Norris and Herta claim Silverstone 1-2
Off the line Norris was the quickest to react as the lights extinguished and stormed in to the lead after the first corner. Pole man Matheus Liest, who had dropped to second, then began to come under pressure from those behind and subsequently out braked himself allowing Herta the opportunity to take the position and run close behind his Carlin team mate.
Over the next few laps Herta focused on cutting the gap to Norris and was able to slot in right under his team mate's gearbox as the pair continued through the early stages of the race. However the pair stabilized the gap as the mid-point of the race appeared with the American seemingly unable to get by despite setting impressive sector and lap times. Championship leader Norris looked to have the situation well and truly under control.
Meanwhile Florescu had already enjoyed a solid start and was running well in 15th position as he began to apply the pressure on Louise Richardson ahead. He was able to get by the Richardson Racing driver on lap 14.
Over the course of the coming laps, Herta continued to apply the pressure and made a move at Luffield however despite being side by side, Herta slotted back in to second position and waited to see if another opportunity would arise.
However with the time ticking down Herta was unable to challenge Norris for the lead of the race. When the flag fell after 21 laps, Norris and Herta ensured they came away with an incredible one-two race result. As a result Norris has now extended his championship lead while Herta moves up to third position in the title fight. Meanwhile Florescu was having a solid race in 14th and despite trying to close the gap to Jack Butel he remained in 14th positon.
Reflecting on his seventh win of the season Norris said, "I got off the start really well and was able to take the lead of the race. However I had Colton [Herta] right up behind me so that put a little bit of pressure on me when he made a couple of moves. But we had a really good car again this afternoon and it's a great way to start the weekend of racing. It's also nice to pull further points in the championship which was the aim this weekend. We'll have a lot to do in race two but we hope to continue this throughout tomorrow."
Having now taken third position in the championship Herta added, "The aim was to move up in the championship and we've done that off the back of this race. I tried to have a go at Lando [Norris] but although I was really close throughout I just couldn't get by. Overall though I think that was a really good result for the team to get the 1-2 and now I'm aiming to continue our form and pick up further points again tomorrow."