Oscar Piastri’s DHL Fastest Lap shows what might have been achieved at Silverstone

The Formula 1 weekend at the Silverstone Circuit got underway on Friday with highs of 25 degrees Celsius and unbroken sunshine, but by race Sunday, the weather had reverted to British typecasting with cool temperature and rain showers. The changeable conditions posed a challenge not only for the drivers but also for the team strategists.

Half an hour before the start of the twelfth race of the season, a brief downpour gave the Home of British Motor Racing a thorough soaking. The entire field chose intermediates for the formation lap, at the end of which four drivers immediately turned into the pits to switch to slicks. They accepted having to start from the pit lane as the price of taking this gamble.

Unfortunately for them, the strategy did not pay off, as the next heavy rain shower followed just ten laps later. McLaren driver Oscar Piastri showed impressive pace in all conditions, overtaking pole-sitter Max Verstappen on lap 7 and then proceeding to control the race.

At the end of the second of two safety car deployments, Piastri braked heavily, forcing Verstappen to take evasive action. Race control deemed the Australian’s maneuver to have been dangerous and imposed a ten-second penalty. With Verstappen having spun on the wet track, the race at Silverstone then turned into an internal McLaren duel.

As a result of the ten-second penalty, Piastri dropped behind his team-mate Lando Norris and was unable to make up the gap. On lap 51, the Australian at least had the satisfaction of proving he was the quicker man on the track with a DHL Fastest Lap time of 1:29.337 minutes.

Piastri professed himself content with the outcome though he was clearly seething about having to settle for the runner-up spot: "The whole team did a really good job. The car was obviously mega, and giving myself credit, I feel like I did a good job today. It just makes it more painful when you don’t win."