F1 news: 7 storylines that have us excited for the F1 British Grand Prix

Lando Norris’ emphatic week in Austria jolted the Formula 1 Drivers’ Championship race.

Now the grid head to historic Silverstone for this weekend’s British Grand Prix, and Norris is one of four drivers set to race at home.

How those four drivers fare is one of many storylines we are excited about for this weekend.

Let’s dive in.

Landostand

This week’s British Grand Prix is the home race for four drivers.

Each one has a unique storyline to watch as the grid heads to Silverstone.

First up, Lando Norris. The McLaren driver is coming off one of the more dominant performances of the season, a thunderous lap at the end of Q3 to take pole position for the Austrian Grand Prix followed by a win in the race itself. That victory not only served as a tremendous rebound for Norris following his ignominious end to the Canadian Grand Prix, but it vaulted him right back into striking distance of Oscar Piastri atop the Drivers’ Championship standings.

Now Norris heads to his home race with a mathematical chance at retaking the lead in the Drivers’ Championship race with a win at Silverstone, in front of a grandstand that will bear his name this weekend: Landostand.

How Norris handles this environment could tell the story not just of the British Grand Prix, but perhaps the entire 2025 season when all is said and done.

Oliver Bearman’s first home F1 race

One of the rookies on the F1 grid gets a chance at a home race this weekend, as Haas driver Oliver Bearman heads to Silverstone for the first time on the main stage. Bearman is coming off a bittersweet Austrian Grand Prix, as he out-qualified teammate Esteban Ocon on Saturday but finished one spot behind him — and one spot outside the points — on Sunday.

Bearman got off to a strong start this season with points in three of the first four races of the year, but the British driver has not finished inside the top ten since the Bahrain Grand Prix back in April.

However, he finished P11 in both Canada and Austria, his two best results since that stretch to start the year.

Can he get back into the points at home?

George Russell’s contract situation looms over the paddock

Then there is George Russell.

Russell’s 2025 season — as well as his 2026 contract status — are two of the more fascinating subplots to the current campaign. Russell’s strong start to the year (he is one of just four drivers with a Grand Prix victory and he currently sits fourth in the Drivers’ Championship standings, just nine points behind Max Verstappen) has kept Mercedes in the fight for second in the Constructors’ standings and made him one of the hotter drivers on the grid.

But he remains without a contract for next season, as he is in the final year of his deal with Mercedes. As his contract status lingers into July, and rumors of Toto Wolff’s dreams of luring Verstappen to the Silver Arrows continue to flutter through the paddock (and even from Russell himself) the stories almost write themselves.

Russell has indicated that, while he would like to put pen to paper on a new deal, he is not concerned about any timelines. For his part, Wolff has made it clear that Russell should remain in the Mercedes family, that the two sides have agreed on “timings,” and that the parties are “within that framework.”

If this writer were to guess, this is the week a deal gets announced. Mercedes has done something like this before. After all, the team confirmed that Kimi Antonelli would be joining the grid on a full-time basis at his own home race, the Italian Grand Prix, last year.

Announcing a new deal for Russell at Silverstone does make some sense.

But if the week goes by without a new deal?

Well, expect even more stories.

Lewis Hamilton’s first British Grand Prix in Ferrari red

Photo by Bryn Lennon – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images

That brings us the fourth driver with a home race this weekend.

Lewis Hamilton’s win at the 2024 British Grand Prix was arguably the most emotional moment of the entire campaign. Racing in front of the British fans for the last time with Mercedes, Hamilton roared down “the straight which bears his name” and sent Silverstone “supersonic” with his victory last season.

(As I have mentioned before, this is a good time to take a break and revisit Alex Jacques’ tremendous call of Hamilton’s win last season, which uses both those phrases quoted above. Here is just one of the many video clips with his commentary).

Now Hamilton is back, this time in Ferrari red.

Just imagine what Jacques would say if he delivered his first Ferrari win at Silverstone.

Has Ferrari turned a corner?

Moving away from the drivers racing at home this week, let’s talk about Hamilton’s new team.

Ferrari has been a flash point this season, as you might expect given the arrival of Hamilton and their second-place finish in the Constructors’ Championship a season ago. And the fact that they are, you know, Ferrari.

This year has not gone to plan, at least not yet. Both Charles Leclerc and Hamilton are without a Grand Prix victory this season, and Hamilton has yet to make a Grand Prix podium. It seems every race weekend there is a clip — or more — of tense radio messages between Hamilton and his race engineer, or Leclerc with his.

