Formula 1
MAX KEEPS WINNING! MCLAREN TAKES A HUGE LEAP FORWARD BLOWING TOTO’S MIND, ASTON MARTIN HAVE LOST THEIR JE NE SAIS QUOI? AND LCH HANGS ON TO FINISH ON THE PODIUM!
Max Verstappen held on at the British Grand Prix to claim his eighth victory of the 2023 FIA Formula One World Championship season and sixth in a row with Oracle Red Bull Racing teammate Sergio Pérez slicing through the field to bank a respectable sixth spot after starting 15th.
Lando Norris and his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri ran near the front all afternoon.Credit…Andrej Isakovic/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images.
Verstappen made a slow start and was overtaken by Silverstone home hero Lando Norris, however the Dutchman managed to take the lead soon after with a DRS move on the Briton and then held on to triumph with Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton completing the podium.
Mexican Pérez made the best of a poor qualifying session on Saturday by powering through the field on Sunday’s race day to end up in sixth place with the Scuderia AlphaTauri duo of Yuki Tsunoda and Nyck de Vries finishing in 16th and 17th respectively.
With the added fastest lap point, Verstappen now stretches his 2023 drivers’ lead to 99 points over Pérez with Oracle Red Bull Racing extending their constructors’ title lead over Mercedes to 208 points heading into the Hungarian Grand Prix at the Hungaroring on July 23.
NORTHAMPTON, ENGLAND – JULY 09: Race winner Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing celebrates in parc ferme during the F1 Grand Prix of Great Britain at Silverstone Circuit on July 09, 2023 in Northampton, England. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images) // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool.
MAX VERSTAPPEN
“I’m very happy that we’ve won here again, 11 wins in a row for the Team is pretty incredible, the whole Team can be proud of that. It definitely wasn’t straightforward today though, we had a bad start which made it more exciting for the fans, but we definitely need to look into that improve on it.
Lando and Oscar were super quick at the start so it took a few laps to pass them and to start to pull a gap. The competitors behind us were pushing hard and closing the gap so we need to try and find a little bit more. Overall though, a very nice Team win and hopefully we can carry the form to Budapest!”
LEWIS HAMILTON
The Safety Car came at a beneficial moment for us but ultimately, that was the plan starting on the Medium tyre. We wanted to go long, and we did; it came at the right time, and we made some gains. For us to get on the podium is huge. It’s been an up-and-down season and we’ve still got a lot of work to do with our car.
We’ve got strengths with it, particularly our long run. George had a great stint on the Soft tyre and mine on the Medium was really good too. As soon as we can improve the rear end we will be on our way. We just need to hold on to the good bits and add a few others.
Finally, the support from the fans has been incredible and it gets better each and every year. I don’t know how that is possible as it’s the pinnacle! The energy that everyone brings is phenomenal. Once again, Silverstone put on an amazing show.
Silverstone Circuit, GP 2023 10a, F1, GP, Great Britain Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin F1 Team, on the drivers’ parade. Photo: Aston Martin.
Fernando Alonso
“We maximised the race today and took seventh place in a difficult weekend for the team. I think we managed our strategy well and made the right calls during the race. We need to analyse the weekend as a whole, but we aren’t worried about this result. “We’ve been performing better than expected so far in 2023 and it’s a long season. Only two races ago we were fighting for the win and there will be more ups and downs during this season. It was great to be racing here at Silverstone and seeing the level of support there is for Aston Martin. Let’s see if we can return to a better level of performance in Hungary.”