By Sukhmani Bratch
The Silverstone Grand Prix is a popular race, especially for many British fans and drivers with it being their home race. However, like any Grand Prix it comes with its fair share of highs and lows.
The race highlights:
Max Verstappen gained his 6th consecutive race win and Redbull’s 11th consecutive win, which puts them level with McLaren.
Speaking of McLaren – Oscar Piastri came P4, which is his highest position of the 2023 season as well as the highest position of any of the 2023 rookies (Oscar Piastri, Logan Sargeant, Nyck de Vries). This result just shows how he’s continuing to prove himself as driver. This was also a fantastic weekend for his team-mate Lando Norris, who finished 2nd on the podium.
Norris wasn’t the only Brit on the podium as Lewis Hamilton came 3rd, giving him his 14th podium at the Silverstone Grand Prix. This now means he’s the only driver to get that many podiums at any one track in the sports history. Another historical event that was being celebrated was the fact that there were 2 British drivers on the podium, which hasn’t happened since 1999.
However, it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows this weekend. Alphatauri driver, Nyck de Vries, has been replaced by Daniel Ricciardo, who is an eight time race winner and Redbull reserve driver. Redbull advisor Helmut Marko stated de Vries was sacked for being “constantly three-tenths slower” than his team-mate Yuki Tsunoda. Many argue this is unfair due to de Vries being a rookie. However, Marko believes de Vries should be held to a higher standard due to him having experience in test driving and his performance in Monza 2022.
Aside from this, many fans are excited to see Ricciardo back on the grid as the last few years have been rocky for the driver due to him jumping ship from Redbull to Renault to McLaren and now to Alpine. There is also the possibility Ricciardo may end up back at Redbull. Especially, considering his test drive lap was quicker than Max Verstappen’s qualifying lap at the Silverstone track.
It was also a disappointing weekend for Alpine as Ocon had to retire in Lap 11 and then Gasly DNF’d in Lap 46. Haas driver Kevin Magnussen also had a scare when his car caught fire due to engine problems causing a safety car, yet on the flip side the safety car was useful for Norris and Verstappen to pit at that point to save time.
Overall, I’d say this has definitely been one of the more interesting races of the season but the summer usually is as tensions are high because driver seats hang in the balance and as we’ve seen with Nyck de Vries, in can be quite cut-throat.
