Hamilton beats Verstappen to first win since 2021 with record-breaking 9th British Grand Prix victory

Lewis Hamilton has claimed a long-awaited – and record-breaking – ninth British Grand Prix victory in a thrilling race at Silverstone, with the Mercedes driver holding off a challenge from Lando Norris to take the win.

While pole-sitter George Russell had led away from Hamilton as the event got underway, an exciting battle soon unfolded between the two Mercedes cars and the McLaren pair of Norris and Oscar Piastri amid changing weather conditions.

The lead changed hands as the field began to switch to intermediate tyres after the opening phase of the race, before the skies later became dry and Hamilton capitalised from pitting for slicks one lap before Norris – who also faced a slow pit stop – to become the new race leader.

While Russell retired with a water system issue – and Max Verstappen snatched P2 from Norris in the latter stages – Hamilton held position to clinch an emotional victory, a record ninth win in a single Grand Prix and his first P1 result since the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

Despite looking increasingly quick on the hard tyres in the final laps, Verstappen did not have enough time to fight for the lead and crossed the line in P2 for Red Bull, while Norris completed the podium in third.

The other McLaren of Piastri took fourth, ahead of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz in fifth and an impressive Nico Hulkenberg in sixth for Haas. It was a better weekend than of late for Aston Martin, with Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso finishing in seventh and eighth respectively, while Alex Albon scored two valuable points for Williams in ninth.

Yuki Tsunoda rounded out the top-10 for RB, with Logan Sargeant just missing out for Williams in P11 from Haas’s Kevin Magnussen in P12, and RB’s Daniel Ricciardo followed in P13.

It was a disappointing outcome for Charles Leclerc. The Ferrari man had earlier made gains but slipped backwards after making an early switch to the intermediate tyres, and he eventually crossed the line in P14.

Valtteri Bottas was the lead Kick Sauber in 15th, while Esteban Ocon claimed 16th in a tough day for Alpine. Sergio Perez, meanwhile, faced another tough outing, ending the day down in 17th.

Zhou Guanyu became the final classified runner in P18 for Kick Sauber, while Russell was one of two retirees owing to that aforementioned water system issue.

Pierre Gasly also failed to make the finish, having returned to the pits at the end of the formation lap. It later transpired that the Alpine had been suffering with a gearbox problem.

AS IT HAPPENED

After an exciting qualifying session played out in mixed conditions on Saturday – with Russell leading a trio of Brits to secure pole position – attentions turned to Sunday’s 52-lap race at Silverstone.

Ahead of the event, it was confirmed that Perez would start from the pit lane due to his Red Bull being fitted with a new engine. The Mexican had originally qualified down in P19 after beaching the RB20 in the gravel during Q1. This left Gasly alone on the final row, where the Alpine driver had been obliged to start due to taking on new power unit elements for the weekend.

As the cars assembled on the grid and the tyre blankets came off, it was confirmed that everybody would start on fresh mediums, with Zhou and Ocon the exception on new softs and Perez opting for new hards. However, with a 60% chance of rain predicted for the race, the possibility of a switch to the intermediates later on could not be ruled out.

There was early trouble for Gasly, who dived into the pits at the end of the formation lap after reporting an issue with his Alpine. For the remaining 18 cars, it was a smooth start as the lights went out, with Russell enjoying a strong launch to hold the lead from Hamilton.

Norris, meanwhile, had to go slightly off track, allowing Verstappen to sweep through into P3. Elsewhere Hulkenberg had dropped backwards from sixth to ninth, while Leclerc had climbed up to eighth following his start from down in P11.

As Russell and Hamilton started to build a decent gap to Verstappen, the latter was warned over the radio that rain could fall in 25 minutes. Elsewhere, Sargeant informed his engineer that Williams team mate Albon seemed to have lost some bodywork, with the Thai driver running ahead of the American in 12th and 13th respectively.

While Gasly was confirmed as the first retiree owing to a gearbox issue, it was announced that Hulkenberg had been noted for leaving the track and gaining an advantage, though this was subsequently not investigated. Replays showed that the Haas car’s return to the circuit on Lap 1 ahead of Alonso resulted in the Aston Martin making contact with Albon’s Williams.

Seven laps in, Russell remained in the lead by 1.7s from Hamilton, with Verstappen still in third ahead of Norris, Piastri and Sainz. Stroll, meanwhile, was facing pressure in seventh from a chasing Leclerc, the Monegasque clearly keen to make up for his disappointing qualifying.

Overtakes were happening further back in the field – Ricciardo had snatched 14th from Zhou, who looked to be struggling on the soft tyre, while Perez had gained a place by getting ahead of Ocon for 16th place.

“Rain expected in seven laps, lasting for 10 minutes,” Leclerc was informed as some grey clouds lingered over the circuit, as Norris’s engineer told the McLaren man that they would “keep it simple” in terms of making their strategy calls once the showers arrived.

On Lap 13, Zhou became the first driver to pit for a swap to the medium tyre, while Leclerc finally found a way past Stroll for P7 into Stowe, allowing the Ferrari man to begin chasing down team mate Sainz.

Up ahead, Norris had eaten into Verstappen’s gap in the fight for third, cutting it down to only half a second. It then took just a couple of laps for the Briton to get into the slipstream of the Red Bull at Stowe and make the pass.

While many fans had started to don their ponchos in the grandstands, the conditions had not yet reached the point for intermediates on track. The weather did not prevent Piastri from lunging past Verstappen to take P4, but things certainly looked to be getting trickier for many.

“Try to survive this pocket of rain,” Verstappen was urged by engineer GP, just as Hamilton became the new race leader on Lap 18 after sweeping past Russell, with the latter seemingly struggling a little in the damp.

