British Grand Prix: Lewis Hamilton makes F1 history with crazy NINTH Silverstone win

The streak is over! Lewis Hamilton made Formula 1 history with a ninth Silverstone victory, winning an all-time classic British Grand Prix.

With rain showers making for tyre and lead changes galore, it was Hamilton who used every bit of that Silverstone experience to see off former title rival Max Verstappen and return to the top step of the podium, his first win since the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

Lewis Hamilton claims record-breaking ninth Silverstone win

The rain had come and gone at Silverstone earlier in the day, leaving a dry track with the sun shining for lights out, but with polesitter George Russell saying further rain was expected an hour into the race, the weather factor remained in play.

The top 13 all chose medium tyres for the race start, with Red Bull’s Sergio Perez, starting from the pit lane after taking new power unit components, the only driver to go for the hard compound. Zhou Guanyu and Esteban Ocon went for softs.

Ocon’s Alpine team-mate Pierre Gasly was called into the pits at the end of the formation lap due to “an issue with the car”, resulting in a DNS. It turned out to be a gearbox failure.

No such issues for Mercedes who maintained their one-two off the line, Hamilton slotting in behind Russell, as Verstappen demoted Norris a position to set off after the Mercedes duo. Nico Hulkenberg in the Haas, after a stellar qualifying performance, dropped three spots to P9, while Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc gained three and was up to P8.

Hulkenberg’s afternoon risked worsening as he was noted for leaving the track and gaining an advantage at Turn 3, while Williams’ Alex Albon was carrying damage after contact with Fernando Alonso at that corner, Alonso swerving to avoid the returning Hulkenberg. Logan Sargeant also took a hit from team-mate Albon in that exchange.

The stewards ultimately decided that no further action was needed.

Russell was controlling proceedings in the opening stages, just over a second-and-a-half clear of Hamilton, who had also moved out of DRS range from Verstappen. Tyre management was the order of the day, with the radar showing rain was on its way.

Zhou had enough of those soft tyres by Lap 13, boxing for a set of new mediums, meaning Sauber did not want that wait to come. Those mediums were working well for Leclerc, who cleared Stroll for P7 with Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz next up the road.

Norris was also looking to make moves as spits of rain started, latching onto the rear wing of Verstappen as a fresh battle brewed. Could they keep it clean this time?

The answer was yes, Norris diving down the inside of Verstappen into Stowe to improve to the podium places, as Ferrari predicted that “heavy rain” was imminent.

Piastri followed Norris in clearing Verstappen at Stowe a lap later, the corner now far more tricky as the rain intensified, while Russell was struggling, Hamilton now right on his tail for the lead.

And with DRS open down the Hangar Straight, through came Hamilton at Stowe to take the lead of the British GP on Lap 18, both Mercedes drivers then going off at the Loop as Norris swooped through into P2. DRS was swiftly disabled.

And on the following lap, Norris was through into the lead at Abbey, as Piastri this time picked off Russell and then Hamilton at Stowe, creating a McLaren one-two. Leclerc, Perez, Ocon and Zhou boxed for intermediates, with Mercedes urging Hamilton that it was time to do the same.

Perez complained that it was “too dry for inters”, but the radar suggested that the heavier rain burst was poised to hit. Norris went for a trip over the run-off at Becketts to highlight how tricky the conditions were, but Race Control decided it was safe to reenable DRS.

Ocon decided to give up on the inters and boxed for mediums, as the leaders funnelled past Leclerc to lap the Ferrari driver, Sainz included, who was hunting down Verstappen.

Lap 28 and both Verstappen and Sainz, dropping back from the leading quartet, decided it was time for inters as the rain restarted. Piastri was right on Norris’ tail for the lead, but spray was now being kicked up as the intensity increased. In came Norris and both Mercedes drivers, but Piastri stayed out.

Verstappen muscled his way between the Mercedes cars ahead of Russell, race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase gleefully declaring “we’re back in the race”. In came Piastri from the lead a lap later, returning to the track down in P6. Norris resumed the lead of the British Grand Prix.

Come Lap 30 Perez was back in the pits for another set of inters, with Verstappen also struggling to manage them. Hamilton said his “front tyres are falling apart”.

Key talking points from Silverstone

👉 McLaren v Red Bull uncovered: Does Christian Horner have a new arch-enemy in F1?

👉 Max Verstappen speaks out on British bias in F1 with ‘one-sided affair’ verdict

As Piastri harried Sainz, without the aid of DRS which had been switched off once again, disaster struck for Russell as Mercedes told him to retire the W15, the team reporting a water system issue. All hopes were now on Hamilton to score this British GP win as he set about whittling down Norris’ lead as the rain eased up.

The sun soon shone once more as the crossover point to return to slicks approached, Kevin Magnussen and Daniel Ricciardo deciding it was time on Lap 39, fitting softs. Hamilton followed suit, while Verstappen went for a new set of hards. Piastri was in for new mediums.

Norris boxed a lap later, but skidding and going long in his pit box, it was a four-and-a-half second stop for softs as Hamilton became the new leader of the British Grand Prix. Hamilton, Norris and Verstappen was the top three. Verstappen was gaining on them both, with Red Bull seeing front-left tyre damage for Hamilton and Norris. 4.5 seconds covered the top three.

If Verstappen was to challenge Hamilton, then passing Norris – who was really starting to struggle on the softs – would be critical.

And Verstappen would get the pass done around the outside into Stowe, leaving him three-and-a-half laps to chase down Hamilton. The gap was three seconds.

Verstappen continued to close, but it was not enough. The 56-race streak without victory was over. Lewis Hamilton had won the British Grand Prix, his ninth Silverstone triumph, setting another F1 record for the most wins at a single circuit.

2024 British Grand Prix timings

1 Lewis HAMILTON Mercedes 1:22:27.059 52 laps
2 Max VERSTAPPEN Red Bull Racing +1.465
3 Lando NORRIS McLaren +7.547
4 Oscar PIASTRI McLaren +12.429
5 Carlos SAINZ Ferrari +47.318
6 Nico HULKENBERG Haas F1 Team +55.722
7 Lance STROLL Aston Martin +56.569
8 Fernando ALONSO Aston Martin +63.577
9 Alexander ALBON Williams +68.387
10 Yuki TSUNODA RB +79.303
11 Logan SARGEANT Williams +88.960
12 Kevin MAGNUSSEN Haas F1 Team +90.153
13 Daniel RICCIARDO RB +1 lap
14 Charles LECLERC Ferrari +1 lap
15 Valtteri BOTTAS Kick Sauber +1 lap
16 Esteban OCON Alpine +2 laps
17 Sergio PEREZ Red Bull Racing +2 laps
18 Guanyu ZHOU Kick Sauber +2 laps
DNF George RUSSELL Mercedes
DNF Pierre GASLY Alpine

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