Silverstone brings two UK drivers back to the podium after more than 30 years. But Verstappen is always first

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Max Verstappen brings Red Bull back to victory at Silverstone for the first time since 2012 (with Max Webber) and takes home his personal success number 43. Needless to say, the Dutchman set the fastest time in the race and proves it again one step further than the others. But the undisputed driver of the day according to online viewers is Lando Norris. A small ‘resurrection’ and some ‘new faces’ are therefore the good news of this weekend which, despite Verstappen’s dominance being unstoppable, has at least confirmed a certain liveliness for all subsequent positions, starting from second.

In fact, there is no longer a trace of the Red Bull doubles: Perez has failed to enter Q3 five times in a row for various reasons, from driver errors to incorrect evaluations by the team. And it goes badly on Sunday too, while Verstappen won again at Silverstone. For the sixth time in a row: from May 7 onwards, in all the GPs, always Max. And again a Red Bull in front, as expected in all the other races of 2023.

Therefore, after ten races concluded, the season and the prospects, seen from the top, are very flat. The outcome, with 411 points for the leading manufacturer and already double the second, Mercedes, already seems obvious even if we haven’t even reached the middle of the year. Among the drivers, 99 points separate Max from Sergio and 118 from the first non-RedBull pursuer, Fernando Alonso, who however, for some time now, hasn’t been able to be as incisive as he was at the beginning of the season. Hamilton and the two Ferraris still have points less than half of Red Bull: almost unbelievable. And Charles Leclerc slips to seventh place at the hands of George Russell.

A different podium with Lando Norris

On closer inspection, however, the English Sunday was liked and not a little. Silverstone is an old-fashioned track: it’s not designed with modern criteria. And the fans are up to the Italian ones. In short, in the land where this sport was born, something beautiful almost always happens. And so, after Verstappen, Lando Norris finished on the podium in second place, deserved from the start, and then Lewis Hamilton. Who got between the two McLarens who surprised everyone today. Even if the best time went to Verstappen, in fact, the two orange single-seaters were the real protagonists already from Saturday. Also, after Max, there are two riders from the United Kingdom, the likes of which have not happened since 1992: Lando and Lewis. Even if by a hair’s breadth – and one safety car less – the Australian Piastri could have been there, who finished less than a second behind the number 44 Mercedes.