Silverstone (United Kingdom) (AFP) - Lando Norris won a treacherous rain-hit British Grand Prix at Silverstone on Sunday from his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri.

Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg took third for the veteran German’s first ever podium in 239 races.

Briton Norris returned to a rapturous reception from his home fans as he moved to within eight points of Piastri in the drivers’ standings.

“It’s beautiful, everything I ever dreamed of, this is everything I wanted to achieve, aside from winning the championship this is as good as it gets,” beamed Norris.

Piastri, who finished less than seven seconds behind Norris, threw away the win after the Australian was hit with a 10-second penalty for a safety car infringement.

As last week’s heatwave gave way to a more typical British summer’s day – spells of blue sky mixed with torrential showers – drivers had to keep their wits about them with puddles forming on the track.

And Norris emerged from the chaos all smiles as he added to his wins already this season in Austria, Monaco and Australia.

Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton came in fourth ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.

Piastri fell foul of the stewards when braking heavily before the safety car peeled off, a decision that left Piastri feeling robbed.

“I’m not going to say much, I don’t want to get myself in trouble,” he said in the post-race interview.

“Apparently, you can’t brake behind the safety car anymore,” he added.

For Hulkenberg, 37, this was a day to remember as he climbed the podium for the first time since joining the F1 grid way back in 2010.

“Podium - P3 baby!” said his ecstatic race engineer on the team radio after he crossed the line.

“I don’t think I can comprehend what we’ve just done,” replied the German.

Pierre Gasly’s Alpine took sixth, with Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), Alex Albon (Williams), Fernando Alonso in the other Aston and George Russell (Mercedes) rounding out the top 10.