Lewis Hamilton Wins British GP After 945 Days Without Victory
© F1
The race at Silverstone once again showcased the excitement of F1. The 39-year-old driver claimed victory ahead of Verstappen and Norris.
The unpredictable UK weather, combined with the changes teams made after introducing upgrades to their cars, made Silverstone a race that delivered the best of Formula 1.
This season has already seen six different winners at the halfway point of the 2024 season. The most successful champion in history, Sir Lewis Hamilton, shined once again on his home track. Mercedes had already conquered Silverstone on Saturday with George Russell's pole position. Unfortunately, Russell, despite maintaining the lead initially, had to retire on lap 34 due to a hydraulic system failure. This does not overshadow the victory of the 7-time world champion, who had gone 945 days without a Grand Prix win. This victory, Hamilton's last at Silverstone in the black suit, leaves Mercedes with a good taste and wanting more.
The team's technical director, James Allison, stated, "How could we have been so foolish?" referring to not identifying earlier what wasn't working in the W15. The Brackley team has finally found the balance missing at the start of the season and now poses a threat to McLaren and Red Bull.
Max Verstappen and Lando Norris completed the podium at the British Grand Prix. The Dutchman had a very quiet and low-performance weekend, but Red Bull, as always, nailed the strategy. In a race where it seemed he wouldn't finish higher than fourth, Verstappen ended up second by switching from intermediates to hards for the final stint without rain, passing Norris. The current world champion thus gains crucial points to remain the leader in the drivers' and constructors' championships, where the situation is increasingly difficult with an absent Sergio Pérez (finished 17th), whose biennial contract is now in doubt.
Wrong calls at McLaren
Lando Norris started third and lost position to Verstappen in the first corners. He later regained it in a much smoother duel with the Dutchman than we saw at the Austrian GP, where a move by Verstappen cost Norris the race. This time the MCL38 was far superior to Max's RB20, and the overtaking was clean. Shortly after, a duel between the Mercedes allowed Lando to close in on both and take the lead. From here, the race seemed to belong to McLaren, but several strategic errors cost them the victory.
The first error came with the arrival of rain, having to pit for intermediates on lap 27. McLaren decided not to do a double pit stop with Norris and Piastri, who were first and second less than a second apart at the time, sacrificing the Australian driver. Piastri maintained a good pace for the rest of the race, which could have allowed him to reach the podium and possibly even finish second.
With the end of the rain and the mandatory tire change, the Woking team made their second mistake, which cost Lando the lead. A slow pit stop caused Norris to lose position to Hamilton, who had stopped on the previous lap. Moreover, choosing a used soft tyre against a new medium didn't allow the young Brit to recover the lead, losing second place to Verstappen in the final laps while his teammate flew on medium tires.
© McLaren
Difficult weekend for Sainz and Alonso
If one team struggled at Silverstone, it was Ferrari. Carlos Sainz couldn't improve on fifth place, the maximum the Italians could aspire to this weekend, but at least he took the fastest lap in the final lap, having been able to pit for soft tires in the last minute due to his interval with Nico Hulkenberg.
Charles Leclerc, who finished 14th, couldn't say the same. The Maranello team got none of the strategies right with the Monegasque, who started 11th after a poor qualifying. The upgrade package introduced in Barcelona isn't working for Ferrari, which reverted to the old Imola setup with the SF-24 this weekend.
Alonso, meanwhile, continues a quiet season due to the limited possibilities with Aston Martin. The upgrades haven't worked for them either, even more drastically than Ferrari. Fernando finished eighth in the points zone, with his teammate Lance Stroll in seventh.
