F1 race results: British Grand Prix starting grid and race coverage

Follow along as Max Verstappen hopes to hold off Oscar Piastri, Lando Norris, and company at historic Silverstone

At various points in the buildup to qualifying at the Formula 1 British Grand Prix contenders for pole position emerged. Lewis Hamilton, whose emotional win in this race a year ago sent a shockwave through the paddock, was fastest on the timing sheets in the first practice session. The McLaren duo of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri remained strong as well.

But you can never count out Max Verstappen.

Verstappen’s rivals left the door open in the closing act of qualifying at Silverstone on Saturday, and the Red Bull driver stormed through that opening, putting together a thunderous final lap to snatch pole position, and put him right in the mix heading into today’s British Grand Prix.

But Silverstone is known to have a trick or two up its sleeve, and today might not be any different. Weather may play a factor, as rain is expected in the morning that could linger into the afternoon, and the start of the race.

Here is the provisional starting grid for the British Grand Prix:

Note: Kimi Antonelli qualified seventh but is serving a three-place grid penalty handed down at last week’s Austrian Grand Prix for causing a collision with Max Verstappen. Oliver Bearman qualified eighth, but is serving a ten-place grid penalty for a red flag incident in Saturday’s practice session.

Whatever happens today at Silverstone, SB Nation will have you covered every step of the way. Lights go out at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time, and we will have lap-by-lap coverage beginning well ahead of the Formation Lap. So check back early and often!

Race updates are listed either in Eastern Time or by Lap number.

British Grand Prix Notes

Lap 29: Piastri has extended his gap over Norris to around four seconds, but Norris is not in a hurry to close that interval, given the ten-second penalty that Piastri has to serve.

The gap from Norris to Stroll in P3 is around 15 seconds, so Piastri is still in range for P2 even with the ten-second penalty he still has to serve.

Lap 28: “I can’t even stay with them. I’m so slow,” reports Verstappen.

The low-downforce rear wing got him pole position, but the configuration is not ideal for these conditions, as we speculated in the moments leading up to lights out.

Lap 28: Hamilton is all over the rear wing of Gasly’s A525. This is a battle for P5.

Lap 27: Another ten-second penalty has been handed out, this to Yuki Tsunoda for causinga. collision with Oliver Bearman.

Lap 27: Hamilton absolutely sends it for a pass on Russell, and gets back into P6.

Lap 25: PIASTRI HAS BEEN GIVEN A TEN-SECOND PENALTY.

F1TV believes that the penalty is a bit “harsh,” but that opens the door for Norris behind him.

Lap 24: A big slide from Hamilton opens the door, and Russell storms through the opening, moving up to P6.

Lap 24: As we wait on a decision from race officials regarding the restart incident, Piastri and Norris have pulled away from the field. Piastri is three seconds ahead of Norris in P2, and Norris is almost eight seconds ahead of Stroll who is in P4.

Lap 23: Antonelli has been told to box to retire the car.

Lap 22: Verstappen is struggling again. He was passed momentarily by Albon to shuffle him down to P11, but is back up into P10.

In addition, Piastri has been noted for a potential Safety Car infringement. There was a brief moment where Piastri slowed, and Verstappen overtook him under the Safety Car.

Lap 22: VERSTAPPEN SPINS ON THE RESTART. He is lucky to avoid the wall, but has slid back to P10 and is at the back of hte points.

Lap 21: The Safety Car will come in on this lap. Piastri, Verstappen, Norris, Stroll, Hülkenberg, Gasly, Hamilton, Russell, Alonso, and Sainz are your current top ten.

Lap 21: Antonelli pits for a fresh set of intermediates, but replays slow some damage to the rear of his W16 due to the impact from Hadjar.

Lap 20: The Safety Car remains out at Silverstone. The collision between Hadjar and Antonelli has been noted for further investigation after the race.

Piastri reports that the puddle in Turn 2 is a “problem” for the Safety Car in front of him, and is even tougher in an F1 car.

Lap 18: Replays from Hadjar’s view show how he drove into the back of Antonelli, and how you could not see from the cockpit due to the spray coming off the cars in front of Hadjar.

Lap 18: The Safety Car is out at again as Isack Hadjar has found the barrier at Turn 9, which is a corner you take flat-out. He reports that he is ok.

Ocon bails off the track and comes down for a pitstop.

Lap 18: Ocon, who has yet to pit and is on 17-lap-old intermediates, is sliding back. Russell gets by him for P8 and Hamilton goes through as well, getting up to P7.

Lap 17: The Safety Car is ending at the end of this lap, and the chaos is about to resume in the wet conditions.

Lap 17: Safety Car conditions remain at Silverstone.

Lap 15: Your current top five at the British Grand Prix? Piastri, Verstappen, Norris, Stroll, and Hülkenberg.

Stroll started in P18, Hülkenberg in P19.

Lap 14: The Safety Car is out for the conditions, neutralizing the race. Piastri was out to a 15-second race lead, but that gap is wiped out as well.

