Max Verstappen finishes second behind Lewis Hamilton in the British Grand Prix

Max Verstappen finished second behind his rival Lewis Hamilton at the British Grand Prix on Sunday. Verstappen made smart decisions during the race, which resulted in him going from fifth to second place. This was Hamilton’s first victory in an F1 race since the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in 2021.

Verstappen started the race in fourth place, with the first three spots taken by British drivers George Russell (Mercedes), Hamilton (Mercedes), and Lando Norris (McLaren).

However, the reigning champion was not in fourth place for long. He drove past Norris on the first lap to put himself up to third.

Rain was on the way at the Silverstone circuit, leading to teams having to change their strategy. Verstappen’s car was struggling before the rain period, and it showed when he was caught by both McLaren drivers, dropping him to fifth position.

He made the decision to switch tires to intermediates to cope with the rain before the top four drivers did the same. He came out in the same position as he was before the pit stop.

The decision proved beneficial for Verstappen as the pitstops from the top four drivers finished with Verstappen in third.

Russell, who had been chasing Verstappen from fourth spot, had to retire from the race in the 34th lap, giving Verstappen some breathing space behind him and more time to calmly focus on attacking the top two, Hamilton and Norris.

His Red Bull vehicle was switched to hard tires in the 39th lap, prior to the last part of the race. This helped Verstappen pass Norris in the 48th lap with five laps left in the race.

But Hamilton was never in any real danger of losing his top spot, and he drove it home to pick up the victory at his home circuit.

Verstappen is still in the F1 rankings despite not winning his last two races. He has 255 points. Lando Norris is his closest competitor with 171 points.