Lewis Hamilton won out in a thrilling 2024 British Grand Prix to take his first F1 win for three years.
The Mercedes driver held on in an exciting wet/dry race that saw pole sitter George Russell, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri all lead at various points.
Taking the lead on pit stops from Norris in the final stint, Hamilton then found himself being hunted down by a resurgent Max Verstappen, whose hard tyres proved to be the compound of choice in the latter stages, but was unable to wrestle victory from his old rival.
Having last prevailed at the 2021 Saudi Arabian race, the emotion was clear on Hamilton’s radio as he struggled to get the words out speaking to team boss Toto Wolff and his race engineer Pete Bonnington.
Hamilton closes down Russell early on
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The seven-time champion then embraced his father Anthony before running over to the spectator grandstand at Club corner with a Union Jack to show his appreciation.
“I can’t stop crying,” said Hamilton afterwards. “Since 2021, it’s been every day getting up trying to fight, to train, to put my mind to the task and work as hard as I can with this amazing team.
“And this is my last race here, the British Grand Prix, with this team so I wanted to win this so much for them, because I love them.
“I appreciate them so much, all the hard work they’ve been putting in all of these years. I’m forever grateful to everyone in this team, everyone at Mercedes and all our partners.
Hamilton duels with Norris
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“And then otherwise to all our incredible fans, I can see you, lap by lap as I was coming around and there’s just no greater feeling to finish at the front here.”
The Mercedes driver had to work hard for his win, overtaking Russell early on then keeping in touch with Norris who in turn had overtaken Hamilton, before then holding off Verstappen later on.
Contemplating the gap between this and his last win, Hamilton expanded on the motivation needed to remain competitive at the pinnacle of motor sport.
“It’s so tough for anyone, but I think the important thing is just how you continue to get up and continue to dig deep even when you feel that you’re at the bottom of the barrel.
“There’s definitely been days between 2021 and here where I didn’t feel like I was good enough or whether I was gonna get back to where I am today.
“But the important thing is I had great people around me continuing to support me and my team. Every time I turn up and see them putting in the effort that really encouraged me to do the same thing, and otherwise my friends when I see them around the world they have been so supportive.”
Meanwhile Norris, who came in third, rued a slow pit stop which put him behind Hamilton and then a soft tyre selection in the final stint which saw Verstappen – on the hard tyre – cruise past.
“That crucial decision at the end, he just did a better job – so hats off to him and Mercedes, they deserve it,” he said.
“It was tough. It was enjoyable, was fun battling these guys. These tricky conditions are always like on a knife edge and you’re risking a lot. So many things [were] good but a few too many let downs today. As a team I don’t think we did quite the job we should have done, but so lovely to be on the podium here at Silverstone.”
