At the start, Norris was able to blast past polesitter Verstappen as the Red Bull failed to accelerate despite the Dutchman reacting well enough, which meant Piastri also had a look to the inside of the first corner starting in third.
There, Verstappen went the long way around to cement second and he then chased Norris down the Wellington straight – where the leader successfully weaved to disrupt the two to the pack behind.
Norris was able to initially keep Verstappen at bay but on lap five of 52 Verstappen used the powerful DRS effect on the Red Bull to shoot along the Wellington straight and then dive back into the lead at Brooklands.
McLaren informed Norris that Piastri would hold station in third at this stage – with the top three already well clear of Charles Leclerc and George Russell battling at the head of the pack behind.
Norris stayed with Verstappen before finally falling out of DRS range at one-fifth distance, where the teams were split informing their drivers over whether the clouds that had built up over Silverstone ahead of the start would start to deposit rain on proceedings.
The drivers did report light drizzle through the next phase before attention turned to the planned single stops for the frontrunners, who had all started on the mediums bar Russell on the softs that held on better than expected over a race stint as he continued to chase Leclerc closely at this stage.
Verstappen gradually pulled clear of Norris – their times getting quicker through the 1m33s bracket initially before reaching the mid-1m32s range only Piastri in third could join them in.
Source: Autosport