CHUFFED TO BRITS

Lando lights up the home crowd as he storms to victory in rain-hit showpiece

- DANIEL MOXON at Silverstone

WHEN Silverstone and the Great British summer combine, the results are usually spectacular.

So everyone knew something special was ahead when the heavens opened before yesterday's British Grand Prix.

In those conditions it is so often the driver who stays out of trouble that prevails.

That man was Lando Norris, who waited patiently in the opening stages while his two biggest rivals for glory duelled ahead of him.

Pole-sitter Max Verstappen was in a low downforce Red Bull which had shone in a dry qualifying but hated the rain. He was slipping and sliding everywhere while trying to keep championship leader Oscar Piastri at bay in the opening stages of a compelling race.

He lost the lead when the downpours intensified and was about to be swallowed up by Norris when the safety car finally came out.

But it only delayed the inevitable and it was made simple for the Brit when Verstappen spun out moments after Piastri had braked dramatically behind the safety car.