Lewis Hamilton wins British Grand Prix: NPR

SILVERSTONE, England – Lewis Hamilton held off a late charge from Max Verstappen to win a thrilling British Grand Prix on Sunday and take his first victory since the final 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 appearance 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 feel like you’re at the bottom of the barrel,” Hamilton said. “My fans around the world have been very supportive.”

It was a fitting way for Hamilton to end his last British GP with Mercedes, before joining Ferrari the following 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’ve been coming around and there’s no greater feeling than finishing here at the front.”

The seven-time F1 champion beat defending champion Verstappen by 1.5 seconds, with Lando Norris finishing third for McLaren ahead of teammate Oscar Piastri.

A tearful Hamilton thanked his team over the radio and several minutes later was still emotional as he struggled to compose himself.

“I’m still crying,” Hamilton said, addressing the crowd. “There have definitely been days between here and 2021 when I didn’t feel like I was good enough.”

There were high expectations for a home win 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 a second consecutive F1 win ended on the 34th of 52 laps due to a suspected hydraulic system problem with his car. A few laps later, McLaren made a mistake with Norris’s tire change.

Verstappen overtook Norris with four laps remaining, but could not catch Hamilton, much to the delight of most of the 164,000 fans attending the race.

Moments after crossing the line, Hamilton jumped into the mechanics’ arms and then went into a long hug with his father. Then it was time to absorb the applause of the home fans. Carrying the British flag he jumped over a crash barrier and then lifted it high.

“I can see you being held in my arms, there’s no greater feeling than that,” he told the excited crowd.

Russell and Hamilton remained clear at the start while Verstappen overtook Norris.

It started raining about 25 minutes into the race and the 5.9-kilometre (3.7-mile) track became slicker.

After Hamilton took the lead from Russell on the wet track, Norris took advantage of Russell’s mistake to move up to second.

Verstappen, Norris and both Mercedes cars required new tires shortly after the halfway point of the race. But McLaren kept Piastri out for a while, ultimately costing them the chance of victory.

After the tyre-change shakeup, Norris was only three seconds ahead of Hamilton while Verstappen was trailing at this point.

With a little over 10 laps remaining, the next tire change proved crucial.

Verstappen, Hamilton and Norris made quick changes but the McLaren took too much time on the back of Norris – 4.5 seconds – and he fell 2.4 seconds behind race leader Hamilton, with Verstappen now going faster.

However, he couldn’t get close enough, and Hamilton’s victory made him six different winners so far this season – compared to only three in 22 races last year.

Although Verstappen is not winning as much, he is still increasing his gap as Norris is finishing behind him.

He is 84 points ahead of Norris in the standings, 255–171, with Charles Leclerc in third with 150. Despite picking up 25 points for his win, Hamilton remains eighth overall with 110.

Carlos Sainz Jr. finished the race in fifth place for Ferrari on Sunday, ahead of Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg, with Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin), Alex Albon (Williams) and Yuki Tsunoda (RB) completing the top 10. got included in.

Sergio Pérez apologized to Red Bull after qualifying in a disappointing 19th place, and started from the pit lane as his team made several part changes. He finished 17th, while Leclerc started 11th and finished 14th.