Norris takes rain-soaked British GP for 1st home win

SILVERSTONE, England (AP) — Lando Norris survived an incident-packed race in the rain to win Formula 1’s British Grand Prix on Sunday and cut the gap to his teammate and title rival Oscar Piastri.

Norris won his home race for the first time after Piastri had to serve a 10-second penalty for sharp braking behind the safety car while in the lead.

“This is a dream, winning at home. It’s beautiful,” Norris told the team over the radio. “Thanks for the memory. I’ll remember this more than anything.”

He climbed out of the car and celebrated with both arms raised to take in the moment, before hugs with his team and his mother. On the podium, Norris closed his eyes with a smile as the British anthem played.

Piastri was unhappy with his penalty, signaling he believed it was a legal move. “I’m not going to say too much to make myself in trouble,” he added.

Piastri had been leading the pack before a restart from safety car conditions and slowed to back up the cars behind, but did it sharply enough that Max Verstappen behind had to swerve to avoid him.

Once it became clear Piastri would have to serve the penalty at his next pit stop, Norris made sure the Australian couldn’t build a lead to cancel it out. Norris just needed to stay with his teammate and hovered two seconds behind, waiting to inherit the lead.

Piastri now leads Norris by eight points overall, cut from 15.

In a race with plenty of crashes and spins, Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg was third from 19th on the grid for his first podium finish in his 239th race of an F1 career that began in 2010. His team hadn’t finished in the top three since 2012.

Verstappen started on pole but ended up fifth after spinning from second behind Piastri at a safety-car restart, briefly dropping to 10th.

Smart strategy could win big, like it did for Hulkenberg, or risk everything. George Russell asked the team for slick tires on a slippery track and span off through the gravel a lap later, finishing 10th.

It was a rough day for the rookies as Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar crashed into the wall after hitting the back of Kimi Antonelli, saying he couldn’t see the Mercedes driver in the rain.

Antonelli later retired and fellow rookies Gabriel Bortoleto, Liam Lawson and Franco Colapinto all failed to finish too. Oliver Bearman made it to the end for Haas in 11th but crashed into teammate Esteban Ocon along the way.

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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing