After a lull of 945 days, Lewis Hamilton garnered a victory, making history with a ninth triumph at the British Grand Prix. It was an intense, rain-soaked event at Silverstone, full of surprises and sentiment. The race seemed to be in Lando Norris’s grasp initially. However, a delay in the changeover from his McLaren team saw Norris lose his advantage in the unstable weather conditions.
As the Northamptonshire track began to dry following the downpour, Hamilton was hot on Norris’s heels with just a two-second gap. Moving into the pit-lane, Hamilton swapped his intermediate tyres for the soft rubber ones. A poorly timed delay of an additional lap before Norris made his pit stop undermined his position. Coupled with a relatively slow pit-stop of 4.5 seconds, Norris saw Hamilton seize the lead amidst the cheers of the full capacity crowd of 164,000 spectators.
Remaining true to his past form, Hamilton maintained his lead over the next twelve rounds, recording his first win since his 2021 penultimate race in Saudi Arabia. Following him were Max Verstappen in second and Norris in third place, while George Russell, who started from the pole position, retired due to a problem with his Mercedes’ water system.
An emotional Hamilton expressed his gratitude and love for his team. He acknowledged the victory as significant during his communication with race engineer Peter Bonnington. The imminent departure of Hamilton for Ferrari next year led to the Mercedes team principal, Toto Wolff, vowing to continue fighting and termed the win as a fitting farewell at the British Grand Prix.
The competition’s erratic nature had initially suggested Norris as the likely victor. Despite starting off on the wrong foot, falling behind Verstappen in the beginning, Norris came back strong when the rain started falling on lap 15 and charged ahead of his Red Bull rival on the Hangar Straight leading into Stowe.
Spectators rose in respect for Norris as Britain’s top three was reinstated. Hamilton, who was ahead, managed to approach within striking distance of Russell and overtook him with an impressive manoeuvre on the inside at Stowe.
However, the rain affected the track negatively and caused both Hamilton and Russell to veer off course at the beginning of the 19th lap. As this happened, Norris outpaced Russell at Copse and overtook Hamilton at Abbey during lap 20’s start.
Norris’s McLaren partner, Oscar Piastri was dynamic, overtaking Russell on the outside of the Loop and continuing down the Wellington Straight, finally outpacing Hamilton at Stowe.
McLaren then dominated first and second positions, pushing Hamilton and Russell to third and fourth, respectively.
As the rain’s severity increased, Verstappen made a strategic gambit to switch to intermediate tyres. Impressively, he was a speedy five seconds ahead of his competitors in the second segment, which triggered Norris, Hamilton, and Russell to change to wet tyres instantaneously.
While servicing Norris, McLaren left Piastri on the dry tyres, effectively ending his competition for the day.
In the 33rd lap, Russell received instructions to withdraw his car from third place due to a water leakage issue, leaving Norris en route to win.
However, as the track started to dry, Mercedes called Hamilton into the pit stop for a new set of soft tyres, followed by Verstappen, who had risen back to third, also switching to dry tires.
This left Norris on ageing intermediate tyres, erasing his lead when he pitted at the end of the 40th lap, permitting Hamilton to race into the lead.
Meanwhile, Verstappen was making swift progress, bypassing Norris to take second place with a few laps left. Despite his quick climbs, he was unable to contest Hamilton’s win, who finished 1.4 seconds ahead. Piastri came in fourth, followed by Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz.
After exiting his Mercedes, an emotional Hamilton shared a heartfelt embrace with his father, Anthony.
This heartfelt moment lasted nearly 20 seconds before Hamilton took off his crash helmet and balaclava, wiping away his tears. He jumped over a barrier and stood in front of the record-breaking crowd, draped in the Union Jack flag.
Hamilton confessed welling up with emotion, saying ‘’I’m still crying.” He added ‘’There’s no better feeling than ending up at the front here. It’s incredibly tough for anyone.’’
“However, the critical aspect is the resilience you demonstrate by continuously striving for more even in times of utter despair. Since 2021, there have been moments when self-doubt overcame me, questioning my worth and whether I could reclaim my position. Fortunately, I’ve been surrounded by wonderful individuals who’ve supported me throughout.”