British Grand Prix - Scarlett Archer

It’s July and with it brings all the excitement of the British Grand Prix. This year is extra special because it’s the 75 year anniversary of Formula 1. As a live commentator for the F1 Kids broadcast I saw all the action first hand, from qualifying to the actual race and wow it delivered the drama.

On Saturday, three of the four British drivers qualified in the top 5 for Sunday’s race. Max Verstappen zoomed into pole position at the last minute whilst narrowly edging out Oscar Piastri; third was Lando Norris followed by George Russell and fifth was Lewis Hamilton.

The race on Sunday afternoon started under chaotic wet and dry conditions. Piastri was leading until he received a 10 second penalty for erratic braking under a safety car restart. This handed the advantage to Norris who won his very first home race. This was a historic 1-2 finish for McLaren with Piastri coming in second.

One of the biggest surprises was third place. Nico Hulkenberg delivered such a wonderful drive. He climbed from P19 in qualifying to finish P3 and getting his first F1 podium in his 239th start. It was such an emotional and long-awaited result. Lewis Hamilton finished a solid fourth and Max Verstappen finished fifth after recovering from a mid-race spin.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t a great day for many of the rookie drivers. Liam Lawson, Isack Hadjar, Gabriel Bortoleto, and Kimi Antonelli all ended their races early. Some crashing in the wet-dry mix, others clashing under Safety Car restarts. Franco Colapinto didn’t start the race at all due to a clutch failure in the pit lane. However, Oliver Bearman made it to the finish, though he spun after a late-race collision.

In short: Pole went to Verstappen. The win went to Norris, second Piastri (after a penalty), third to Hulkenberg, fourth Hamilton and fifth Verstappen.

As a female teen Formula 1 Sports commentator, it’s cool to bring the Live F1 action to other young people and be a role model for girls!

Next F1 Race: Belgium July 25-27

Next F1 Academy Race: Zandvoort August 29-31