Lando Norris won the 2025 F1 British Grand Prix in a McLaren one-two after seizing on teammate Oscar Piastri’s 10-second penalty due to a safety car restart infringement.

But while Norris handed McLaren their first win at Silverstone since Lewis Hamilton secured glory in the 2008 British GP, the Woking outfit introduced one change to their car that could carry greater consequences in future events as they strive to secure a championship double.

McLaren appear on course to win the F1 drivers’ championship and the constructors’ title in the same season for the first time since 1998 this year. Piastri sits atop the drivers’ standings with 234 points over Norris on 226, with Red Bull racer Max Verstappen third with only 165.

The papaya pals both scoring big points also means McLaren boast a 238-point lead against Ferrari in the constructors’ standings. Winning the teams’ title in the 2025 F1 season would also mean McLaren keep the crown and win back-to-back titles for the first time since 1991.

Photo by BEN STANSALL/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

McLaren introduced a new floor at Silverstone after the FIA’s steel skid block request

McLaren were simply in a class of their own in the rain at Silverstone, and Piastri would have won the British GP without his penalty which handed glory to Norris. But the Woking natives also hit Silverstone with a new floor edge following a request from the FIA before the event.

That is according to Formula1.it, which reports that the FIA sent requests to all teams telling them to be prepared to use steel skid blocks, instead of the usual titanium ones. The FIA has sought to offer the teams notice as it looks to avoid the grass fires seen in Japan and Austria.

It is suggested that McLaren introduced a modified floor in response to the FIA’s request, as the squad had to rethink how the vortices generated in that area are affected by needing to increase their ride height given steel skid blocks wear significantly more than titanium ones.

The changes that McLaren made to their floor edge at the British GP saw the MCL39 feature four trailing edges, rather than the five the team previously adopted. McLaren used to have two larger elements and three smaller ones, but have kept the gradual decrease in height.

Lewis Hamilton has paid the price for Ferrari’s ride height woes in the 2025 F1 season

While Norris and Piastri secured first and second at Silverstone, they will hope that McLaren can now work on finding a solution to avoid needing to increase the ride height of their cars if the FIA does enforce steel skid blocks in future races given it may cost them both lap time.

Ferrari have seen their form swing throughout the 2025 F1 season due to having to increase the ride height of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc’s cars. It was even thanks to excessive wear on his skid block that Hamilton was disqualified from the Chinese Grand Prix in March.

The Scuderia have since been desperately trying to bring an upgrade that will allow them to run the SF-25 lower to the ground, as it maximises the downforce generated by the ground-effect floor and rear diffuser. But Ferrari’s ride height issues relate to their rear suspension.

McLaren would be loath to lose any of their performance, which is set to yield both titles in 2025, due to the FIA forcing the use of steel skid blocks, thus needing to increase their ride height. So, McLaren will hope the floor seen at Silverstone can negate any performance loss.