F1 - British GP

Mixed conditions, plenty of incidents, lots of safety cars and some surprising results made the British Grand Prix one of the best races of the season. Let's get into what happened this weekend!

Peformances

Sauber - NICO HUUUUULKENBERG PODIUM!!!!! Finally after 239 races he got his podium!!!!! It feels like we've waited since his debut in 2010 for this moment but it's finally happened! This was easily the best moment of the weekend. It couldn't have happened to a more deserving driver this season. After all the missed opportunities and bad luck throughout his career who would have thought the 2025 Sauber would be the car to give him a podium??? But a truly epic drive in the changeable conditions from P19 to finish P3. Sauber's first podium since the 2012 Japanese GP as well - and it's deserved! They've done an incredible job developing the car to be very competitive this season. I still can't stop smiling at this! What a fantastic drive!

McLaren - a very composed drive from Lando to win his home race. Often in mixed conditions all you have to do is not make a mistake and that's exactly what he did - he didn't have any major spins or mistakes and showed good pace to win. A big result in the championship and the gap is just 8 points! Oscar was fuming with his performance and rightfully so. He had the pace to win the race today but because of his mistake under the safety car and the 10 second penalty it cost him the race win. Very nicely poised between the two heading into the second half of the season.

Ferrari - they looked so quick early on in the weekend but the strategy for Charles at the start was stupid and he had brake issues throughout and made a few mistakes - bad weekend for him. Lewis was decent but didn't have the pace to finish on the podium and the streak is over (can't really be mad tbf because Nico got a podium). Hopefully in dry conditions we can see if the pace shown in Austria is real or not.

Mercedes - Kimi had to retire because of floor damage after he was rear ended by Hadjar but he didn't really show any real pace through the race anyway. George made the same strategy mistake as Charles early on and then switched way too early onto slicks at the end and only finished P10. Another bad weekend for Mercedes.

Red Bull - Max had an amazing quali lap to get pole but just didn't have the pace to fight with the McLarens because of his low downforce setup and then made a rare mistake with his spin! I was actually shocked that he spun. A decent recovery drive I guess to come P5 but honestly he's 60 points behind P2 in the championship right now. Very costly weekend and the Mercedes rumors will only grow from now. Yuki another bad weekend with lacking pace compared to Max and a few mistakes and crashes.

Aston Martin - double points is very nice. Stroll actually had a very nice race fighting for the podium at one stage before falling off to come P7. Still a good drive from Stroll and good strategy call by Aston. Fernando could have had more but switched to slicks too early when the track was drying at the end. But some nice points for the team and their first double points finish of the season.

Alpine - Gasly with a great drive as well to come P6 in that Alpine tractor! He was even holding off Lewis for a few laps too! Good quali and race from him - it's a shame he doesn't have the car to show his talent more regularly. Franco has a mess of a weekend and it looks like his Alpine stint could be over - a shame because he's talented but again he also didn't show much in the Alpine. It looks like Bottas could be replacing him so that would actually be interesting to see if his pace is still there. Is that maybe his way of auditioning for Cadillac next year?

Williams - Albon kept his nose clean and got some points in a chaotic race, good job there. Sainz again no points - very disappointing start to his Williams stint so far. At least both cars made the end of the race this time!

Haas - both cars were running in the points at one phase or another until they collided together! That probably cost at least one car a points finish. But are we really surprised? Ocon is a very aggressive driver and Bearman being a rookie - it was likely.

RB - both rookies crashed out in the tricky conditions - not much else to say

Race rating - 9/10 - very enjoyable race in mixed conditions, plenty of incidents and a few moments of good racing, and the result gives it bonus points too!

Team radio of the race - Hulkenberg crying on the radio and honestly just the whole paddock being delighted over his podium! (Also he is cooking this season)

Also Oscar asking to swap the positions sent me, what was he even thinking???

Driver of the race - only one option. Nico Hulkenberg for getting that well-deserved first podium in Formula One!

Next weekend - Belgian GP at the amazing Spa-Francorchamps circuit. It has one of the richest histories in motorsport, having hosted grand prix events since the 1920s. Spa is the home of one of the most iconic sequence of corners in Formula One, from the start into the La Source hairpin, going up the steep Eau Rouge corner into Radillon, is just complete cinema. It's one of the longest laps on the F1 calendar and the track particularly tests braking and straight line speed. Some of the best previous races here have been: 1995 (Schumacher wins from 15th on the grid), 1998 (the infamous first lap incident, Coulthard taking out Schumacher and a Jordan 1-2!), 2000 (that epic Schumacher-Hakkinen battle), 2008 (the controversial Massa win after the Hamilton-Raikkonen incident) and 2009 (Fisichella on the podium for Force India!)