Sir Lewis Hamilton’s historic British GP win was the ultimate homecoming

8th July 2024

Silverstone set the stage for the rest of the season

To describe the British Grand Prix at Silverstone anything other than a thrilling show of passion, perseverance and poise would be a disservice. Simply put, it set the tone for the rest of the season, reports Damian Hall from Silverstone.

From epic battles on the track to electric fan energy across the stands, and off-track activities, Silverstone won’t be easily outdone.

For starters, Sir Lewis Hamilton wrote his name in the history books once again, breaking his own record for the most wins at one circuit. Crossing the finish line first on Sunday at his home circuit in front of thousands of fans felt like something out of a movie. To top it off, he did it overcoming the most challenging, and unpredictable weather conditions, and, more notably, after 945 days without a GP win. 

An emotional Hamilton said post-race  “I can’t stop crying. Since 2021 everyday getting up, fight, train and putting my mind to the task. Last race with the team. I wanted to win it for them. To all our incredible fans, I could see you lap by lap and there’s no greater feeling than seeing that”.

“The important thing is how you get up and you have to continue to dig deep even when you’re at the bottom of the battle. I didn’t think I’d get back to where I am today”.

This Grand Prix was not only Hamilton’s ultimate homecoming, fellow drivers, McLaren’s Lando Norris and teammate George Russell, returned to the land of their birth, which no doubt added to the electric atmosphere buzzing around the

Northampton venue where the home crowd made their presence known.

After two practice sessions on Friday (July 5), Norris and teammate Oscar Piastri were on top of the time sheets, giving worry to Mercedes fans who were accustomed to Mercedes being better in practice. 

With Hamilton and Russell only managing to secure 6th and 10th respectively, conversations swirled about a possible first Silverstone win for Norris, who was on a “revenge drive”. This followed his run-in with current championship leader and Red Bull driver Max Verstappen in Austria, where the two had a collision that caused Norris to retire from the race.

However, all of that changed after the third and final practice session on Saturday (July 6) when the two Mercedes drivers topped the times. Russell finished slightly ahead of Hamilton and Norris less than two-tenths slower. 

Regardless of positions, the three Brits were on top, with the rest of the field seemingly struggling with the British weather conditions.

Although practice gave some indication of the performance of the cars, a lot of “sandbagging” occurred, which saw drivers reserve their best performance for the final. 

Qualification sessions rolled on later that day, where the slowest five of the first two sessions were eliminated, leaving the top 10 to have a shootout for the fastest time. 

Impressively, each Brit was fastest in a session. Hamilton was fastest in Qualification Session 1 (Q1), Norris in Q2, but when it mattered most, Russell was fastest in Q3, with Hamilton and Norris 2nd and 3rd fastest respectively, setting the top three for the race the following day.

This is when predictions changed, and speculations hummed around Silverstone. While some fans hoped for a Norris and Verstappen rematch, others shared they wanted to see Verstappen tagged-teamed by the McLaren duo. Some spoke of wanting to see Hamilton beat Russell at the start and take the lead early on, and I also overheard some say that Norris would take the lead at the start (he is now known to go through the slightest crack any driver ahead leaves open). 

One thing was clear, the crowd was sure a Brit was going to win.

Despite numerous fan forecasts, no one could have foretold what would have transpired on the track.

Though he got a good start, Hamilton could not take the lead away from Russell until the 18th lap. But, his lead was brief and he eventually lost to Norris soon after. It wasn’t until the 40th lap that Hamilton reclaimed the lead and never let it go despite being chased down by Verstappen, who had emerged from a 4th place start to successfully stealing 2nd from Norris in the final laps.

I witnessed the crowd roar when Hamilton made his way through the last corner, leading onto the rightfully named ‘Hamilton Straight’, to cross the line first and claim his 9th win, making it the most any driver in history has ever won at one circuit. 

It would be remiss not to mention that history was also being made in the Formula 2 series, after Zane Maloney, the first driver from Barbados to drive in the series, claimed two podiums at the historic circuit. The Sauber Academy driver finished 2nd in both the Sprint and Feature races.

Throughout the weekend, Hollywood star Brad Pitt also added additional excitement to an already vibrant venue as he filmed scenes from his new movie, F1. It was a sight to behold watching his fictitious paddock nestled between the real teams, and, on GP day, Pitt even took part in post-race interviews for the film among the top three drivers. Additionally, between sessions, cars from the film were on the track too.  

There was a huge focus on community at the venue, with an entire section dedicated to it providing lots of family activities and areas specifically for children.

The most interesting tent was one backed by Hamilton’s Mission 44, an initiative called Driven By Us, which seeks to empower ethnic minorities and underrepresented groups within the workplace as well as the wider motorsport community.

There were also displays from the Military, Police, and ambulance personnel. Although racing is the main event, there was lots on offer to suit everyone. 

The fan zone, Lego build area, pitstop challenges, lots of food, and fun for everyone during the day. And, as the evenings drew to a close, Silverstone was bursting with electric concert vibes. Across the weekend, fans were treated to performances by Kings of Leon, Stormzy, Pete Tong, and Rudimental, to name a few. 

As the racing ended, the ravers raced to the main stage for performances and then headed to the Mahiki Enclosure to party the night away.

Formula One heads to Hungary next, and fans will be wondering whether anything can top what they witnessed this weekend at Silverstone. 

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