Lewis Hamilton claimed his first Formula 1 victory in over two years as he scored a record ninth British Grand Prix on Sunday.
Changing weather conditions played in Hamilton’s favor in the latter part of the event at Silverstone Circuit as he opted for slick tires a lap prior to McLaren’s Lando Norris, who had a slow pit stop, which made the ultimate difference.
From there, the Mercedes driver scampered away from a hard-charging Max Verstappen, who crossed the finish line 1.46 seconds behind.
“I can’t stop crying!” Hamilton said. “It’s been since 2021, every day getting up, trying to fight, to train, to put my mind to the task and work as hard as I can with this amazing team. This is my last race here at the British Grand Prix with this team, so I wanted to win this so much for them, because I love them, I appreciate them so much, all the hard work they’ve been putting in all over these years.
“I’m forever grateful to everyone in this team, everyone at Mercedes, all of our partners. Otherwise, to all our incredible fans… I could see you lap by lap as I was coming around, and there’s just no greater feeling [than] to finish at the front here.”
The seven-time champion last visited the top step of the podium at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in December of 2021. It was his 83rd victory with Mercedes.
Behind the front two, Norris completed the podium in third to earn a trophy on home soil. Norris was followed by teammate Oscar Piastri in fourth while Carlos Sainz completed the top-five finishers.
It was a stellar showing for Haas F-1’s Nico Hulkenberg, who placed sixth after qualifying in the same position on Saturday.
Aston Martin’s pair of drivers followed suit with Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso placing seventh and eighth, respectively.
Alex Albon finished ninth ahead of Yuki Tsunoda in 10th.
American Logan Sargeant narrowly missed out on points after finishing 11th, his best result of the season and his best since last year’s Brazilian Grand Prix (11th).
Hamilton’s teammate George Russell, who won last week’s Austria Grand Prix and started on pole at Silverstone, retired from the race due to a water system issue.