Lando Norris hails first British Grand Prix win as ‘everything I dreamed of’
By Scott Hunt, PA F1 Reporter, Silverstone
Lando Norris said that his first British Grand Prix victory was “everything I dreamed of” after cashing in on title rival Oscar Piastri’s 10-second penalty to win at Silverstone.
The McLaren pair survived a chaotic rain-hit race to claim another one-two but Piastri was denied victory after being punished for braking heavily just prior to the second safety-car restart.
Max Verstappen behind was forced to take evasive action and move in front of the race leader and the stewards adjudged that Piastri had excessively slammed on the brakes.
Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg, 37, drove superbly in the damp conditions and capitalised on the chaos around him to jump up from 19th on the grid and claim a first career podium on his 239th start in F1, to spark jubilant celebrations from his team.
Norris cut Piastri’s lead in the championship standings to eight points after securing back-to-back Formula One wins for the first time.
“Whoo. Whoo. We did it! At home. Oh my God we did it. It’s beautiful,” an emotional Norris said on the radio.
“This is a dream winning at home. Thanks for the memory. I will remember this more than anything.”
Norris added in his on-track interview: “This is a dream winning at home. Thanks for the memory. I will remember this more than anything.
“Everything I dreamed of I guess. Apart from a championship this is as good as it gets in terms of achievement and being proud.
“Your mind just goes pretty blank. The main thing is always “don’t f**k” it up. I was just trying to enjoy the moment.”
Piastri took the lead from pole-sitter Verstappen on lap eight as the race began in slippery conditions.
Verstappen was running second before his incident with Piastri at the restart but spun on the resumption and dropped down to 10th as the Australian again surged clear before being informed of his penalty.
Norris was six seconds clear of Piastri with seven laps to go after the championship leader had served his sanction.
McLaren CEO Zak Brown said on Sky Sports that McLaren were considering an appeal, with Piastri audaciously asking the team over the radio to swap positions with Norris if they believed his penalty was unfair.
That request was denied and Piastri came home 6.8 seconds behind his team-mate.
“I am not going to say much, I will get myself in trouble,” Piastri said.
“Apparently you can’t brake behind the safety car anymore. I did it for five laps before that.”