Christian Horner: "The first British GP win for the Team since 2012, Max's second win at Silverstone and our 11th win in a row makes this a very special victory; but not without its challenges.
"We had expected it to be a medium hard race but with the performance of George on the softs, we started to consider our strategy. Then with the safety car in the final quarter, we felt that the soft tyre would give Max the best opportunity to break the DRS effect and he very quickly put 2 seconds between himself and the pack. From there it was a case of managing the rest of the race and once again, Max more than rose to the occasion.
"Equally, Checo found fine form today. Some of his moves in the race exemplify exactly how skilful he is as a driver, particularly on Carlos into Stowe and his pace in the last stint meant he was right there. Its frustrating for him that he has had to fight back after qualifying in recent races but he is finding his form and will find it further in Budapest."
Silverstone was expected to be a severe test of the SF-23's abilities and the British Grand Prix delivered proof of that, given that a ninth place finish for Charles Leclerc, with Carlos Sainz tenth, did not match the car's potential as demonstrated on track.
Right from the opening laps, it was clear the SF-23 struggled to deliver a strong race pace, with Charles and Carlos, separated by George Russell in the Mercedes, unable to stay in touch with Max Verstappen, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri at the front. The team called Charles in slightly earlier than planned, precisely to defend from Russell, but the Monegasque's lack of pace on the Hard tyres meant he was unable to stay ahead. Carlos extended his first stint to lap 26 and the two Ferraris looked to be set to finish in around fifth and seventh places. Further complicating plans was the Safety Car triggered by Kevin Magnussen on lap 33, which allowed those yet to pit to do so in half the time. Leclerc also came in at this point for a second stop taking on his second set of new Mediums. At this point, Carlos was seventh and Charles tenth. Leclerc was aggressive at the restart, making the most of his fresh rubber, while Carlos did his utmost to fend off Sergio Perez, who was on new Softs. On lap 43, Sainz had to give best and as a result of being overtaken, he didn't have a good line through the last corner, so that he was also passed by Alex Albon and Leclerc. In the closing laps, the British-Thai Williams driver managed to get in Fernando Alonso's slipstream, therefore able to use DRS and capable of keeping Charles at bay. There were no more changes in the DRS train and so Leclerc finished ninth ahead of his team-mate.
Another back-to-back before the holidays. The World Championship resumes in a fortnight with the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday 23 July, followed one week later by the Belgian GP, prior to the summer break.
Frederic Vasseur, Team Principal: Our plan was to do a one-stop race, running Medium then Hard. We pitted both drivers before the Safety Car, which definitely put us in a bad situation. However, we cannot just blame this episode to explain our finishing positions.
The start of the issue with us was on Friday when Charles wasn't able to run in FP2 and so we only had a long run on the Soft from which we had concerns about degradation. That's why we decided to go with Medium-Hard, which proved to be too conservative a choice as the degradation was lower than expected. That is an important lesson for us.
We could have done a much better job here in Silverstone with the package that we have now. Next race will be Hungary, on a very different kind of track with hotter temperatures and being able to adapt the car package to the various tracks coming up will be a crucial element. We are continuing to develop the car and will have new parts soon but it's so tight between P2 and P10 that the smallest mishap makes a big difference.
Lewis Hamilton finished third and George Russell fifth in the British Grand Prix. Lining up P6 and P7 respectively, the Team opted to split strategies with George starting on the Soft tyre and Lewis the Medium compound.
On the opening lap, George gained one place off the line whilst Lewis dropped a couple of positions but fought back to P8 at the end of the first tour.
Lewis moved up to P7, passing Alonso on lap seven with tyre life better than expected and enabling both drivers to push on past the halfway point of the race without stopping.
On lap 28, George boxed for the Medium tyre whilst a Safety Car period on lap 33 enabled Lewis to stop for the Soft tyre and maintain positions he had gained; he re-joined in P3 with George in P5.
With a tyre offset to the McLarens of Norris and Piastri ahead of them at the restart, it looked like the Team may be able to improve on those positions. However, despite some valiant efforts, Lewis was unable to get ahead of Norris and George couldn't put pressure on Piastri.