Things seemed to go from bad to worse for Russell as, with both Mercedes cars having a slight off at Abbey, Norris managed to steal P2. The McLaren man then had Hamilton in his sights, before steaming down the pit straight to take the lead, while Piastri soon joined the scrap and leapfrogged Russell for P3 into Turn 4 during a thrilling sequence of events.

By Lap 20 the picture had changed to a McLaren one-two after Piastri passed Hamilton for second. Hamilton was soon informed that it may be time for intermediates, a suggestion the seven-time world champion did not agree with, but the likes of Leclerc, Perez, Ocon and Zhou had decided that the time was indeed right for the switch.

However, not everybody was happy with the decision. Perez radioed in to say that the track was still too dry, while Ocon returned to the pits to swap back to the medium compound. The move particularly looked to have backfired for Leclerc, who was now running in P16 after earlier battling in the top 10.

The Monegasque had an off-track moment on Lap 25 and soon found himself being lapped by team mate Sainz – who was busy chasing Verstappen for P5 – just as Norris was being hunted down by fellow McLaren driver Piastri for the lead up ahead, with a gap of just half a second.

Amid an increasing amount of spray on track, Verstappen and Sainz both pitted for intermediates, while Norris and the two Mercedes cars followed one lap later. Piastri, however, was left out on track as the new leader.

The Australian was brought in on Lap 29, emerging back on track down in sixth as Norris took over at the front. Hamilton – running three seconds behind in P2 – was sent some encouraging words by his race engineer, while Verstappen followed in third after getting ahead of Russell by pitting earlier.

While the whole field were now running the intermediate compound, Perez made a pit stop to swap to a fresh pair – a problem seemingly affecting fellow Red Bull driver Verstappen, who reported that the tyres were degrading with 21 laps remaining in the event.

But questions remained over how the weather could affect the calls for the rest of the race. Hamilton was informed that the rain would last for at least six more laps – only for the driver to respond that it was no longer raining.

The Briton later added that his front tyres were “falling apart”. However, there was still plenty of spray on track, suggesting that it was still too early for a switch back to slicks.

There was disappointment for the other side of the Mercedes garage when Russell was suddenly called into the pits on Lap 34 to retire the car, marking a nightmare end to a day where he had started from pole and earlier looked to potentially be on course for a race win. Ironically, given the damp weather, it transpired that the W15 was suffering from a suspected water system issue.

Those conditions were still providing challenges out on track, with replays showing Magnussen narrowly avoiding losing his Haas at Stowe before fortunately managing to save it, allowing the Dane to continue running in P11.

“The sun is coming out,” reported Hamilton on Lap 37 as the Briton continued to chase Norris for the lead. The gap was now standing at around two seconds, with Norris having earlier had a bit of a snap through the final corner, while Verstappen was around five seconds back from Hamilton in P3.

Amid the changing weather, several drivers had decided that it was now time to bolt on the slick tyres. Hamilton pitted for the soft compound, Verstappen swapped to the hard and Piastri went for the medium. Norris, meanwhile, stayed out on track for an extra lap before making a stop for the softs.

After a slightly slower stop for the McLaren man at 4.5 seconds, Hamilton managed to steal the lead as Norris returned to the track in P2, with the crowd cheering as the 39-year-old became the new race leader. The Mercedes was now two seconds ahead, while Verstappen looked to be closing in on Norris.

With Hamilton and Norris both running the soft tyre, the fact that Verstappen had gone for the hard looked to be paying off for the Dutchman, who set the fastest lap of the race on Lap 44 as he continued to cut the gap to Norris. Behind them, Piastri was running in fourth, ahead of Sainz in fifth.

As the race started to move into its final laps, Norris looked to be struggling with his tyres as Verstappen had eaten even further into his advantage, with the Red Bull now around half a second away.

It was not long before Norris had to concede the position, as Verstappen overtook the McLaren through Stowe to take P2. With a three-second gap to Hamilton and three laps remaining, would the Dutchman run out of time to fight for the lead?

As Sainz made a late pit stop in an effort to take the fastest lap, it became clear that Verstappen was not going to get close enough to challenge for P1, with Hamilton crossing the line to take a record ninth victory at the British Grand Prix, also marking his first win since the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

The seven-time world champion was clearly emotional, saying over the radio, “It means a lot to get this one”. While the crowd celebrated the win, Verstappen claimed second place and Norris followed to complete the podium in third.

Piastri took fourth, ahead of Sainz in fifth, while Hulkenberg enjoyed a strong performance for Haas by finishing in sixth. Stroll and Alonso picked up a solid points haul for Aston Martin in seventh and eighth, while Albon had a good day for Williams in ninth.

The final point went to Tsunoda in P10, with Sargeant missing out in P11. Magnussen was P12 for Haas, ahead of the RB of Ricciardo.

Leclerc ended a challenging day down in 14th, from Bottas in 15th and Ocon in 16th. Perez, like Leclerc, was one of those to lose out from an early switch to the intermediate tyre and failed to make further ground, crossing the line in 17th.

Zhou was the final classified runner in 18th, with two drivers having retired from the race. Gasly had been the first to record a DNF, having returned to the pits at the end of the formation lap with a gearbox problem.

And just one week after his victory in Austria, Russell was the other retiree following that suspected water system issue.

Key quote

"I can’t stop crying!" said Hamilton. "It’s been since 2021, 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. This is my last race here at 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 over these years.

"I’m forever grateful to everyone in this team, everyone at Mercedes, all of our partners. Otherwise, to all our incredible fans… I could see you lap by lap as I was coming around, and there’s just no greater feeling [than] to finish at the front here."

What's next

The next stop on the 2024 F1 calendar will be the Hungarian Grand Prix, with the paddock heading back to the Hungaroring over the weekend of July 19-21. Head to the RACE HUB to find out how you can follow the action.