BRITISH GP – Lewis Hamilton returns to record-breaking winning ways with ninth Silverstone win
Lewis Hamilton has returned to winning and record-breaking ways becoming the first driver to win a Grand Prix nine times as he beat Max Verstappen by nearly a second and a half to win the British Grand Prix. The seven-time champion returning to the top step for the first time since December 2021.
Hamilton took the from Lando Norris as the weather changed in the closing stages Norris as he closed in the McLaren driver stopped a lap later and then a slow stop allowed Hamilton to take the lead by two seconds with twelve laps to go.
Though Norris looked to try and close the gap to Hamilton that pace proved ultimately to be unsustainable, after losing the lead thanks to the timing of the showers. A perfectly timed undercut brought the Mercedes back out in the net lead when Norris stopped he was then unable to find the pace and had to fight off Verstappen allowing the seven-time champion to build a slight lead.
Verstappen again struggled to show the formidable race pace and Norris was able to reclaim third place on lap 15 with a pass into Stowe corner. But come the wet weather the timing allowed him to move ahead of Norris and go after Hamilton once he switched to the hard dry tyre in the closing quarter.
Red Bull had been hoping that upgrades would see them return to dominant ways which saw them four of the first five races is now a distant memory, with the Dutchman having had to settle for just three victories across the next seven grands prix. But with more than three race wins he remains in a strong position to claim a fourth successive drivers’ title.
Verstappen has looked to struggle all weekend that was despite Red Bull bringing upgrades, it took until the final stint for him to come alive.
Since Monaco, it’s been a lot harder for Red Bull, with Ferrari winning one and Mercedes two, Verstappen being pushed race after race by Norris. The Bristolian felt that his and McLaren’s strategic calls had cost him a first home victory.
Norris has been in the fight for wins at nearly every race since claiming his maiden F1 victory in Miami in May, Norris has had a very strong chance of winning five of the six races that have followed, but a failure to take advantage of what has often been the fastest car on the track has left the 24-year-old hugely frustrated.
Hamilton said, “I can’t stop crying, it’s been since 2021 just everyday getting up to fight, to train and put my mind to the task and work as hard as I can with this amazing team.”
“This is my last race here with this team so I wanted to win this so much for them because I love them and I appreciate them so much and all the hard work they’ve been putting in over the years, I’m forever grateful to everyone at this team at Mercedes”
Verstappen who finished second, “I mean we just didn’t have the pace today. I was slowly dropping back when it mattered in the beginning so it didn’t look great at some point. We made the right calls. Going from the slicks to the inters and also from the inters back from the slicks. It was every time the right lap.”
Norris told Sky Sports, “I know [it’s a podium at the British GP] but I’m fed up of just saying I should have done better and I should have done this and could have done that, or whatever. I don’t care if it takes time, I don’t want it to take time. I should be doing it now, we should be winning now.”
Hamilton becomes the first driver to win the same race nine times, extending a record he had previously shared with Michael Schumacher, while he also extended a record run for podiums at the same race to twelve. He will look to do the same thing in Budapest in two weeks, also the first driver to win after their three hundredth Grand Prix start.
The race was an all-time classic with it at one stage looking as if Norris and Hamilton’s teammate George Russell would join him on the podium the three drivers fought hard up until Russell was forced to retire with just over fifteen laps to go with a water leak. Russell’s retirement brought Verstappen back into play with twenty laps to go.
While Red Bull would have thought a few races ago that would be possible, but the dominance has now ended as it took him several laps to catch and pass Norris. Verstappen looked to struggle for pace midway through and that set things up for a fight back to second through the changeable conditions.
With five winners from twelve races at the halfway stage the championship which looked as if it was Verstappen’s to lose isn’t going to be as straight forwards as 2023. But the Dutchman still looks on course at this stage barring a series of no points finishes and a consistent challenger winning races on course for another title.
Norris’s teammate Oscar Piastri was fourth finishing just under five seconds behind the Englishman, he had fallen out of contention for victory, following the second stops as the conditions changed as he stopped a lap later than Norris. That dropped him to sixth behind Russell from where he stayed until the second Mercedes retired allowing him into fourth.
Earlier Norris had led following the first stops, that decision dropped him behind Hamilton as well as ultimately putting him on the wrong tyre to chase after the Mercedes. Piastri’s and Norris’s pace during the final stint suggesting they could have been Fighting as they were at the start for victory.
McLaren will face questions about the timing of Norris’ pit stops both which were too late and why they didn’t double stack Piastri at the second stop. Norris feeling a growing frustration of a return to several potential wins slipping away
Ferrari once again appeared to struggle to join the Mercedes, Red Bull and McLaren fight, their pace since Charles Leclerc’s win in Monaco has seen them slump to fourth fastest. Carlos Sainz finished fifth but over half a minute behind Piastri.
Sainz finished eight seconds ahead of Nico Hulkenberg, on a decent weekend for Haas the teams second consecutive points score. Hulkenberg was eight tenths ahead of Lance Stroll whose Aston Martin teammate Fernando Alonso seven seconds behind. Alex Albon ensured all the British-born drivers finished in the point as he was over ten seconds ahead of Yuki Tsunoda.
Tsunoda spilt the two Williams, logan Saregeant nearly ten seconds behind the RB. Kevin Magnussen was the final car on the lead lap just over a second behind the American. Daniel Ricciardo was thirteenth half a second ahead of Charles Leclerc.
The Ferrari driver slipped back as he looked to struggle for pace for much of the weekend as he was a lap down on his incoming teammate Lewis Hamilton after he switched to the inters to early dropping him down the field.
Valtteri Bottas was fifteenth ahead of Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez, another disappointing result for the Mexican will continue to raise questions about how safe his future really is with Red Bull as he was two laps down Guanyu Zhou was the final finisher in eighteenth, Russell the only retirement.
Pierre Gasly failed to start thanks to a gearbox issue pulling into the pit lane and retiring on the formation lap.