It was vintage Max Verstappen. A troublesome Friday was momentarily extinguished when he planted his Red Bull car, out of nowhere onto pole position.
But such was the setup that the Dutchman thrived with on Saturday, it very quickly became his downfall once the 52-lap race began.
His special Saturday
Silverstone is mightily quick. Though core elements of the track have changed over the years, the speed carried through turns like Copse, Maggots, Beckets and Stowe is electrifying.
That would indicate that high levels of downforce would be required to give you grip through the corners and be competitive. However, because the 5.891-kilometre-long track also comprises long straights and that some of the listed corners are taken fully on the throttle, these corners are merely extensions of those straights.
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In fact, around 80 per cent of a lap of Silverstone is spent fully on the throttle. This rewards a setup that optimises straight line speed, with lower levels of drag, which is what the Dutchman committed to.
That means that, as long as you can get away with carrying competitive speed through the range of corners, adding extra drag carries a penalty and bleeds lap time. But it takes a driver of unwavering commitment to make it work, given there is less grip to use in the high-load corners.
Verstappen is a driver that has coped remarkably with the sensitive handling of the current generation of Red Bull cars. His smooth approach allows him to load the front of the car while being able to rotate the rear axle and get through turns more confidently and quickly than his recent crop of teammates.
But flourishing through the high-speed turns of Silverstone with a downforce configuration that could sap the confidence of most, at any point, is another mark of the Dutchman's greatness.
Regardless of how Friday went, Verstappen was still not expected to eclipse both the McLarens and the Ferraris. He simply drove a cleaner lap than all of them.
But that is part of his armour, he makes less mistakes at this level than practically any other driver. That is not to say that he does not make mistakes (stick around to read where he did make one), but he is as reliable as a driver gets when it comes to heading the cut and thrust of F1's sharp end.
His sobering Sunday
Then Sunday arrived and so too did the rain. The low-grip conditions that the constant rainfall generated meant that you needed as much downforce as possible to a) attack the turns and b) ensure that the very fragile intermediate tyres last.
With such a slim rear wing, in-corner balance also became a problem. Hence, it was no surprise to see the pair of McLaren drivers sweep by.
But it was more of a surprise to see Verstappen spin at one of the safety car restarts and lose eight places. The Dutchman struggled to find the adequate grip at that point and suddenly skewered into the middle of the pack.
Yet more drama! 😮 Max spins at the restart 🎥#F1 #BritishGP pic.twitter.com/MBlIVsNZI0
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 6, 2025
Once the track dried the world champion did become more competitive, but the RB21 was a class behind the dominant McLarens which were more than half a minute ahead of the leading non-papaya car.
So why did Red Bull go for this setup?
Friday was so dire for the Milton Keynes-based team that Verstappen claimed that his car was "understeering to the moon." The RB21 laboured through the variety of corner types (low-speed and high-speed) and looked a world away from what would qualify on pole position.
But, as well as mitigating the il-handling, Red Bull did not foresee such a wet race. Its reports were telling them that it was likely that the grand prix would not be interrupted by rain showers.
By the time the threat of rain became more apparent, they were on pole and could not change their set-up. That is part of Formula 1, some risks pay off and others do not.
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