Toto Wolff, Team Principal & CEO: We've performed well today compared to in Qualifying. We've gained some points on our closest competitors in the Constructors' Championship, so we can say it's a solid day. P3 and P5 is OK, but no more than solid. I see the positives from this weekend though. Whilst podiums are good, it's more important to see that the car has potential, and our eyes are on closing the gap to the very front.
We wanted to have an offset between the two cars today and the Soft tyre provided a good getaway from the line. It also looked quite resilient on Friday, and it proved even more so today. We were surprised to see how long it went. After the restart, Lewis' tyres went off and the McLarens were able to hold us behind. Their resurgence is good to see. If you make the right decisions, you can clearly make a large step. It is good for the sport that if you do the right things then you can move forward. Today, they had a better car, and you could see particularly in the closing stages on the Hard tyre just how strong they were.
Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director: It was great to get a car on the podium today. We needed the Safety Car to make that, but we were in the right position with one car to take advantage of it. Overall, it's been a solid day for the team and drivers. We've managed to out-score both Ferrari and Aston Martin, which is good for the Constructors' Championship. McLaren have shown that they are podium contenders; they were the second quickest team this weekend, which is impressive when you consider where they were earlier in the season.
We've got a good platform to build on. We know the areas that we need to improve, but the field is so tight. Where we are racing, a couple of tenths can be the difference between a podium and the back end of the points. We know we need to continuing improving and everyone in Brackley and Brixworth is working hard to do just that.
BWT Alpine F1 Team endured a weekend of frustration at the British Grand Prix with both Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon unfortunately retiring from the 52-lap race at Silverstone.
Esteban retired on lap nine after suffering a hydraulic leak on his A523, while Pierre was forced to pit with broken suspension after Lance Stroll's careless move into Turn 16 six laps from the end of the race while fighting for the points.
The team looks forward to returning to Enstone and Viry before turning attention to the Hungary-Belgium double header.
Otmar Szafnauer, Team Principal: "It's always a bitter feeling when you leave a Grand Prix without scoring points; especially our home race for Enstone at Silverstone. Esteban retired with a hydraulic leak - a frustrating issue which we must resolve. It meant Esteban was not able to show his hand in the race, which is made even more disappointing given how the race played out. Pierre was extremely unfortunate. He made a great start from tenth and was well in the fight for a good result. The Safety Car was ill-timed for him, seconds after his pit-stop, which meant a handful of cars were able to benefit from a free-stop to jump Pierre. He made another good getaway at the Safety Car restart to climb his way towards the points but was twice unfortunate with Stroll's double infringement; the second of which led to Stroll hitting Pierre causing suspension damage and bringing an early end to our race. It's certainly not been our weekend but we must remain confident in our ability to bounce back in Budapest."
Andrea Stella, Team Principal: "This is a great team result at the British Grand Prix. It comes at the end of a very strong weekend for the MCL60, in which we've been able to compete at the top on both single-lap pace during qualifying, and now across race stints also. We've struggled in the past with the latter but today it allowed us to capitalise on an excellent performance yesterday. It's a real shame for Oscar, he should have been on the podium but the timing of the Safety Car meant that we lost a position and he finished fourth - but that takes nothing away from the strong weekend he's had and the incredible race he drove. I'm delighted for Lando. He got to enjoy a beautiful moment in front of his home crowd after an excellent performance.
"My final thoughts are for everyone who made this happen. The men and women at McLaren have worked very hard to turn the situation around this year and get us into this position, and our fans have supported us even when we've been struggling. This result is for all of them. I hope we can have more days like this in the future."
Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake executed a recovery race at the British Grand Prix, as both drivers climbed up the field, gaining ten positions overall and eventually finishing 12th and 15th, respectively. Starting from the back of the grid, Valtteri Bottas charged through the field in a flawless performance that saw him gaining eight positions on track, eventually ending just a couple of positions away from the top ten. Teammate, Zhou Guanyu, endured an unluckier Sunday, having his race compromised by a tear-off stuck in his brake duct which forced him to carry out an additional pit stop.
