Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton (right) celebrates on the podium after winning the British Formula One Grand Prix race at Silverstone racetrack in Silverstone, England on Sunday.
Luca Bruno/AP
Hide caption
Toggle Captions
Luca Bruno/AP
SILVERSTONE, England — Lewis Hamilton held off a last-minute attack from Max Verstappen to win a thrilling British Grand Prix on Sunday for his first victory since the penultimate race of the 2021 season.
Hamilton became the first F1 driver to win nine times at any track and extended his F1 record to 104 wins. His last win came at the Saudi Arabian GP in December 2021 – the year he lost the title to Red Bull driver Verstappen.
“You have to keep digging deep even when you’re feeling down,” Hamilton said. “My fans around the world have been so supportive of me.”
It was a fitting way for Hamilton to end his final British GP with Mercedes before joining Ferrari next year.
“This is my last race with this team, so I wanted to win it for them because I love them and appreciate them so much,” he said. “I was working towards my goal and there’s no better feeling than being here in the lead.”
The seven-time F1 champion beat defending champion Verstappen by 1.5 seconds, while Lando Norris finished third for McLaren ahead of teammate Oscar Piastri.
An emotional Hamilton thanked his team over the radio and was still emotional and trying to compose himself several minutes later.
“I’m still crying,” Hamilton said while addressing the crowd. “There have definitely been days between 2021 and here when I didn’t feel I was good enough.”
There were high expectations for a win on home ground at Silverstone, with Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate George Russell on pole position ahead of Hamilton with Norris third and Verstappen fourth.
Russell’s hopes of winning his second consecutive F1 win ended on the 34th lap of 52 when his car was suspected of having a water problem. A few laps later, McLaren made a mistake in changing Norris’s tyres.
Verstappen overtook Norris with four laps remaining but could not catch Hamilton, much to the delight of most of the 164,000 fans in attendance at the race.
Moments after crossing the line Hamilton jumped into the arms of mechanics and then hugged his father. Then it was time to enjoy the applause of the home fans. He jumped over the crash barrier carrying the British flag and then raised it aloft.
“I can see you winning every lap, there’s no greater feeling than that,” he told the cheering crowd.
At the start, Russell and Hamilton took the lead with ease, while Verstappen overtook Norris.
Rain began to fall about 25 minutes after the race started and made the 5.9-kilometre (3.7 mi) track much slicker.
Hamilton took the lead from Russell on the damp track, then Norris took advantage of Russell’s mistake to take second place.
Halfway through the race, Verstappen, Norris and both Mercedes cars had to pit for new tyres. But McLaren kept Piastri out for a little while longer, which ultimately ended his chances of winning.
After the tyre change, Norris was only three seconds ahead of Hamilton, while Verstappen was trailing at this point.
The next tire change, with a little over 10 laps remaining, proved crucial.
Verstappen, Hamilton and Norris made quick changes, but the McLaren took too long to get behind Norris – 4.5 seconds – and he fell 2.4 seconds behind race leader Hamilton, while Verstappen was now pulling ahead rapidly.
He couldn’t get that close, though, and Hamilton’s victory makes it six different winners so far this season – compared to just three in 22 races last year.
Even though Verstappen isn’t winning as much, he is still increasing his gap, with Norris trailing him.
He is 84 points ahead of Norris, 255-171, while Charles Leclerc is third on 150. Despite collecting 25 points for his win, Hamilton remains eighth on 110 points.
Carlos Sainz Jr finished Sunday’s race in fifth place for Ferrari, ahead of Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg, while Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin), Alex Albon (Williams) and Yuki Tsunoda (RB) completed the top 10.
Sergio Perez apologised to Red Bull after qualifying 19th and starting from the pit lane as his team had made several parts changes. He finished 17th, while Leclerc started 11th and finished 14th.
