Lewis Hamilton was back to his winning ways at the British Grand Prix as the rain came down and the champagne sprayed. PETER COSTER reports.
“I can’t stop crying,” said Lewis Hamilton after the British Grand Prix, where he spent emotional minutes hugging his parents as thousands of fans crowded the track to celebrate his ninth win at Silverstone.
It was the most wins on one track since the first Grand Prix at Silverstone in more than 70 years and yet another record for the British driver.
Hamilton has amassed more victories than any other driver in the history of the sport and is tied with Michael Schumacher on seven world championships.
He would have won an eighth were it not for a controversial decision by an Australian race director that handed the title to Max Verstappen.
There are records wherever you look in Hamilton’s F1 career, most pole positions, most laps led, most fastest laps.
Silverstone on Sunday was the last British Grand Prix to be contested in a Mercedes by the soon-to-be 40 year old who is going to Ferrari.
But while the tears flowed after the race, it was his words during the ace on team radio that told the story of his continued success.
It was 945 days since he had last won in Saudi Arabia.
Towards the end of the race at Silverstone on Sunday, a race in which the top drivers shared the lead, Hamilton told race engineer, Bono to shut up and “leave it to me, mate.”
There was none of the emotion seen after after the race. These were the words of the ultimate professional who was telling Bonnington that he had the race in his complete control. He didn’t need anyone’s advice.
It seemed he was reassuring everyone, the 160,000 mostly British fans in the crowd and the millions around the world who heard it on team radio, that it was his race to lose.
Mercedes and McLaren now threaten the domination of Red Bull and Verstappen, who won his first world championship at that race in Saudi Arabia.
Verstappen and Red Bull have since won two world championships and were expected to win a fourth this year.
No longer is that a foregone conclusion. At Silverstone it was George Russell and Lewis Hamilton on the front row, Lando Norris on the second row with Verstappen and Oscar Piastri alongside Nico Hulkenberg on the third row.
Russell was to retire late in the race with a water pressure issue as rain poured down on the track .
Emerging Melbourne superstar Piastri lost the lead in his McLaren when he was called in late for a tyre change and the Ferraris and Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc had their problems.
This may be a warning to Hamilton who is leaving Mercedes for the Scuderia next year.
Should he have stayed with Mercedes and has his move been prompted by frustration?
“Since 2021, I just every day get up trying to fight, to train, to put my mind to the task and work as hard as I can with this amazing team.”
That speaks to his resilience, his determination when others would have considered retiring.
The financial rewards are a motivation although that can hardly be a determining factor when Hamilton has already earned hundreds of millions of pounds in salary and bonuses over a remarkable career, easily the most lucrative in the world’s most expensive sport.
Meanwhile, the driver market is as confused as it has ever been. Who would have thought Hamilton would have left Mercedes, which has given him such success, to sign with Ferrari which has shown such disdain for Carlos Sainz, who is still looking for a drive next year.
It seems Williams might be his next team, but one with little chance of winning in the near term, something that was possible with Ferrari although the team has slipped back towards in recent races.
Surprisingly, the F1 paddock still entertains rumours of Daniel Ricciardo replacing Sergio Perez at Red Bull alongside Verstappen.
The Mexican driver, who crashed out of qualifying on Sunday, has signed a contract extension with Red Bull, but there may be an out clause.
Ricciardo had another disappointing finish behind teammate Yuki Tsunoda on Sunday. The Australian finished 13th at Silverstone, two places ahead of where he started the race.
He said the Visa RB lacked pace but the eight-times race winner conceded three places to his Japanese teammate who picked up a point in 10th.
Oscar Piastri was ahead of Norris when rain fell on lap 27 but he found himself left out on the track while Norris pitted for intermediates.
Piastri didn’t blame the team but said “that decision in that race was probably the hardest call you’re ever going to have in motor racing.”
Piastri was five seconds ahead of Norris when the call came and had slipped to sixth when he came out.
“As soon as I went past pit entry I knew it was the wrong call. The last couple of corners were very, very tough and I knew I was in a lot of trouble.”
That extra lap in the rain on slicks brought the Australian’s race undone. Norris admitted his own mistakes in letting Verstappen get past him Silverstone following their disastrous coming together in Austria where Norris failed to finish.
Verstappen finished fifth with a 10-second penalty for moving under braking in Austria and not giving Norris room as he tried to pass.
The incident carried over to Silverstone with Verstappen blaming the mostly-British media for blaming the pile-on.
“In the back of their minds most would prefer their national driver, or in the case of an incident naturally pick the side of their countryman.
“Ex-drivers, most of them are British, so it’s bit of a one-sided affair.”
The Dutchman might have a point. British drivers in Russell, Hamilton and Norris were on the first three places on the grid, which raised the nationalistic fervour.
Hamilton finished the race swathed in a union jack handed to him by a track marshal and British celebrities packed the grid before the race started.
The best one-liner came from Queen guitarist Brian May, who hurried away from an attempted interview with Martin Brundle on his grid walk, saying he didn’t know anything about the sport.
The next race is the Hungarian Grand Prix on July 21.
2024 British Grand Prix
7th July 2024
POS | DRIVER | CAR | TIME/RETIRED |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Lewis Hamilton | MERCEDES | 22:27.1 |
2 | Max Verstappen | RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT | +1.465s |
3 | Lando Norris | MCLAREN MERCEDES | +7.547s |
4 | Oscar Piastri | MCLAREN MERCEDES | +12.429s |
5 | Carlos Sainz | FERRARI | +47.318s |
6 | Nico Hulkenberg | HAAS FERRARI | +55.722s |
7 | Lance Stroll | ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES | +56.569s |
8 | Fernando Alonso | ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES | +63.577s |
9 | Alexander Albon | WILLIAMS MERCEDES | +68.387s |
10 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB HONDA RBPT | +79.303s |
11 | Logan Sargeant | WILLIAMS MERCEDES | +88.960s |
12 | Kevin Magnussen | HAAS FERRARI | +90.153s |
13 | Daniel Ricciardo | RB HONDA RBPT | +1 lap |
14 | Charles Leclerc | FERRARI | +1 lap |
15 | Valtteri Bottas | KICK SAUBER FERRARI | +1 lap |
16 | Esteban Ocon | ALPINE RENAULT | +2 laps |
17 | Sergio Perez | RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT | +2 laps |
18 | Zhou Guanyu | KICK SAUBER FERRARI | +2 laps |
NC | George Russell | MERCEDES | DNF |
NC | Pierre Gasly | ALPINE RENAULT | DNS |
PETER COSTER is a former editor and foreign correspondent who has covered a range of international sports, including world championship fights and the Olympic Games.
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