Hamilton returns to the winner’s circle with stunning victory at Silverstone; Verstappen salvages P2 in tricky wet-dry race; P3 Norris undone by final tire choice
In a stunning British Grand Prix, Mercedes’s veteran pilot Lewis Hamilton prevailed amidst typically changeable English summer weather conditions to earn his first victory since 2021, 104th Formula 1 win overall and remarkable ninth career victory at the venerable Silverstone Circuit. Starting from P2 alongside pole-sitting teammate George Russell in the much-improved W15 Silver Arrows, the duo proved their qualifying pace was no fluke as they scampered away at the start from the McLaren of Lando Norris in P3 and the Red Bull of points leader Max Verstappen in P4. With dry conditions prevailing in the opening laps but rain on the horizon, Hamilton made his intentions clear with a pass on his teammate for the lead on Lap 18, while Verstappen struggled in the early going and was overtaken by the second McLaren of Oscar Piastri on the prior lap. But on the increasingly damp track as the predicted showers began, the Mercedes duo began struggling for grip while dicing with each other, both running wide at Abbey on Lap 19. Norris promptly pounced on Russell for P2 and set his sights on the second squirming Merc of Hamilton just ahead, easily dispatching him to take the lead on the next lap. When Piastri got both Russell and then Hamilton in short order, the discussion with the pit wall quickly turned to talk of switching to the Intermediate tires amidst the rainy conditions.
The moment of victory! 🏆
Incredible scenes at Silverstone 🇬🇧#F1 #BritishGP @LewisHamilton pic.twitter.com/Qn0peOI1Z0
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 7, 2024
But with Ferrari’s Charles Lecelrc and the second Red Bull of Sergio Perez already making that early call at the end of Lap 20, the contending teams at the front were able to take a lap or two to assess the performance of the Intermediates in the mixed wet-dry conditions, as well heeding their drivers emphatic opinions that it was too early to make that switch. That proved to be the correct call because, while tricky, the track was not wet enough for the Inters to post superior times to the Medium slick Pirellis on all the frontrunners, and both Perez and Leclerc lots huge chunks of time due to the premature switch. By Lap 27, however, the rain had intensified to the point where the time was right, and a host of cars dove to the pits for Inters, including Verstappen and the second Ferrari of Carlos Sainz. A lap later, Norris, Hamilton and Russell all made the same switch to Intermediates, but while Mercedes felt comfortable enough to double-stack their cars on the same pit sequence, McLaren balked and left Piastri out for another lap on Mediums. It proved to be the first of several bad choices by the McLaren brain trust on the day because, while Piastri led the race for a lap, he lost much more time sliding around than he would have being stationary in the pits behind Norris for a few extra seconds. Piastri came in that lap later but had a slightly slow 3.5 second stop and between that and the time lost on the dicey in-lap, the young Aussie reemerged back in P6 behind Sainz. Norris now led the race, with Hamilton P2, Verstappen P3 and Russell P4.
Silverstone crowd ❤️ Lewis Hamilton #F1 #BritishGP pic.twitter.com/RKzIOLuNLo
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 7, 2024
But on Lap 34, disaster struck Russell’s hopes of making it two wins in a row when he was told to box and retire the car due to a water pressure issue, a stunning reversal of fortune for the young Briton after lucking into the win in Austria a week ago. With one of the main favorites now out of the race, the sun began to emerge and pretty soon the teams were once again debating when to switch back to slick tires on the rapidly drying track. Lap 39 saw the most action, as Hamilton doffed his degraded Inters for new Softs, Verstappen chose the Hard Pirellis and Piastri went to the Mediums. Norris came in a lap later and opted to match Hamilton and take the Softs, as well. But Norris’s stop was a slow one at 4.5 seconds and the tire decision proved to be McLaren’s second miscalculation on the day. Hamilton blew past him for the lead as Norris exited the pits and, with the track deemed dry enough to re-enable DRS on Lap 41, the last stanza of this 52-lap contest quickly evolved into a fascinating three-car, two tire compound race to the finish. Nearly just as quickly, it became apparent that the advantage was with Verstappen on the Hards as he began to eat into second place Norris’s advantage. Hamilton crucially did not suffer the same loss of time to the Dutchman while controlling the race from the front and conserving the more fragile Softs to the end, keeping Norris well out of DRS range despite the seemingly equal footing and putatively superior pace of the McLaren.
“There’s definitely been moments when I thought that this was it, [a win] was never gonna happen again. So to have this feeling coming across the line… I’ve never cried from a win, it just came out of me” #F1 #BritishGP @LewisHamilton pic.twitter.com/2m0rL88Bme
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 7, 2024
While ruing the choice of Softs instead of Mediums, Norris had to succumb to the relentless Red Bull of Verstappen, leading to a clean pass for P2 on Lap 48 between the two who had come together so unceremoniously in Austria. Verstappen then set his sights on Hamilton but the seven-time champion managed the final laps brilliantly, masterfully the keeping current points leader and three-time champ from within getting a sniff. It was shades of 2021 between the two, as Hamilton earned his first victory since that fateful year, choking up at the outpouring of love and admiration of his countrymen in the stands for his return to the winner’s circle, and a fitting and record-breaking ninth win at Silverstone, his home track. It also marked 17-years since Hamilton’s first win and from the tears and emotional reaction to Sunday’s latest victory, it was clear that Hamilton and Mercedes had put so much into getting back up to the top step after several years in the wilderness that to win this latest British Grand Prix was the kind of epically stirring late career milestone that both he and any Formula 1 fan who witnessed it will remember for the rest of their lives.
Top 10 finishers of the British GP:
POS | DRIVER | TIME/RETIRED | PTS |
---|---|---|---|
1 | 1:22:27.059 | 25 | |
2 | +1.465s | 18 | |
3 | +7.547s | 15 | |
4 | +12.429s | 12 | |
5 | +47.318s | 11 | |
6 | +55.722s | 8 | |
7 | +56.569s | 6 | |
8 | +63.577s | 4 | |
9 | +68.387s | 2 | |
10 | +79.303s | 1 |
Complete race results available via Formula1.com.
The teams get a hard-earned if short break after three race weekends on the trot and the next race is in a fortnight’s time, the Hungarian Grand Prix from the Hungaroring. Will the Mercedes resurgence continue after winning the last two races? Can Norris and McLaren recover from today’s questionable decision making? And will Red Bull and Verstappen regain their early season supremacy? Hope to see you then to find out!