Hamilton came agonisingly close to ending his own F1 drought

LANDO NORRIS was reduced to TEARS as he won a treacherous British Grand Prix which saw five cars out of the race and three safety cars.

The Bristol-born 25-year-old has gone from asking for autographs at Silverstone as a kid to winning the home race with over 10,000 fans in his very own Landostand.

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Lando Norris won the British GP for the first timeCredit: Getty

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Nico Hulkenberg also scored a podium for the first time in 239 racesCredit: Getty

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Wet conditions at Silverstone sparked chaosCredit: Getty

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Norris was reduced to tears as he celebrated winning his home raceCredit: Getty

It was a dream day out for the McLaren driver, who started in third and was helped by his team-mate Oscar Piastri being slapped with a 10-second time penalty for a bonkers safety car incident.

Stewards felt the Aussie driver had slowed down unnecessarily under the safety car as Max Verstappen momentarily overtook him before spinning off track and eventually finishing in fifth despite starting on pole.

Norris roared “wooo, we did it” as he crossed the line, with him now just eight points behind Piastri in the driver’s standings.

Piastri came in second and Nico Hulkenberg secured third-place – a first-ever podium in 239 starts – as fourth-placed Lewis Hamilton was denied a first Ferrari top three.

Martin Brundle’s star-studded grid-walk featuring Tom Holland, Hannah Waddingham, Idris Elba ahead and many more ahead of the race showed just how many eyes are on Silverstone every year.

There was chaos before the race had even started as several drivers including George Russell and Charles Leclerc pitted for slick tyres as the rest of the top 10 stayed out.

At the start, Piastri got away well and had a sniff on the inside of Verstappen, but the Red Bull stayed firm on his line and held the lead.

The Dutchman then got off like a shotgun from then, snapping well beyond the two McLarens behind him.

Hamilton, the king of Silverstone in the rain, was all over the back of Norris in the wet final sector.

The Ferrari even pulled alongside the McLaren but young buck Norris just held off the old maestro.

The virtual safety car was called into action as Esteban Ocon clattered into Liam Lawson, ending the race for the Kiwi driver and causing damage to the Haas man’s car.

Another VSC was called into action, this time to allow Gabriel Bortoleto’s car to be cleared as he had spun off track causing a piece to fling off, before desperately trying to make it back to the pit lane.

Leclerc, Russell and Antonelli were slogging it out on slick tyres designed for a dry track, well behind those on the inters.

There was thrilling racing at the front of the pack though, with Piastri snapping at Verstappen’s heels before easily dispatching him on lap eight for the lead.

The heavens opened and Verstappen, whose tyres were knackered, ran wide and allowed Norris to pass him.

The top three then all stopped for fresh intermediate tyres but Norris suffered a dreadful stop and lost his place back to Verstappen.

The rain lashed down and Hamilton stated the obvious on his team radio, saying: “It’s definitely wet tyres right now.”

His team-mate Leclerc had a huge droplet of water in his visor causing him to go completely off track and cross country but he recovered to carry on.

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Lewis Hamilton came agonisingly close to ending his podium drought with FerrariCredit: Alamy
On lap 14, it continued peeing it down and with the conditions getting treacherous the safety car was sent out.

That was terrible news for Piastri, who had opened up a 13-second gap out front.

It was out for five laps before Piastri got away again strongly, holding his lead with Norris tucked behind Verstappen in third.

Russell attacked Hamilton for eighth but the seven-time world champ got the place back and one more as his old team-mate was caught behind Ocon.

There was more chaos and another safety car as Isack Hadjar slammed into the wall and was luckily left unhurt.

The Racing Bulls youngster had crashed into the back of Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli and flew off track.

It was a bonkers restart as Verstappen momentarily pulled in front of Piastri who slowed right down.

Amid all the confusion Verstappen spun dramatically before recovering and dropping all the way back into 11th.

The Dutchman was left fuming, and said on his team radio: “Whoa, mate! Jesus, just suddenly again slows down!”

The stewards were then investigating Piastri for a Safety Car infringement and he was later slapped with the 10-second time penalty.

Norris just needed to stay within touching distance from his teammate and the Silverstone crown would be his.

Antonelli was forced to retire for Merc, with the damage from his earlier collision proving too great.

It was game on for Hamilton, who licked his lips at the prospect of first Ferrari podium, nipping past Pierre Gasly on lap 29.

He then left Lance Stroll for dust and soared into fourth – he just needed to deal with Sauber’s Hulkenberg, but that was easier said than done.

Russell’s gamble to stop early and put on hard tyres did not work for him as he spun off the sodden track, bumping across the grass and re-emerging onto the track in 13th.

On lap 42, Hamilton’s tyres were shot and he stopped for a set of softs before coming back out in fourth.

He dropped behind Leclerc but both Ferraris went off track before the Monaco-born driver pitted and Hamilton shuffled ahead again.

Sassy Piastri bizarrely said McLaren should swap his position with Norris if they think that he was unfairly punished for the safety car mishap.

You can imagine Norris’ reaction to that and the Aussie driver’s request was shut down by his team, not that the Brit knew anything about it as he danced over the line in dreamland at his stomping ground.

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Norris lifted was all smiles as he won the British GP and closed the gap in the world championshipCredit: Getty

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Hulkenberg beamed as he finally stood in the top threeCredit: Getty

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The stars were also presented with LEGO Brick trophies on the podiumCredit: Getty