Lap 13: McLaren tells Piastri the rain will pick up in intensity in around five minutes. Norris is all over Verstappen’s rear win, and the spray is everywhere.

Lap 13: “We expect at least ten minutes of rain,” is the report to Norris from McLaren.

Lap 12: McLaren tries the double stack but the stop for Norris is slow, as as they come back onto the track Norris is behind Verstappen once more.

Piastri remains in P1, followed by Alexander Albon who has yet to pit.

Lap 11: Heavy rain has arrived. Norris is all over Verstappen’s rear wing.

Verstappen goes off the racing line and Norris slides into P2. McLaren calls Piastri in as well.

Lap 10: It is also worth nothing that Piastri has opened up a four-second lead over Verstappen, and Norris is almost within a second of Verstappen in front of him. The Red Bull driver reports that he has “really bad inters,” as the low-downforce rear wing worked to cook his tires on that opening sting.

Stroll is up to P8 on his softs. But he dips into pit lane to get ahead of the rain.

Lap 9: It is worth noting that after starting in P18, Stroll’s decision to pit for softs has paid off for the moment, as he is up into P10.

Lap 8: Piastri gets by Verstappen and we have a new race leader.

“It’s raining. Brilliant,” reports Russell. After pitting early for slicks and coming back up to P13 the rain has begun again, much to Russell’s frustration. While he just posted the fastest lap of the race, he might have to pit again for intermediate tires.

Lap 8: DRS is enabled, and Verstappen is under a huge challenge from Piastri.

Lap 7: The green flag is back, but the clouds are dark. Piastri is all over Verstappen’s low-downforce rear wing as the two come back to the start/finish line to start Lap 8.

Lap 7: Lance Stroll pits for a set of softs, which might indicate he’ll push hard for a few laps and then switch to another set of intermediates when the rain arrives.

Williams Team Principal James Vowles confirms as much speaking with F1TV, noting that it might be dry for “three to four laps.”

Lap 6: Rain is now expected in ten minutes. Radar shows a potentially heavy line of showers coming from the northwest.

Lap 6: The Virtual Safety Car is out as Bortoleto climbs out of his C45.

Lap 5: The green flag remains out, but with Bortoleto dropping some debris from his rear wing, the team can probably expect a fine.

Now the yellow flag is out as Bortoleto has come to a stop.

Lap 4: The green flag is back. Ferrari tells Hamilton that rain is expected in ten laps.

Gabriel Bortoleto has slid off the racing line at Turn 2. He is in the barrier and has damage to his rear wing. While he is driving again this might bring out the full Safety Car.

Lap 3: Esteban Ocon reports to his team that the track is safe for slicks except for the “last two corners.”

Lap 3: Antonelli makes a stop under the Virtual Safety Car and makes the switch to hard tires. But he is sliding a bit as he comes out of pit lane.

Lap 2: The Virtual Safety Car is out as Lawson has come to a stop.

Pierre Gasly is the man on the move, who has taken advantage of both Russell and Leclerc coming off the grid to pit after the Formation Lap. Gasly is up to fifth as the field crawls around the circuit.

Lap 1: Piastri puts Verstappen under pressure at the start, but. the top four remain the same winding through the first few corners.

Lawson has gone off the racing line and the yellow flag is out.

Pre-race Notes

10:03: We have our first gamblers. George Russell and Charles Leclerc have given up fourth and sixth places, respectively, to make the switch to slicks.

Piastri reports that the “last sector is just too wet for slicks.”

Other drivers that have made the switch include Isack Hadjar.

10:02: Jolyon Palmer and David Coulthard speculate on F1TV that with how the track is drying out already, we might see some drivers dip into pit lane at the end of the Formation Lap to make the switch to slick tires now. They would be at the back of the field, but might gain a huge advantage in the early laps of the British Grand Prix.

10:01: All 20 drivers on the intermediate tires.

10:00: The Formation Lap is underway at Silverstone.

9:59: Aston Martin tells Fernando Alonso that a “potentially heavy rain cell” should arrive around Lap 15 to Lap 17. Buckle up.

9:48: “I think it will make life harder in the wet,” says Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner of Verstappen’s rear wing.

9:42: On his grid walk Palmer notes that “it’s actually drying quite quickly.” He also thinks drivers will start on the intermediate tires, but the switch to slicks will come quickly.

9:38: The sun is out at Silverstone for Jolyon Palmer’s pre-race grid walk. Still think we’ll see cars start on the intermediate tires, but we might see them change to the slicks sooner than expected.

9:29: With the conditions at Silverstone, even with the rain slowing, we are looking at a start on the intermediate tires.

9:26: Reconnaissance laps are underway and it is raining at Silverstone. There is a belief on the F1TV pre-race show that any straight-line speed advantage Max Verstappen has due to the setup of his RB21, and the low-downforce rear wing the team put on his car ahead of Saturday, will be negated with the wet conditions.

We will see.

9:25: The Final Starting Grid has been confirmed and is noted above. Franco Colapinto will start from pit lane after Alpine made changes to his A525 overnight.