British Grand Prix LIVE: Max Verstappen retakes lead after losing out to Lando Norris off the line
Follow Mail Sport’s live blog for the British Grand Prix, as Lando Norris looks to challenge Max Verstappen for victory from the front row.
Host commentator
Verstappen sets the fastest lap and he now leads by over five seconds.
Hamilton is looking to take fifth from Sainz and he’s just within DRS range. He’s back a bit now, actually.
A bit of a quiet period for now.
Charles Leclerc comes in first and puts on the hards in a 2.4s stop.
He comes out in 12th and Russell goes through but he won’t be out much longer.
The gap between Verstappen and Norris – who has had two lap times deleted – is now 3.4s.
Russell is still going on his softs. He’s all over Leclerc but can’t get the job done.
Sergio Perez is on his way to repairing some of the damage done yesterday as he moves into the points.
Mercedes say rain is going to miss the track. George Russell says he has specks on his visor.
So a bit of classification for you as we enter lap 14.
1 VER
2 NOR
3 PIA
4 LEC
5 RUS
6 SAI
7 HAM
8 ALO
9 GAS
10 ALB
Sergio Perez has just taken Lance Stroll for 11th.
Esteban Ocon is out the race and we have our first retirement.
George Russell should be pitting soon with the Merecedes driver opting for softs to start the race, which last around 10 laps.
Rain is on the way, say Red Bull…
Another huge cheers from the crowd as Hamilton takes Alonso down Wellington to move up to seventh.
Hulkenberg has lost a bit of his front wing and he pits to change it.
Verstappen takes Norris back thanks to DRS and the fun may be over for that. But a great start nonetheless.
Everyone is still bunched up and Leclerc and Russell are going at it and almost collide going into Stowe! Russell is complaining on the radio. Leclerc may be in trouble there.
Just half a second now between the two and it’s a matter of time but a top few laps from Norris.
All 20 cars get away, however. Piastri isn’t far away from Verstappen, by the way.
My word! It may be temporarily but what a moment.
Verstappen holds off Piastri and DRS is held back for now. Norris is over a second clear, however.
Hamilton went off at the start but only dropped to ninth. He’s now eighth and all over Alonso.
The British Grand Prix is underway!
AND LANDO NORRIS LEADS!!!
What a start this is from the Brit! He’s done Verstappen from the start!!!
Insane cheers from the stands. Piastri is all over Verstappen too!
The formation lap is underway at Silverstone and we’re minutes away.
Can Norris challenge Verstappen from the off? Can the Mercedes gain ground? Will the Ferraris get invovled?
So many questions. Here we go.
The three Brits – Lewis Hamilton, Lando Norris and George Russell stand next to each other as Damian Lewis sings the national anthem before the red arrows fly overhead.
10 minutes to go until the race.
Some words from Max Verstappen to Martin Brundle pre race: ‘Let’s see what the weather will do. We want a clean lap one and if we do that I can do my own race. We are quick.
‘Lando is going to try but we have the quicker car.’
Martin Brundle’s grid walk is so funny.
He’s just had an awkward chat with Liam Payne and then makes a sarcastic dig at Cara Delevingne, who refuses to talk.
Now he’s asking Pep Guardiola if he can bring 1000 people onto the pitch before the next Manchester derby like they do in F1. Absolutely fantastic.
McLaren CEO Zak Brown has just said that Max Verstappen is in a league of his own but that Lando Norris is going to try and go for it at the start.
Their aim a podium, it seems. Bu tyou never jniw,
A reminder of how they line up for today’s race:
1 VER
2 NOR
3 PIA
4 LEC
5 SAI
6 RUS
7 HAM
8 ALB
9 ALO
10 GAS
11 HUL
12 STR
13 OCO
14 SAR
15 PER
16 TSU
17 ZHO
18 DEV
19 MAG
20 BOT
I’m not entirely sure why but Sky are showing a feature of George Russell and Ted Kravitz taking a trip in some fighter planes. Britain and that.
Anyway, McLaren seem to be the latest team to join the party at the front of the grid after a few upgrades. We’ll see how the race plays out, but qualifying second and third on the grid is a good start.
Lewis Hamilton, who starts seventh today, has said it’s ‘a wake up call’ for the multi-time constructors champions.
Read more below.
Nathan Salt is one of our reporters at the track this weekend and he’s been jotting down some notes from his experiences.
From Brian Cox joking that he wants to buy Oldham to talk of Dnaiel Ricciardo taking back the Red Bull seat from Sergio Perez, it’s been a busy one.
But we’re just getting started. Check out his piece below.
Here’s a little more on what Norris said about Verstappen after qualifying yesterday.
The Brit looked gutted as Verstappen took pole from him. But the two have been friends for a long time and could enjoy many more battles going forwards.
Max Verstappen is on pole once again at Silverstone for what is about the 83736378th time this year.
He put in a flying lap to take front spot from Norris, who for a while was dreaming of a home pole position following McLaren’s improvements.
The Brit made a jokey dig at his rival afterwards, but one thing for sure if he won’t hold back from the start as he looks to gain advantage.
It promises to be so, so good when we get underway at 3pm.
Gooooood afternoon one and all and welcome to Mail Sport’s live coverage of the British Grand Prix!
We’ve got an exciting grid for today with home favourite Lando Norris starting second, so strap in and get ready for the big one.
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