F1 British Grand Prix – live | Formula One

38/52 Verstappen is going to struggle to catch Hamilton and Norris ahead of them. Still, there may be pitting to come, with slick tyres the order of the day.

37/52 A view in the Norris cockpit and he’s told that Hamilton is closing on him. “The sun is coming out,” says Sir Lewis. It is now bright sunshine.

36/52 Kevin Magnussen, in 11th, almost comes to grief but just manages to stay on the course. It’s treacherous out there, and will be even when the rain ends in six minutes.

35/52 The word from Martin Brundle is some form of systems issue. Mercedes say that the Russell car was losing water pressure. He was going to overheat with a lack of water. The irony.

George Russell retires!

33/52 Piastri, having been nixed by that pit-stop situation, is 19 seconds off the lead and chasing Sainz. He’s had to sacrifice himself for the Norris chance of winning.

32/52 The debate over tyres continues. Hamilton tells his team there’s not much rain about. His tyres are falling apart, he says. He always likes a whinge about tyres.

31/52 More Verstappen struggles, a fairly mournful discussion with his team. The word is that the 40th lap is when the rain stops.

30/52 So, the race is on. Will there be further pits to follow? Catch Norris is the plan for Hamilton, chasing that ninth British GP. Verstappen – again – looks a little slower than his fellow competitors.

29/52 Piastri leads, and Norris is catching up. Hamilton is third, Verstappen fourth ahead of Russell. Piastri lumbers into the pits but that was a disaster, and he will drop to sixth. All now are on the intermediates.

Norris, Hamilton and Russell all pit

27/52 Verstappen and Sainz have pitted to change tyres. The top four will have do the same very soon.

26/52 Piastri tells his team it’s too early for intermediates. Sainz finds the track is wetter than before as his Ferrari struggles to get round a bend. Up front, Norris and Piastri draw closer to each other, and will do battle with each other.

25/52 Norris, Piastri, Hamilton, Russell, Verstappen, Sainz – those are the six with a chance in the race. Leclerc in the Ferrari is on the intermediates, and his tyres are not stopping him sliding all over the show.

24/52 DRS is re-enabled. Not that it’s stopped anyone overtaking on this classic old track. There’s a 30 minute batch of road rain coming, according to race radio.

23/52 Norris and Piastri have stolen in, taken advantage. The McLaren looks in full nick, flying along. More rain to follow, it seems.

22/52 Sainz is chasing Verstappen hard for fifth. The top six can be seen down the straight. This is pure racing.

21/52 McLaren-Mercedes-McLaren-Mercedes – that’s the order. Well, until Piastri blazes past Hamilton. Make that McLaren-McLaren-Mercedes-Mercedes. Hamilton is asked if he wants to change tyres.

Norris takes the lead!

Norris overtakes Russell!

Piastri overtakes Verstappen, Hamilton overtakes Russell

17/52 It’s Norris with the fastest lap now. The McLaren is flying. Red Bull are having the problems.

16/52 Britain 1-2-3. Send her victorious. And here’s the rain to celebrate as all the rainjackets go on. Ponchos are all the rage.

Norris overtakes Verstappen!

14/52 Leclerc passes Stroll and takes seventh and will give chase to Sainz. The Ferrari driver has been pedal to the metal all race.

13/52 With that downpour imminent, plans are being laid. And drizzle is on the way. Zhou is the first to pit, changing tyres from soft to medium.

12/52 So, it remains Russell, Hamilton, Verstappen, Norris, Piastri, Sanz as the top six.

11/52 Plot twist – the McLarens are after the Red Bull points in the constructors’ championship. Verstappen is told to keep it simple on pits by his team.

10/52 Norris is giving chase to Verstappen, and is closer than the Dutchman is to the front two Brits. He’s been complaining about his tyres, the world champion.

9/52 The weather – cold and damp – is favouring the Mercs. Russell and Hamilton are holding Verstappen at bay. Rain is expected in five laps.

8/52 Silverstone, the old lady, lends itself to plenty of passing. Gasly’s absence is the result of gearbox issues. One knows the feeling.

7/52 Russell still has that fastest lap and is having an armchair ride at the moment.

6/52 Verstappen’s Red Bull doesn’t have the pace advantage he had previously. Leclerc attempts to go past Stroll at Stowe – the bit of the course that’s in Buckinghamshire.

5/52 Repeated replays of that early incident as Russell is 1.4 seconds ahead. The rain is expected to increase around lap 16.

4/52 Norris is told that a shower is coming and may appear at the sixth lap. That could affect Mercedes’s pit stop plans. Seems Albon was the victim of Hulkenberg coming cross-track with Alonso in the mix.

3/52 Leclerc up to eighth, has made up three places. Russell sets a fastest lap.

2/52 So, Russell and Hamilton clear. Norris is giving chase to Verstappen round Copse Corner. Russell is 6/10 ahead, with Verstappen out of DRS range. Hulkenberg has been reported to stewards for doing off-piste, while Gasly didn’t start at all.

Away we go

The race will soon be upon us, 52 laps in the jewel of Northamptonshire. The formation lap begins, under gloomy grey skies, the noise of the engines filling the sky as the cars zig zag. Sergio Perez exits from the pit lane, and there’s no Pierre Gasly, just 18 start.

Can Lewis Hamilton make it nine British GPs? Nobody has ever won nine of any Grand Prix.

And here comes the national anthem, our three plucky Brits at the fore and the Red Arrows doing a fly-by. Best of British and no mistake, with the erstwhile Brian May’s We Will Rock You pumping out.

Martin Brundle on the grid walk, and it’s dry, the rain has stopped. Chris Hoy is first up, and looking well, so is Mo Farah, who is “doing amazing”. Mary Earps on Euro 2024: “Let’s win the thing.” Jackie Stewart there, of course. Brian May is there but camera shy, even though he wrote the petrolhead anthem “Driven By You”. Brundo has two attempts and is turned down as the poodle-headed axeman claims not to know anything. Max Verstappen is similarly reticent.

Stormzy also appeared last night at the track. One of his heroes is Martin Brundle, apparently.

And that glory Saturday, when Britain took the first three spots on the grid.

So yeah, in the summertime when the weather is fine and….oh.

There’s blue sky with a smattering of clouds and, yes, rain coming down.

Preamble