British GP Takeaways: McLaren a 'rocketship,' what's up with Checo?

Following each race weekend this year, theScore’s editors offer their takeaways. We continue the 2023 schedule with the British GP.

McLaren ‘back in the game’

After teasing upgrades in Austria, McLaren showed its might in a big way at Silverstone.

Lando Norris equaled his best-ever finish by claiming second spot on the podium, while teammate Oscar Piastri nabbed his best-career finish by coming in fourth. If not for a safety car, Piastri could have made it a double podium for McLaren.

It was certainly a massive weekend for one of F1’s legendary manufacturers, which appears to be coming out of a massive fog that plagued the team early on this season. After securing just six top-10 finishes to start the year, McLaren scored more points Sunday than the rest of the season combined – and they did so on merit.

“That McLaren’s a rocketship,” Lewis Hamilton said. “The speed is insane.”

Hamilton wasn’t kidding.

The upgraded McLaren seems to be the real deal. Norris passed Verstappen on Lap 1 and held the lead until Lap 5. It was the first time a McLaren led the British GP since 2012, when Hamilton was driving for the team.

The race pace and downforce was there throughout the race as Norris held off a late charge from Hamilton despite being on hard tires compared to the Mercedes’ decision to go on softs.

Norris could be heard over team radio disagreeing with the late call to go on the hard tires. However, the decision paid off and gave Norris the opportunity to show off his immense talent behind the wheel.

“They put my on hard tires. I don’t know why, they’re still beginners in some things,” Norris joked. “They just wanted to give me a bit more of a test. I wanted the softs, I feel like it made a bit more sense, but I don’t care, I’m P2, so all good.”

McLaren’s pace was so quick at Silverstone that its rivals are left scratching their heads.

“I thought their strategy was the wrong strategy,” Mercedes’ George Russell said of McLaren’s call to use the hard tires at the end. “They’d be even further ahead if they put the softs on.”

It’s nice to see Norris and the team in such high spirits following what was a dreadful start to the year, and it’s good to see his patience being rewarded.

McLaren’s return to the top is also a massive win for the sport – especially in a season that has featured such little parity. It also shows its rivals how quickly things can change with the right upgrade package.

“Max is getting less further ahead the last couple of races,” McLaren chief executive officer Zak Brown said. “I think this shows just how healthy the sport is – how great the competition is – that we’re now coming into each weekend with someone at the front you weren’t expecting, someone at the back you weren’t expecting. If we can all get ahold of Max, then the racing will be fantastic.”

He added: “I think it’s a little early (to say we’re second-best). I think we’re back in the game.” – Brandon Wile

Checo losing grip on Red Bull seat?

When asked about Sergio Perez’s latest qualifying disappointment – which left him starting Sunday’s race in 15th – teammate and championship leader Max Verstappen gave a cheeky yet honest assessment of the situation.

“Of course, we are also fighting for the team championship, but I think I can do that on my own at the moment,” Verstappen said Saturday.

Verstappen’s not wrong. Though Perez recovered to finish sixth Sunday, Verstappen took home his sixth straight victory. For a car as dominant as the RB19, the contrast in performances between the two teammates has been too volatile recently, and nowhere is that more clear than in qualifying.

Perez’s poor result Saturday marked the fifth consecutive time he’s failed to make Q3. Even though he’s moved up well in the race – finishing sixth at Silverstone and in Montreal, third in Austria, and fourth in Barcelona – there just isn’t a valid excuse for the Mexican pilot not comfortably taking the second step on the podium with machinery as strong as the RB19.

It seems naive to not ask if Perez’s time at Red Bull could be running out at this point. A midseason switch seemed to be ruled out by the team’s top advisor Helmut Marko, but perhaps Perez’s grip on the 2024 seat could be into serious jeopardy if he doesn’t improve.

“He is second in the standings and delivers good races, which distinguishes him from Nyck de Vries,” Marko told Sky Sport on Saturday, according to Rory Mitchell of Racing News 365. “At the moment there is no need to take action. There is also no one available to replace him.”

There may be no one available to replace Perez at the moment, but that could easily change. It’s not unrealistic to see a pathway for fan favorite and third driver Daniel Ricciardo to find his way back into a Red Bull seat. Ricciardo is set to drive the RB19 in a Pirelli tire test later this week, which could serve as a launching point that revives his F1 career. Ricciardo has been linked to rumors of him potentially replacing de Vries at Alpha Tauri, and if he puts up good lap times in the tire test, a midseason switch over the summer break is possible. Yuki Tsunoda graduating from Alpha Tauri to the top team next year could be another option. Again, it’s all speculation, but there are other routes for Red Bull to take if they want.

Ultimately, Perez’s fate lies in his own hands. The expectation to go toe-to-toe with Verstappen over a full season was always going to be farfetched, but with the gap between them growing to 99 points now, he should only be focused about being the best of the rest. There’s a lot of pieces to the puzzle, but the final 12 races of the 2023 season are shaping up to be most important stretch of Perez’s career. – Daniel Valente

Aston getting left behind

What is up with Aston Martin?

It seems like every other midfield team is making strides every single race while the British manufacturer stagnates or takes a step back.

A couple of weeks ago, Fernando Alonso came off a surprisingly poor showing in his home race, placing seventh after five podiums over six races. But that didn’t kill his confidence heading into the Canadian GP, as the two-time champ set his sights on his first win of the year. He was seemingly certain that Aston would “put some pressure on Max,” according to Sky. “Red Bull can’t do everything perfect,” he continued, “so maybe Sunday is the day.”

While Alonso did pressure Verstappen (as much as anyone is capable this year) and crossed the line less than ten seconds behind the championship leader to finish second, it’s been distinctly downhill since then.

A fifth-place finish for Alonso, ahead of teammate Lance Stroll in ninth, at Austria saw the team struggle to keep pace with McLaren and Mercedes. Fast forward to Silverstone, where Alonso finished seventh behind both McLarens and both Mercedes while battling the Williams of Alex Albon. Even further, Stroll finished well outside the points in 14th, behind the rookie Logan Sargeant, who drives the other Williams, as well as getting beat by Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg and Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas. It was dismal and, at this point, poor results are looking less surprising for Aston.

In fact, Alonso seems to think he outperformed what his Aston was capable of.

“I think P7 is a bit better than the pace we had,” the 41-year-old. “Other teams were flying out there on Saturday and they finished nine and 10 … we need to avoid that.”

He was clearly alluding to the two Ferraris. Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz barely finished in the points and that’s not a result the Prancing Horses are looking for. And, considering both Ferraris placed fourth and fifth and easily bested the Astons in qualifying, Alonso has a point. There’s no excuse for both Leclerc and Sainz finishing behind a Williams.

But this is the current state of F1 it seems, and that’s bad news for Aston Martin. Sitting in third place, they continue to lose their grasp in the constructor standings, slipping 24 points behind Mercedes. Thanks to Alonso’s hot start, Ferrari and McLaren have a lot of room to make up, but they’re certainly trending in the wrong direction. This is still a season to build off of heading toward 2024 when they’ll likely want to start having title aspirations, so maybe they’re already putting more engineers onto next year’s car. But the aim should be beating Mercedes now. – Michael Bradburn