen at the Austrian Grand Prix. Oliver Bearman was docked ten places on the grid for not returning safely to the pits during a red flag in third practice.
The first practice session, held on 4 July, was topped by Hamilton of Ferrari, ahead of Norris and Piastri. Norris was fastest in the second session, held the same day at 16:00 local time, ahead of Leclerc and Hamilton. On 5 July, Leclerc led the third session, which started five minutes late at 11:35, from Piastri and Verstappen.
That third session was red-flagged twice. The first stoppage was for carbon fibre on the track. The second came after Gabriel Bortoleto spun his Sauber and was left stranded with front-left suspension damage. During that stoppage Bearman spun while entering the pit lane, hit the barriers and lost his front wing.
Qualifying took place on 5 July at 15:00 local time, and Verstappen secured pole for Red Bull. In the first part of qualifying, Colapinto spun into the gravel at Club corner and hit the barriers. His car was too badly damaged to continue, so it was left at the side of the track and a red flag followed. Colapinto qualified 20th but had to start from the pit lane, having exceeded his quota of power unit elements and replaced them under parc ferme conditions.
How did the race start on a damp track?
Every car left the grid on intermediate tyres, but several drivers pitted for slicks at the end of the formation lap. Russell and Leclerc were the highest placed of those drivers, and fourteen of the twenty scheduled starters lined up. Colapinto was due to start from the pit lane but did not race because of a gearbox problem.
Verstappen kept the lead at the start, with Piastri challenging around the outside at Abbey. Further back, Ocon, who had qualified 14th but started 11th after pit stops on the formation lap, tried to pass Lawson on the inside at The Loop. The pair ran side by side through Aintree. Tsunoda also tried to go down the inside, which left Ocon no room, and Ocon made contact with Lawson. Lawson's race ended there, and a virtual safety car was deployed.
Antonelli had been eighth at the end of the first lap, and he pitted for slicks under that virtual safety car. The slow pace under the VSC let him rejoin ahead of the cars that had pitted on the formation lap, leaving him 13th overall when the VSC ended on lap 4.
At the restart, Bortoleto, running 17th, lost control on slicks and spun at Farm, hitting the barriers. His rear wing was severely damaged and he stopped at the side of the track, which brought out another virtual safety car. Stroll, then 11th, pitted for slicks under that period and rejoined ahead of cars that had stopped on the formation lap.
Racing resumed on lap 7, and Verstappen struggled with low downforce and overheating intermediate tyres. Piastri pressed him for several corners and took the lead at Stowe on lap 8. Rain grew heavier by lap 11, when drivers on slicks came in for intermediates. Norris had caught Verstappen and took second when the Dutchman ran wide at Chapel. The whole top seven then pitted for fresh intermediates at the end of that lap. Verstappen regained the place because his Red Bull crew performed a faster stop, while McLaren had just serviced Piastri's car immediately before Norris.
Why did the safety car come out so often?
Two virtual safety car periods came early, after the Ocon and Lawson contact and after Bortoleto's spin at Farm. A full safety car followed on lap 14 because spray made visibility poor. A second full safety car came after Hadjar misjudged his speed at Copse and crashed heavily, with Antonelli caught up in the incident.
When the full safety car was called on lap 14, the top ten were Piastri, Verstappen, Norris, Stroll, Hulkenberg, Gasly, Ocon, Hamilton, Russell and Alonso. Stroll and Hulkenberg had gained places by stopping early in anticipation of the rain. When the safety car came in at the end of lap 17, Russell briefly passed Hamilton for eighth at Abbey, only for Hamilton to pass him around the outside at Village while both were overtaking Ocon.
Hadjar, running 16th, misjudged his speed entering Copse and drove into the back of Antonelli. He hit the barrier heavily, and the safety car was deployed again. Ocon pitted for new intermediates during that period and rejoined 16th and last. Antonelli also pitted, but he retired soon afterwards with damage from the collision.
Penalties and the fight in the midfield
The restart after the second safety car produced the race's main penalty. Piastri braked so hard that Verstappen briefly passed him, and Piastri was given a ten-second time penalty for erratic braking. Verstappen then lost the rear of his car at Stowe, half-spun and dropped to tenth, behind Norris, Stroll, Hulkenberg, Gasly, Hamilton, Russell, Alonso and Sainz of Williams.
Further round the lap, Tsunoda made contact with Bearman at Brooklands while they disputed 13th place. Bearman spun down to 15th, and Tsunoda took a ten-second time penalty for the collision.
Hamilton ran wide at Copse on lap 24 and gave up sixth to Russell, but he took it back at Stowe on lap 26. On lap 29 he passed Gasly for fifth at the Vale chicane, and Hulkenberg took third from Stroll at Stowe on lap 34. Hamilton followed Stroll past at Village on the next lap, as the track began to dry.
Alonso was the first driver to switch to slicks, on lap 37, and Russell followed on lap 38. Both struggled on a track that stayed wet for much of the lap, and Russell spun at Becketts. Verstappen passed Gasly for sixth at Village on lap 41. By then the circuit suited slicks, and Hamilton, Stroll, Verstappen and Gasly all changed tyres at the end of that lap.
Haas team-mates Bearman and Ocon made contact at Brooklands on lap 43 while disputing 11th place, and both spun and lost positions. Piastri pitted for slicks on lap 44 and served his penalty during the stop, which gave Norris the chance to rejoin ahead on the following lap.
Results at a glance
| Position | Driver | Team | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lando Norris | McLaren | First British Grand Prix win; 13th British driver to win at home |
| 2 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | Served a ten-second penalty during his tyre stop |
| 3 | Nico Hulkenberg | Sauber | First podium at his 239th start; Sauber's first since 2012 |
| 4 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | Ended a run of twelve consecutive podiums in his home country |
| 6 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | Passed Stroll at Stowe on the final lap |
| DNS | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | Gearbox issue; was due to start from the pit lane |
Hulkenberg's podium at his 239th start set a new record for the longest wait for a podium in Formula One. It also ended Sauber's long gap since Kamui Kobayashi's third place at the 2012 Japanese Grand Prix. Hamilton's fourth place ended a streak of twelve consecutive home podiums, and it was his first finish off the Silverstone rostrum since 2013.
Mercedes were absent from the Silverstone rostrum for the first time since 2012. Gasly's late pass on Stroll at Stowe gave him sixth place, his best finish of the season so far.
What did the result mean for the championship?
Norris's victory cut Piastri's lead to eight points at the top of the drivers' standings. Verstappen stayed third on 165 points, 69 behind Piastri. McLaren's constructors' lead over Ferrari grew to 238 points, and the top five in the constructors' order did not change.
Hulkenberg's podium was also Sauber's last before the team's acquisition by Audi, which applies from 2026 onwards. McLaren's first British Grand Prix win since Hamilton's 2008 victory came alongside its first Silverstone one-two since 2000, which made the weekend significant for the team as well as for the drivers.
What happened at Red Bull after the race?
Silverstone was Christian Horner's final race as team principal of Red Bull Racing. He was sacked three days later, and Laurent Mekies, who had been team principal of Racing Bulls, took over at Red Bull from the Belgian Grand Prix onward.
The race rewarded drivers who could read a track that kept changing. Norris held his gap once he was ahead, and Hulkenberg's long wait for a podium ended with a result at his 239th start. Those two outcomes will be remembered as the main stories of a race that was shaped as much by the weather and the safety cars as by any one car.
