Lando Norris says it’s “amazing” to join an “incredible” list of home British Grand Prix winners and continue Lewis Hamilton’s “reign” of success at Silverstone.
The 25-year-old triumphed at his home event for the first time in Sunday’s thrilling wet race, leading home a McLaren one-two after benefitting from a 10-second time penalty being given to his team-mate Oscar Piastri.
Norris became the 13th home winner of the British Grand Prix, but the first Brit other than seven-time world champion Hamilton to triumph at Silverstone since David Coulthard’s back-to-back victories for McLaren in 1999 and 2000.
Hamilton’s emotional victory at Silverstone last year was a record ninth for him at the event as he added to his tally following a remarkable streak of seven wins in eight years from 2014-2021.
Norris was smiling from ear to ear in his post-race interview
Norris said: “I’ve joined a long list of pretty incredible winners who have won here in the past.
“Most of them are Lewis! But to join him and, from a British side, to continue the reign of the British here is pretty amazing.
“And just for the fans. The last two laps, looking up at the fans and seeing them on their feet and cheering – these are moments that no one really gets, none of you guys get to witness. This is something that I and very few others, especially Brits, get to witness.
“It’s a very selfish moment, but it’s one of the most special, the most incredible, because it’s such a rare thing that someone gets to feel and to see and to witness.”
Norris likely wouldn’t have won the race if it weren’t for Piastri being penalised for suddenly braking after inheriting control of the pack from the Safety Car moments before the race resumed at the end of lap 21.
Take a look at why Piastri was given a 10-second penalty
The resulting 10-second penalty, served at the final round of pit stops, enabled Norris to leapfrog Piastri and establish a lead that he would comfortably maintain until the chequered flag.
He admitted the circumstances stopped the result from being his “best” career victory from a driving standpoint, but insisted that didn’t detract from the specialness of the moment.
Norris said: “For me, the best win, maybe not the best way to win. I’m not going say it’s my best win, that’s not true.
“But in terms of what it means to win here at home, the want, the desire to do it in front of my own grandstand, my family, my friends, McLaren, His Royal Highness is here, to win in front of all of them and to make amends for last year makes it all even more special, very memorable.”
Highlights from a chaotic British Grand Prix
The high levels emotion were audible in the immediate post-race radio exchanges between Norris and race engineer Will Joseph, but the Brit said the tears that could be heard were not coming from him.
Norris said: “No tears. I tried, but no. I don’t know. When I get emotional, I don’t cry, I just smile.
“It’s pure happiness. It’s pure enjoyment of the moment that you’re in. I wish I could cry because I think it looks better for pictures sometimes.”
‘I would love to continue momentum’
The result saw Norris cut Piastri’s lead at the top of the world championship to just eight points, with the McLaren pair taking another step towards ensuring the title battle will be a two-horse race as Max Verstappen was left 69 points off the lead in third.
It was the first time Norris, who won in Austria seven days earlier, had claimed back-to-back victories in the same season, and he’s targeting maintaining his momentum at the final two races before the summer break in Belgium and Hungary.
Watch the moment McLaren deny Piastri a position swap with Norris after the Australian deemed his 10-second penalty ‘unfair’
Norris said: “I think it’s still just one race at a time. Obviously, I had a good race last weekend and we had a good battle, and we got close, and I was looking forward to another good battle.
“I give my credit to Oscar at the same time because he drove an extremely good race.
“It’s two wins, but they’ve not come easy by any means. We’ve had good fights, but they’re pretty strenuous, exhausting weekends because you’re fighting for hundredths and thousandths, and you’re fighting for perfection every session and I’m against some pretty good drivers.
“It takes a lot out of you, especially when you have a race like today.
“I’ve had two good weekends and, of course, I would love to continue that momentum, but it still requires more consistency. Two weekends doesn’t mean anything otherwise. And I just need to keep it up and keep working hard.”
F1 takes a brief break before the season resumes at the Belgian Grand Prix as the Sprint format returns, live on Sky Sports F1 on July 25-27. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime.
