British GP - Race

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Qatar Airways British GP

Race

July 7, 2024

Lewis Hamilton secures his ninth victory at the British Grand Prix, setting a new record, with Max Verstappen finishing second.

In a thrilling race at Silverstone, England, Hamilton triumphed in challenging weather conditions, breaking his winless streak since the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

Defeating his rival Max Verstappen by 1.4 seconds, the Mercedes driver claimed his ninth win at Silverstone, making history as the driver with the most wins at a single Formula One circuit.

Hamilton, visibly moved, expressed his emotions after the race: "I can't stop crying. I know it's been since 2021, every day getting up trying 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 at the British Grand Prix, so I wanted to win this so much for them.

He further stated:"It's so tough, I think for anyone. I think the important thing is how you continue to get up and continue to dig deep even when you feel like you're at the bottom of the barrel.

"I mean there have definitely been days between 2021 and here when I didn't feel like I was good enough or whether I was going to get back to where I am today, but the important thing is I had great people around me continuing to support me, my team, every time I turn up and see them putting in the effort, that really encouraged me to do the same thing."

Hamilton has been waiting for his 104th F1 victory since his title battle with Verstappen in 2021.

After losing out on both the championship and a race win in controversial circumstances at the end of 2021, the seven-time world champion struggled as Mercedes couldn't provide him with a competitive car under the new 2022 regulations.

Having spent 12 years at Mercedes, Hamilton is set to depart for Ferrari at the end of the year.

Verstappen overtook Lando Norris for second place with four laps to go and even threatened to catch up with Hamilton.

Although Verstappen seemed out of contention for most of the 52-lap race, his car performed exceptionally well after switching to hard compound tires during the final pit stop.

While Norris and Hamilton initially opted for soft tires, which were fast but lost performance quickly, Verstappen managed to pass Norris and close the gap to Hamilton to just 1.4 seconds at the finish line.

Verstappen commented: "We just didn't have the pace today, I was slowly dropping back when it mattered at the beginning.

"It did not look great at some point, I was really thinking: 'Are we gonna finish fifth, sixth?' The call from the team to be on the hard tyre at the end instead of the soft was definitely helping me out. That's why I think we finished second today, it could have been a lot worse, we're making the right calls and we still got onto the podium and I'm of course happy with that."

Norris will view Sunday's race as yet another missed chance, as he managed to take the lead on Lap 20 during the initial rain shower. He maintained the lead until the first pit stops, where the leading drivers opted for rain tires. However, Norris decided to pit a lap later than his competitors to switch back to slicks, resulting in losing track position to Hamilton.

Furthermore, he missed the opportunity to change to the medium compound tire for his final stint. In hindsight, this would have been a wiser choice, as his teammate Oscar Piastri used the medium tire to achieve the fastest lap towards the end of the race, finishing in fourth place.

The British driver commented: "It was tough. It was enjoyable, it was fun, battling these guys and these tricky conditions are on a knife edge and you're risking a lot. So many things good, but a few too many let-downs today, and as a team I don't think we did quite the job we should have done or good enough, but still lovely to be on the podium here at Silverstone.

"I'm not making the right decisions, at the same time I blame myself today for not making some of the right decisions. I hate it. I hate ending in this position and everyone having excuses for not doing a good enough job but I'm still happy, I'm still going to enjoy it, we still did so many things right."

Piastri's race was negatively impacted by an untimely pit stop when McLaren decided to switch him to wet-weather tires a lap later than his competitors, causing him to fall from second to sixth place.

Carlos Sainz led the Ferrari team, finishing in fifth place ahead of Nico Hulkenberg from Haas in sixth, followed by Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso from Aston Martin in seventh and eighth positions, respectively.

Alex Albon claimed ninth place for Williams at their home race, with Yuki Tsunoda from RB finishing in tenth.

George Russell, Hamilton's teammate, had to retire from the race on Lap 33 due to a suspected water system issue after starting from pole position and dropping to fourth place in the wet conditions.

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British GP 2024 F1 Race Results

1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes (1:22:27.059)

2. Max Verstappen, Red Bull (+1.465)

3. Lando Norris, McLaren (+7.547)

4. Oscar Piastri, McLaren (+12.429)

5. Carlos Sainz, Ferrari (+47.318)

6. Nico Hülkenberg, Haas (+55.722)

7. Lance Stroll, Aston Martin (+56.569)

8. Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin (+1:03.577)

9. Alexander Albon, Williams (+1:08.387)

10. Yuki Tsunoda, RB (+1:19.303)

11. Logan Sargeant, Williams (+1:28.960)

12. Kevin Magnussen, Haas +1:30.153)

13. Daniel Ricciardo, RB (+1 Lap)

14. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari (+1 Lap)

15. Valtteri Bottas, Sauber (+1 Lap)

16. Esteban Ocon, Alpine (+2 Laps)

17. Sergio Pérez, Red Bull (+2 Laps)

18. Zhou Guanyu, Sauber (+2 Lap)

Ret. George Russell, Mercedes (+19 Lap)

Ret. Pierre Gasly, Alpine (+52 Lap)