Lewis Hamilton pulled in an enormous victory on Sunday, outracing his opponents to win the British Grand Prix with Mercedes. The massive victory, apart from being on the British driver’s dwelling turf, marked Hamilton’s first win since 2021.
The win was the ninth for Hamilton at Silverstone racetrack in England, breaking an F1 document for many wins on a single circuit. F1 heavyweight Max Verstappen took second, whereas Lando Norris took third.
Sunday’s win additionally marks Hamilton’s 104th profession F1 win — probably the most of any driver ever.
Hamilton was emotional after the race, which happened 945 days after his final win on the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. The 39-year-old racer embraced his father, Anthony, and wiped away tears beneath his visor.
After successful 4 consecutive F1 championships from 2017 to 2020, and second place in 2021, Hamilton struggled to make the highest three in a number of races. He recorded 9 podiums in 2022 and 6 in 2023, after recording 17 podiums in earlier seasons.
Hamilton’s second-place end in 2021 was controversial, with Verstappen taking the win solely after race director Michael Masi instructed automobiles to unlap themselves earlier than a remaining lap dash to the end, permitting Verstappen to cross Hamilton on recent tires earlier than the checkered flag.
Hamilton’s winless streak since has come as Mercedes struggled to get a grip on F1’s new automobile rules launched that season. As Verstappen has dominated the collection for the previous three seasons, Hamilton’s win Sunday is simply the third for Mercedes because the begin of 2022.
Nonetheless, there are indicators of a critical upward pattern. Hamilton’s victory comes every week after teammate George Russell gained in Austria following a collision between Norris and Verstappen. And Russell and Hamilton began Sunday’s race on the entrance row. Russell was on tempo for a top-five end himself earlier than he was compelled to retire his automobile halfway by way of the race due to a suspected water pump problem.
Hamilton stays at No. 8 within the F1 standings with 110 factors and one different podium — a third-place end on the Spanish Grand Prix in June. He’s now one level again of Russell and solely 14 factors again of Oscar Piastri in fifth.
Verstappen, who has dominated F1 since 2021, leads the standings by a major margin with 255 factors, seven wins and 9 podiums.
Subsequent up for F1 is the Hungarian Grand Prix on July 21, a race the place Hamilton has carried out nicely up to now — he took fourth within the race final 12 months, and took second the earlier two years.