Coming home from a double header between Austria and Great Britain, the team will now head back to Hinwil, where the focus will be on regrouping and working on extracting that extra performance from the upgrades brought to Silverstone, in order to get back in the battle for points in the final two races before the summer break.
Alessandro Alunni Bravi, Team Representative: "Today, we must pay tribute to our team and drivers for the job done, in a race that wasn't set to be easy for us: overall, we have recovered ten positions, eight with Valtteri and two with Zhou, as proof that if we carry out a perfect race, we can get into the fight for points. Yesterday was not our day, and of course, starting from the back is never easy, but today we showed an improvement in the race pace compared to previous events, which gives us confidence for the next two races before the summer break. There, our target will be to further optimise our new package, in order to be competitive from Friday onwards and recover positions in the Constructors' Championship. Valtteri did a solid race today, executing a flawless performance: starting from the back of the grid on hard tyres, which also required some management in the first laps. Zhou's race has been more unfortunate: we had to pit him an extra time to remove a tear-off from his brake duct, which made him lose a position and eventually kept him from further progressing through the field. We come back from Silverstone aware that a step has been made in terms of performance through the upgrades we have brought, although the final positions haven't reflected it. What we have learned from this weekend is that each and everyone of us needs to execute every race to the very best and that there is no room for mistakes. Moving forward, this will be our focus, in order to consistently remain in the fight for points."
Mike Krack, Team Principal: "To come away from our home race at Silverstone with six points is a reasonable return from a weekend where we were lacking the pace to compete at the front. Fernando's race was pretty straightforward, and we optimised the timing of his switch to the Soft tyres under the Safety Car.
"Today was a case of damage limitation and Fernando had to defend hard in the closing stages to secure seventh place. Lance raced hard today. He was pushing hard to get into the top 10 in the final stages, but the contact with Pierre [Gasly] ultimately dropped him down the final order.
"Today's result has consolidated our third place in the Championship and we increased our advantage over Ferrari. We will work hard as a team to return to a more competitive weekend in Budapest in a couple of weeks."
MoneyGram Haas F1 Team driver Nico Hulkenberg finished 13th at the British Grand Prix while teammate Kevin Magnussen was forced into retirement as Round 11 of the 2023 FIA Formula 1 World Championship played out on Sunday at the Silverstone Circuit.
Hulkenberg took the start from 11th on the grid on Pirelli P Zero White hard tires and remained among the midfield contingent during the early stages, before picking up front wing damage. Hulkenberg came in for a new front wing, and to change onto Yellow medium tires, re-emerging at the rear of the train. The German came in for another pit stop on lap 34, under the virtual safety car, to take on a set of the soft rubber. Hulkenberg used the fresh tires to move into 13th position, which he preserved through to the checkered flag.
Magnussen started from 19th place on medium tires and ran a lengthy first stint aboard the VF-23, holding position in a tightly-contested midfield fight. Unfortunately Magnussen's race came to a premature end on lap 32 when his car suffered a terminal power unit failure along the Wellington Straight.
MoneyGram Haas F1 Team sits in eighth position in the Constructors' Championship on 11 points.
At the head of the pack Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen secured his sixth successive win, and eighth of the 2023 season, ahead of the British duo of McLaren's Lando Norris and Mercedes AMG's Lewis Hamilton.
Guenther Steiner, Team Principal: "It's been a very disappointing weekend. We just didn't have the pace and we've now had our third engine failure in three races as well - that doesn't help us. We have to regroup and see how we move forward from here because we need to get out of this hole. Everybody will be working on it obviously, but today was simply not a good day."
Jody Egginton (Technical Director): "It was a very difficult race today, with neither car having enough pace to move forwards beyond fighting with the Haas and Alfa Romeo cars. The race strategy was ok, with our cars split across the hard and medium compound for the second stint, then - like the majority of runners - moving to the soft under the Safety Car period. However, at no point were we able to take advantage. The aero update we have introduced here appears to be broadly in line with expectations, but it has not been enough to move us forward in Silverstone. The further planned aero update for Hungary will be an important step to start addressing this, to get back on track towards achieving our objectives."
