Martin Brundle reviews the British Grand Prix as stars Max Verstappen, Lando Norris fights Lewis Hamilton and Brad Pitt movies

Sky Sports Formula 1’s Martin Brundle offers his expert verdict on the British Grand Prix weekend with a thrilling qualifying session, Brad Pitt and another win for Max Verstappen.

It was a great weekend for Silverstone and the British Grand Prix. Qualifying was such a thrilling circuit with an ever-changing and draining circuit that I felt like racing was 85 minutes of my heart.

From Thursday until the end of the race, the venue is packed with fans, the track is packed with F2, F3 and Porsche Supercup action, the track also has frequent shows and the upcoming Brad Pitt movie race as well as camera cars.

There was some concern in Formula 1 circles that the movie would be too intrusive during a busy Formula 1 weekend, but combined with their pit shop on the main F1 circuit, three F1 cars look like F1 cars at a support racer camp , which looked like a small village in the middle of the circuit and even the cars and crews on the formation lap starting grid, pulled together with ease.

This yet-to-be-titled movie and the upcoming Las Vegas race will be the next steps in Formula 1’s remarkable rise to fame and popularity. I’ve never seen anything like this in Formula 1.

Verstappen is the main character in Formula 1

The protagonist of the real Formula 1 land remains Max Verstappen, who won from pole position his sixth consecutive race for Red Bull and his eighth so far this season. In the other two races he finished second…

While his teammate Sergio Pérez has unfortunately been struggling to realize Red Bull’s full potential in recent races, we can say again: if Max wasn’t completely at one with himself, with this car and his team, we’d be in the middle. Hell’s World Cup.

The early stages of the season were all about Aston Martin leading, but either they were outpaced by other teams, or they went a bit in the wrong direction in their development, or at least they suffered a few setbacks in the last two races.

Mercedes keeps its low-level car – now called the Diva 2.0 – polished to a high shine and shows blistering racing speed from time to time. But in terms of handling, she seems to be on edge.

The Ferrari SF-23 also pleased the team, doing well in Austria and finishing fourth and fifth on the grid at Silverstone.

But after a promising Austrian race, the new McLaren took the podium, sprinting through the fearsome and challenging Silverstone corners in the hands of the impressive Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.

Add to that the ability of Williams and Alpine to seriously threaten to join the Let’s Get Max party and you get what I mean with an exciting championship fight.

There is no doubt that the Herd will stop Red Bull

With 160,000 spectators on race day, Silverstone was bustling with energy. With red arrows flying over our heads, I feel right at home at a track where I first stood on the bank of Copps Corner in 1965 and watched Jim Clark win. Silverstone is undoubtedly an integral part of Formula 1 and it may remain so for a long time to come.

He fought hard for Verstappen’s position at the front, just a quarter of a second ahead of the flying McLarens, and he had to work for it. I have no doubt that the group is closing in on Red Bull as they improve their cars and that Red Bull is cutting updates and costs for 2023 and is already looking forward to the 2024 car.

Alex Albon was another standout driver all weekend for Williams, who was driving really well in a much-improved car of late. I know all too well how brutal Formula 1 can be, or imagine any high-level sport, but when you make a driver feel comfortable and appreciated and not look over his shoulder all day, he will drive faster for longer.

Second on the grid at Silverstone might look like a bad spot at first glance, as it’s off the racing line, tight in the very fast first corner and meandering into the field behind you. But lately that has often meant taking the lead into the first corner and the crowd loved Lando Norris taking the lead as much as he did.

A flamboyant Verstappen was bound to swoop in his powerful response once the DRS rear wing assist was available from lap two, but while he had enough pace to dominate the race, it was an intriguing after his self-voiced safety car. About the struggle for support. His mirrors are getting more work now.

It’s not a pleasure writing this as I love and admire Sergio Pérez as both a person and a driver, but while Max has six straight wins, Sergio has 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 6th and 16th after finishing the last 5 races recovering from drama in qualifying.

Red Bull is not a car that can drive autonomously to victory, and the group must feel that.

It gives me great pleasure to see Norris vs. Hamilton

The safety car was deployed for Magnussen’s ailing Haas for just over 30 laps into the race, injuring those who had pitted recently, most notably Oscar Piastri, who put in an impressive performance for his McLaren. The 22-year-old, who grew up near Melbourne’s Albert Park, is a rookie in his tenth F1 race and continues to drive with great confidence. He has the demeanor of an old man on young shoulders and is a real find for McLaren.

His manager is Mark Webber who knows exactly what is going on in our business and I’m sure he can give straight forward advice to both the team and rider.

A first podium finish was denied to Piastri by Lewis Hamilton, who capitalized on his Safety Car race with an impressive drive to his 14th British podium finish. I visited it once in 1992 and I’m very proud of it, so I can’t even imagine how it feels.

The biggest story of the race was the restart after the safety car, with both McLarens running on new hard tyres while the soft ones around them had little wear. It seemed wrong, and Norris apparently believed him, based on his radio message.

But what followed could arguably be seen as passing the baton in the spirit of British Formula 1 drivers.

It would take longer for a hard tire to warm up than a two-step soft tire and both Norris and Hamilton were aware of this. Lewis had a few corners within a few laps despite not having an open DRS rear spoiler, securing second place. It was aggressive yet controlled, but Lando positioned his car perfectly to block Lewis without skidding or getting dirty.

It was a pleasure to watch and after getting through that stage he was able to stretch his legs out of the DRS range and finish nearly four seconds ahead of the Piastri-wearing Hamilton straight up.

McLaren had not completed a single top-five lap this season until last weekend in Austria; I call that a car upgrade.

For the first time in 24 years, two Britons took the stage. That was exactly what many spectators at Silverstone were hoping for as another British Grand Prix drew to a close.

Next up is Budapest, which is a completely different challenge for car and driver.

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