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McLaren’s British Grand Prix weekend at Silverstone became a damage-limitation exercise as gusty conditions exposed the MCL40’s lack of grip, balance and outright pace. Andrea Stella said the windy weather made the car harder to balance and underlined McLaren’s gap to the front-runners, while Lando Norris said the team was losing time on the straights and through both high-speed and low-speed corners because of a lack of downforce and too much drag.

Norris at least salvaged third place in the Sprint after starting sixth, briefly running second and battling George Russell before Kimi Antonelli and Lewis Hamilton moved ahead. He said the result owed more to a strong start than true pace, and pointed to a front brake duct problem in Sprint qualifying that hurt the car’s downforce and handling until McLaren repaired it before SQ3. Oscar Piastri was seventh in the Sprint, nearly eight seconds behind Norris, and said his pace in traffic was not strong enough.

The problems then carried into Grand Prix qualifying, where Norris lined up sixth and Piastri qualified eighth. Both drivers said McLaren still lacked the grip and speed needed to challenge the front-running teams, leaving the squad with more work to do ahead of Sunday’s race.

Lewis Hamilton faced a possible post-race loss of his British Grand Prix podium after FIA stewards opened an investigation into a possible yellow-flag infringement at Silverstone. Ferrari was asked to provide a representative for the review, which came shortly after the chequered flag in a race that ended under a chaotic Safety Car finish and a final-lap redeployment. Hamilton told Sky Sports F1 that he expected to be penalized because he had gone through a yellow flag without seeing it.

The investigation followed an earlier five-second penalty for a false start, after the FIA said Hamilton moved before the start signal from third on the grid. Stewards confirmed that sanction seven laps into the race, and Hamilton served it during his lap 24 pit stop, which took 8.8 seconds. Hamilton said his tires still had useful life when he was brought in, and Ferrari had to adjust its race plan after losing track position.

Hamilton finished third on the road behind George Russell, with Charles Leclerc winning the race, but the yellow-flag inquiry left his final result unresolved. It was Hamilton’s second penalty of the season and his first at his home race since 2021. Broadcast analysts called the five-second penalty severe, with David Coulthard arguing Hamilton had not left his grid box and Martin Brundle describing the ruling as brutal but consistent with the rules.

Max Verstappen qualified third for the British Grand Prix Sprint at Silverstone, three-tenths behind Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli, who locked out the front row. Verstappen said the result could just as easily have been sixth or seventh, adding that SQ3 may have flattered Red Bull’s pace. He said Ferrari and Mercedes looked stronger on Saturday and expected the sprint to be more about fighting the cars behind him than chasing the leaders.

Verstappen said Red Bull’s upgrade package introduced since the Austrian Grand Prix had made the RB22 better, but he was not fully satisfied. He pointed to lingering problems with cornering, energy deployment and overall balance, and said those issues still needed to be solved. Silverstone’s long flat-out sections were expected to make battery management important in the 17-lap sprint, and Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar qualified eighth after losing time on his final lap.

The sprint did not go to plan for Verstappen. He started third, then lost places at the opening to Lando Norris and George Russell and nearly dropped further when he tried an outside move on Russell at Turn 3. David Coulthard and Jolyon Palmer said they were surprised by the unusually weak racecraft from Verstappen, the record holder for the most Sprint wins in F1 history.

Lando Norris and McLaren’s British Grand Prix sprint qualifying session at Silverstone was derailed by brake duct damage and a wider performance deficit, leaving the team focused on damage limitation rather than outright pace. Norris said the car felt “pretty shocking” after the front brake duct was damaged in SQ1, a problem that hurt downforce, made the MCL40 difficult to handle and kept him no better than 10th in SQ1 and SQ2 before McLaren fitted a replacement part for SQ3. Once the damaged duct was swapped, Norris said the car felt much more normal and immediately improved, but even then he could only qualify sixth, with McLaren’s final result close to what the team had expected.

Pierre Gasly was handed a three-place grid penalty for the British Grand Prix after Formula 1 stewards found he impeded Lance Stroll during Q1 qualifying at Silverstone. The FIA said Gasly was on an in-lap at Turn 15, stayed on the racing line at slow speed and forced Stroll, who was on a flying lap, to take evasive action offline. The penalty dropped Gasly from 12th on the provisional grid to 15th for Sunday’s race, unless other penalties change the order.

Gasly and Alpine attended a hearing before the stewards made their decision. Alpine argued that Gasly could not be warned because of a communications problem involving Formula One Management equipment, and Gasly said his team radio was not working and he thought Kimi Antonelli was the car behind him. The stewards rejected that defense, saying the circumstances were unfortunate but did not remove Gasly’s responsibility to avoid blocking another car and that he still had enough information, including dashboard data, to do so.

The ruling updated the published starting order at Silverstone and moved Nico Hulkenberg, Oliver Bearman and Carlos Sainz up one place each. Kimi Antonelli is set to start from pole position. Gasly arrived at the British Grand Prix having scored points in six of the season’s first eight races, with a best result of third in Monaco, but the penalty altered his race-day outlook and the midfield grid order.

FIA stewards warned Liam Lawson after investigating his late defense against Isack Hadjar in the British Grand Prix Sprint at Silverstone, ruling that he moved under braking at Stowe but did not deserve a time penalty. The officials reviewed video, telemetry and in-car footage, then heard from both drivers and their team representatives before deciding a warning was enough. They said Lawson’s move was abrupt, but he left enough room for Hadjar and there was no contact.

Hadjar complained on team radio that Lawson had moved under braking and later called the maneuver very aggressive, although he told the stewards he did not think it warranted a penalty. Hadjar was recovering after a poor start, tried an inside pass in the closing stages and finished ninth, outside the points.

Lawson kept eighth place and the final sprint point, finishing 0.7 seconds ahead of Hadjar after starting ninth and overtaking Pierre Gasly. Nico Hulkenberg was separately summoned to the stewards after the sprint for allegedly leaving the track and gaining an advantage, and qualifying for the main race was scheduled to begin at 1600 local time.

Formula 1 teams arrived at Silverstone with a wave of targeted upgrades for a circuit expected to place unusual demands on the 2026 cars, especially on aerodynamic efficiency, cooling and rear stability. McLaren led the front-running development push with a new front brake duct and revised floor parts, while Red Bull brought updated rear wheel bodywork and revised cascade wings. Ferrari, Racing Bulls, Williams and Haas also introduced changes, with teams across the grid focusing on flow conditioning and thermal management for the British Grand Prix weekend.

Ferrari’s package drew the most attention after both SF-26 cars struggled with overheating in Austria the previous weekend. The team brought a consolidated rear-corner update that included larger inlets and outlets, plus a reshaped rear section designed to improve aerodynamic efficiency and manage heat. Ferrari also aimed to optimize winglet loading, a sign it was trying to balance performance gains with durability after thermal weakness was exposed at the Red Bull Ring. In Austria, Lewis Hamilton finished fifth after a three-race podium streak ended, and Charles Leclerc finished eighth despite using an updated Ferrari power unit.

Mercedes arrived at Silverstone as the championship leader but did not bring upgrades, and it had made only four car changes since its first major package at the Canadian Grand Prix. Aston Martin, Alpine, Audi and Cadillac also came without new parts, while Aston Martin said its larger update would wait for the Hungarian Grand Prix. The weekend also marked the return of the Sprint format, and Hamilton took Sprint pole at Silverstone ahead of Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Max Verstappen.