Dave Robson, Head of Vehicle Performance: The car worked well today and both drivers were excellent. Alex showed great skill in attack and defence whilst also managing his tyres very well. Logan too showed good race craft and was able to build on his race in Austria to deliver another impressive performance. It is frustrating for him to finish 11th, but his first Formula 1 Championship point is getting ever closer.
The start of the race was tricky with the showers passing to the west of the circuit leading to a few drops of rain and a gusty wind. Driving was difficult during this period and tyre degradation appeared high. However, once the weather calmed down, we were able to show good pace and measure the true tyre degradation. The Pirelli's held up very well such that a 1-stop race using Soft and Medium tyres was possible. The safety car further improved the competitiveness of this strategy and helped the drivers who chose to avoid the Hard tyre for their final stint. This allowed Alex to complete a brilliant pass on [Carlos] Sainz to take an excellent 8th place. Some characteristic defensive driving on the final lap ensured that he held the place against an attacking [Charles] Leclerc.
The team has worked very hard to deliver an effective upgrade package to the car. The first parts of that package arrived in Canada and the new front wing debuted this weekend on Alex's car. The points that we have scored over recent events is testament to that effort and expertise.
Another win for Max Verstappen, the reigning world champion now clearly the dominant force, along with his Red Bull Racing car, in 2023. This was Max's second win at the Silverstone circuit, following on from the Formula 1 70th Anniversary Grand Prix held here in 2020. He was never really troubled, even if he was surprised at the speed of Lando Norris' start in the McLaren from the spot alongside him on the grid. Once back in front, the Dutchman had a trouble-free time of it, even after the restart on lap 39, as the race had been neutralised while Kevin Magnussen's Haas was removed from the side of the track. Much to the delight of most of the 480,000 strong crowd – a record for this track, Verstappen was joined on the podium by two British drivers, the aforementioned Norris and Lewis Hamilton, the Mercedes driver having been the main beneficiary of the appearance of the Safety Car.
Red Bull's win puts the team equal with McLaren for the most consecutive race wins (11.) The last time a driver for the Austro-British team did not win a race dates back to George Russell's victory in the Brazilian Grand Prix last year.
One-stop was the most common strategy, but the Soft proved far more popular than our earlier predictions. The only cars not to run the C3 were the two Ferraris and two McLarens.
The most used compound during the Grand Prix was the C2, which ran 485 laps, 50% of the total completed. The C3 was second (337 laps, 34.74%), followed by the C1 (148, 15.26%).
Russell's 28 laps was the longest stint on the Soft, while for the Medium, Verstappen, Hamilton, Norris and Alonso did 33 and Bottas ran 32 on the Hard.
The fastest laps for each compound were all set on tyres that had done ten or more laps. For the C1, the best time (1.30.543) was set by Norris on lap 43 with a set of tyres that was 10 laps old. Russell was quickest with the C2 (1.31.124) on lap 13 of his second stint, while the fastest race lap fell to Verstappen in 1.30.275 on C3 on lap 11 of his second stint. It should also be noted that after pit stops for Russell and Verstappen, the race was neutralised for five laps.
Mario Isola: "First of all, well done to the amazing crowd at Silverstone: 480,000 is an impressive record, a sign of the incredible popularity Formula 1 is experiencing right now.
"From a tyre point of view, this weekend delivered interesting answers. The introduction of the new construction went according to plan and initial analysis of the data is in line with our expectations. The feeling that all three compounds could be used in the race was confirmed this afternoon. Certainly, the considerably cooler temperatures when compared to Friday allowed for the Soft to be pushed harder for longer. But apart from that, the fact that all three compounds were valid choices meant the teams could choose the tyre combination that best suited their cars. Finally, a word about degradation, which was lower than expected for all three compounds, even though this track is one of the toughest on tyres. It meant the teams were able to extend their stints without any significant drop off in performance."