That has led to speculation over the tenure of Team Principal Frederic Vasseur, who was absent on Sunday from the Austrian Grand Prix when he left to travel home for personal reasons.

And yet, they are coming off arguably their best Grand Prix of the season, where Leclerc finished third and Hamilton fourth. Only the Monaco Grand Prix delivered more points for Ferrari, when Leclerc finished second.

The team brought a new floor to Red Bull Ring, and Hamilton praised the operation as “world-class” after the race.

“Mega progress for us as a team, so we have to say a huge thank you again to the guys at the factory for bringing the upgrade this weekend,” Hamilton said to Sky Sports F1.

“It didn’t seem much on paper. It was really a small step, but perhaps it had a bigger influence on our performance.

“For us to be the second fastest team this weekend, we’re not a minute down from McLaren, which is positive. To bag some really strong points, I’m definitely happy with it.”

Leclerc also noted the “right direction” for Ferrari after his P3.

“We are working in the right direction. I think we’ve brought some upgrades this weekend which helped us to close the gap a little bit,” Leclerc declared to Sky Sports F1.

“The gap is still significant unfortunately and we’ve got to push in order to bring as many upgrades as possible as soon as possible in order to close that gap.

“But it’s been a positive weekend overall, I think. I’m happy that we’ve maximised our potential, now we’ve got to have a better potential.”

Can they close that gap even more at Silverstone?

How do Max Verstappen and Red Bull respond?

Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images

Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner called their home race “horrible,” and with good reason. Max Verstappen was knocked out of the race on the opening lap, as Kimi Antonelli locked his rear tires and slid into the Red Bull, ending the day for both drivers.

As for Yuki Tsunoda he qualified at the back of the grid, but was in the mix for a top-ten finish when a collision with Franco Colapinto drew the attention of race stewards, and required a front wing change. That extended pit stop ended any chance of points for Red Bull.

The “horrible” weekend in Austria not only dropped Red Bull further behind their three rivals at the sharp end of the grid, but it also saw Verstappen drop to 61 points behind Oscar Piastri in the Drivers’ Championship standings, and 46 points behind Norris.

Can they bounce back at the British Grand Prix?

Of course, it is worth remembering that while Verstappen saw two points drop off his FIA Super License this past weekend (the two points he picked up at last year’s Austrian Grand Prix for his incident with Norris) Verstappen is still sitting on nine penalty points, three points shy of a one-race suspension.

His next penalty points do not expire until October.

Which team bounces back: Alpine or Williams?

As long as we’re talking about bouncebacks, let’s talk about two teams that were likely happy to leave Austria behind: Alpine and Williams.

Over at Williams, the team saw both Carlos Sainz Jr. and Alex Albon fail to finish the race. Albon’s day ended after a pit stop on Lap 15, his third DNF in a row.

Sainz’s never started, as he struggled to get out of his grid box for the formation lap, leading to an aborted start. As he came down pit lane both of his rear brakes caught fire, and his day was over before the race began.

Over at Alpine, a positive Saturday gave way to a difficult Sunday. Franco Colapinto — now driving on a “race-by-race” basis — advanced to Q2 and started 14th, while Pierre Gasly made it into Q3 and started tenth.

Gasly began the race on a set of soft tires and picked up a few spots, but when those tires gave out he slid out of the top ten. He managed to fight back into the top ten, but a slow second stop dropped him back down the grid and he finished 13th.

As for Colapinto, he was locked in a tight battle with Yuki Tsunoda for most of the afternoon as both fought to get into the points. At one point the two came together, leading to a penalty for Tsunoda. But Colapinto picked up a five-second penalty of his own when, during a fight with Tsunoda, he forced Oscar Piastri off the track as the Australian driver tried to get within DRS range of Lando Norris at the front.

Those struggles at Alpine and Williams left Flavio Briatore and James Vowles looking for answers.

“Ultimately, we have lost ground to our direct rivals in the Championship after another race without scoring points and, frankly, this level of performance is increasingly concerning,” said Briatore. “While yesterday the car was quick and should have been well inside Q3 with two cars, Sundays are a very different story for us and it is important we understand why this is, especially if we want to turn this season around from this difficult position.”

“A very disappointing day. We had the pace today to comfortably finish sixth, and yet we walk away with a double DNF. We had two different issues that need to be understood to make sure we rectify them going forward,” said Vowles. “We’re on a good journey towards building a fast car but we’re not complete yet in terms of operation and reliability. We [have] 13 races in front of us this season and they’re key races to build this muscle and this capability to make sure that, as we move up the grid and we get faster and faster, we’re able to fight at the front with the very best.”

Can one — or both — teams bounce back in Silverstone?