British Grand Prix Silverstone 2025

The British Grand Prix

With an estimated 500,000 spectators visiting Silverstone over the course of the weekend for the annual British Grand Prix, PistonClick had two motorsport photographers trackside. Shooting from behind the fence can be challenging for the spectator photographer at Silverstone. This report is a postcard of the images captured by our two F1 fans. It gives you a flavour of what is achievable as an amateur photographer at the Silverstone British Grand Prix.

Run over three days, there are plenty of opportunities to capture the action around the 3.6-mile Silverstone circuit. The biggest issue is which of the 18 turns will give you the best chance of capturing great motorsport images. PistonClick have produced a guide to help you in your quest here. Alternatively, you can shoot from your seat in the grandstands to good effect, admittedly with less variety.

The British Grand Prix Race

Weather had a huge influence on the British Grand Prix, resulting in many incidents and the safety car being deployed on numerous occasions. Right from the start, the formation lap was run behind the Safety Car after a downpour. The track was drying quickly, so George Russell, Charles Leclerc, Ollie Bearman, Gabriel Bortoleto, and Isack Hadjar all pitted for slicks. When the lights went out, there were a few gaps on the grid with the pitted cars starting from the pit lane.

Lap 8

Max Verstappen took the lead with Oscar Piastri in second. Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton battled for third place. Liam Lawson collided with Esteban Ocon, resulting in a Virtual Safety Car. On lap 8, Piastri took the lead from Verstappen at Stowe. Piastri made good progress in the heavy rain, Verstappen struggling on severely worn tyres, ran wide at Chapel. Norris took advantage to take second from the Dutchman. 

Lap 14

Pitting for intermediates, Piastri, Norris, and Verstappen looked for an advantage. Norris had a slow lap, allowing Verstappen to take second. Piastri made the most of the intermediates, pulling out a 14-second lead; Stroll was now in fourth. In torrential rain on lap 14 the Safety Car was deployed for three laps, bunching up the pack. Russell took Hamilton at Abbey on the restart only to be held up by #31 Ocon. Hamilton took advantage and passed both of them.

Hadjar ran into the back of Antonelli at Copse resulting in another Safety Car. Still in the lead Piastri had control of the pack behind the Safety Car. Piastri braked hard to give him self some room for the restart catching out Verstappen who sailed past. Piastri was given a 10-second penalty for this incident. A furious Verstappen then spun at Stowe dropping him to 10th. Stroll and Hülkenberg would now fight it out for the final podium position.

Lap 38

Lap 38, Alonso pitted for slicks on the drying track as did Russell on the next lap. It wasn’t that dry, Russell spun out at Becketts. Hamilton pitted from fourth on Lap 42 with Stroll. Verstappen, Gasly and Hülkenberg following suit. Piastri boxed, served his penalty and rejoined the race. Norris came in one lap later, rejoining in the lead to win the British Grand Prix in-front of an ecstatic home crowd, Piastri finished second. Driver of the day for me was Hülkenberg, starting 19th on the grid he took his first F1 podium after 239 attempts holding off Hamilton in fourth.

Photographic Post Script

RPW Photography attended the British Grand Prix on Friday, which is a practice day. Traditionally quieter than the Saturday qualifying and Sundays race day it is easer to get up close to the fence line at the best spots. However, as this is free practice there is no racing but still thrilling to see and hear the F1 cars.

It is also the cheapest to attend at £99 for the day, this doesn’t include parking at £30. Weekend tickets can exceed £500 with grandstand and parking charges so if you are on a budget Friday is the day for you. RPW used a Nikon D500 with a AF-S VR Nikkor 300mm f/2.8G IF-ED II lens matched to Nikon 1.4 – 2.0 teleconverters.

Jak Walker attended for the whole weekend shooting mainly from the grandstands. A Canon EOS 7D MkII with a EF 70-300mm f4-5.6 IS II USM was his weapon of choice. This versatile set up has just enough reach to capture the action from the Grandstands.