F1 Takeaways: A new hope? McLaren, Norris awaken as threat to Red Bull, Verstappen

Max Verstappen picked up his sixth consecutive race win and eighth of the season when he took the checkered flag Sunday at the British Grand Prix.

Joining the Red Bull driver on the podium were a pair of Brits with McLaren's Lando Norris finishing second and Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes crossing the line third in their homecoming event at the Silverstone track.

Here's what you need to know from the British GP.

A NEW HOPE

It shouldn't be a surprise that a driver named Lando inspires Star Wars references. After a miserable start to the season, McLaren looks like a force awakened following their recent upgrade packages aiming for aerodynamic efficiency and featuring a fully revised floor.

Norris had the British crowd roaring during Saturday's qualifying when he was briefly on the provisional pole only for them to quickly turn silent when Verstappen snatched P1 mere moments later.

Still, Norris was on the front row and the start provided his best chance to attack Verstappen, whose Red Bull car is notorious for being slow at bringing its tires up to temperature. Indeed, Norris got the jump on Verstappen and led for the first handful of laps to send the fans into a frenzy once more.

Just like in qualifying though, it wouldn't last long and Verstappen would have his revenge. With Verstappen's tires warmed up and DRS enabled, the double-defending champion struck back on Lap 5 to get by Norris and never relinquished the lead again.

A late safety car period helped bunch up the field and Norris finished less than four seconds back of Verstappen while also holding off Hamilton.

It wasn't a solo effort either as McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri made great strides as well. Piastri missed out on his first podium by less than a second, but the rookie from Australia still set a new career high by finishing fourth.

Let's not forget Piastri is playing catch up having just received the upgrades to his car that Norris obtained in Austria. Plus, we haven't even seen their final form as McLaren are expecting additional upgrades to arrive.

Sure, McLaren have a lot of ground to cover in the standings but this return is more like the eight-time constructors' champion we're used to seeing.

Here's hoping the rise of McLaren is the real deal and not a Phantom Menace (sorry fellow prequel fans).

RED BULL KEEP ROLLING

Even if Verstappen wasn't playing on Easy Mode this week, he's still at the top of the class as his assault on the record books continues.

Verstappen became the fifth driver to win six straight Grands Prix joining Alberto Ascari, Michael Schumacher, Sebastian Vettel and Nico Rosberg. For the record, pardon the pun, Vettel holds that mark winning nine consecutive races in 2013.

It was also the 11th consecutive win for Red Bull — dating back to last year's season finale in Abu Dhabi — that tied the record set by McLaren in 1988.

Verstappen also completed a hat trick having qualified on pole position and also earning the fastest lap. Fortunately for Verstappen, he had the bonus point in the bag as there wasn't enough of a time advantage for him to pit late for soft tires and go for a final lap heater this time around.

HOW CONCERNED SHOULD RED BULL BE ABOUT PEREZ?

Red Bull's Sergio Perez finished sixth but failed to reach the final round of qualifying for the fifth consecutive Grand Prix. This time Perez missed the cut in Q1 and slotted 15th on the grid after Alfa Romeo's Valtteri Bottas received a DQ.

Although Perez was able to make up nine places from his starting position, you have to wonder where he would have finished if he could solve his qualifying woes.

Perez is the only driver on the grid who has proven he can beat Verstappen this season earning two victories — making it disappointing when he's starting closer to the back of the field rather than the front.

He's still bringing home the results when it matters and has a bit of a cushion sitting second in the championship, so don't expect Red Bull to start doubting Perez until his struggles in qualifying bleed into race day.

WILLIAMS REVIVAL

Yes, that was a Williams car fending off a pair of Ferraris and no, it's not 1997.

The Williams resurgence continued with Alex Albon scoring points for the second time in three races. Albon snuck past Carlos Sainz for eighth place and repelled Charles Leclerc to maintain his position across the finish line.

Albon could have even challenged Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso for seventh place — only .685 seconds separated the two at the finish line — had he not had Leclerc breathing down his neck.

The British-born Albon has lifted Williams out of the basement and into seventh in the constructors' championship in short succession.

Rookie teammate Logan Sargeant has also improved lately and finished 11th at Silverstone — just one spot away from earning his first-ever point in F1.

ASTON MARTIN, FERRARI FLUB

As usual, one team's gain is another team's pain. While Mercedes and two of their customer teams (McLaren and Williams) can hold their heads up high, another team they supply engines, Aston Martin, dipped.

Alonso, who accounts for roughly 75 per cent of the team's points, tied his season "low" of seventh while Lance Stroll finished 14th. The Canadian driver actually crossed the line 11th — thus out of the points regardless — however, his run-in with Alpine's Pierre Gasly resulted in a five-second penalty that shunted him back even further down the order.

Aston Martin's gap to Mercedes for second place in the constructors' championship was three points entering this weekend and has now stretched to 22 just like that.

Meanwhile, Ferrari's follies returned as Leclerc and Sainz finished ninth and 10th, respectively. While McLaren excelled on the hard tire, the Scuderia squad struggled. Sainz saw a caravan of cars — Perez, Albon and even his own teammate Leclerc — breeze by in a quick sweep as his pace dropped off significantly.

On the bright side, Sainz's finish in the final points-paying position helped him stay one up on George Russell of Mercedes for fifth place in the drivers' championship.