The King is back: Lewis Hamilton wins at Silverstone for the ninth time!

Lewis Hamilton wins the British Grand Prix for the ninth time in his career, reaching 104 race wins in Formula 1. With this success at Silverstone he breaks a 945-day winless streak that had lasted since the 2021 Saudi Arabian GP, ​​at the end of the season who gave the World Championship to Max Verstappen, while us Formula 1 fans had in return a Lewis who many have described as less "hungry" and above all disillusioned, just because of the well-known events that happened in Abu Dhabi.

But sometimes the truth is far from what we try to fictionalize, and the reasons that kept the 7-time World Champion away from the top step of the podium are more to be searched in a technical decline of his team (understandable, after a sequence of World Titles unparalleled in the history of this sport) that in a lack of motivation from who still drives "his" Mercedes without leaving any stone unturned.

Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

With today's victory and tears, Lewis demonstrates his love for Formula 1 for the second time this year: in fact, the choice made last winter to move from Mercedes to Ferrari starting next year was certainly complicated for a driver in his position... We're talking about an athlete in the final stages of his career who refuses to give up on his World Title ambitions once again, at the cost of leaving a comfort zone that - together with Toto Wolff and Niki Lauda - he helped to create. There is no economic or marketing reason that matters when it comes to motivating such a choice: Hamilton is still hungry for victories, and regardless of who we support, we should be grateful for the added value that the Englishman can still bring to our sport.

So let's understand how this amazing victory in the British GP came about, but not before taking a look at the final classification:

Mercedes (almost) perfect, McLaren throws away another chance of victory

The Silverstone race was a true classic when it comes to racing on British soil: an annoying intermittent rain made strategic choices crucial, but no less was the drivers' ability to keep the car on the track in difficult conditions, for example at the end of the initial stint on Medium tyres. After a start in which the only exchange of positions at the top was that between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris, with third place going to the Dutchman to the detriment of the Englishman, already starting from lap 15 there were the first drops of rain falling, with a sudden decrease in track temperatures which made the Maggotts-Becketts-Chapel and Stowe sections particularly challenging.

Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images

On a damp track, the superior grip of McLaren emerged compared to Red Bull, also the result of a more conservative setup choice by the team of Norris and Piastri, which however paid off when the higher downforce greater aerodynamic load had to take over from the lesser mechanical grip, because of the above-mentioned conditions of the tarmac. Norris then overtook Verstappen in a short time, with the latter - perhaps mindful of the events in Austria - offering no resistance into the braking zone of the Stowe corner. A rarity, which curiously was repeated two laps later (on the same piece of track) when it was the other McLaren, that of Oscar Piastri, who easily overtook the World Champion.

British GP - Analysis of the stints run by top teams' drivers

British GP - Analysis of the stints run by top teams' drivers

When the intensity of the rain increased (although not enough to recommend a switch to Intermediate tyres), the leading quartet - made up of the two Mercedes and the two McLarens - regrouped, providing two important verdicts:

  • Lewis Hamilton's sensitivity at the wheel in critical conditions, as the Englishman immediately overtook his teammate to take the lead and set a pace that was unapproachable for Russell himself;
  • The above-mentioned grip of the two McLaren MCL38s, which in the most slippery sections of the track (always considering the use of dry tyres up to that point) proved to be much more stable than the Mercedes W15s;

In the long run, in these conditions the technical status quo in favour of McLaren prevailed, and despite Hamilton's masterful race conduct, the two papaya cars grabbed the top two positions, with Norris ahead of Piastri on lap 20.

First strategic error by McLaren in the transition to Intermediates

Verstappen and Sainz, having the least to lose from their positions (P5 and P6 respectively), took advantage of the changing weather conditions for pulling into the pits on lap 27, and finally switch to wet tyres, obviously opting for the Intermediate compound.

Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images

In this moment comes the first serious blunder by the pitwall of the Woking team, which on lap 28 reacts to the move of Red Bull and Ferrari strategists, but does so with only Norris, leaving Piastri on track for a further lap, on very worn tyres and which had completely lost temperature due to the now heavier rain. In hindsight, it was actually that extra lap (and the resulting time lost, as can be seen in the graph below) that eliminated Piastri from the fight for victory, which is a shame because the Australian driver, for once, showed that he could have kept a race pace similar to the one of the more experienced Norris, also by virtue of not having to manage his tyres. On top of that, McLaren also lost the chance to "play" in 2 vs 1 conditions against Red Bull and Mercedes in the second part of the race.

British GP - Analysis of the race pace held by Hamilton, Piastri and Sainz

British GP - Analysis of the race pace held by Hamilton, Piastri and Sainz

That's because, just a few laps later (on lap 34), George Russell had to bring his W15 into the pits to retire, most likely due to a hydraulic failure. Leaving the specific cause that put an end to the poleman's race aside, at that moment the Mercedes pitwall had to entrust Hamilton for their chances of victory. But Lewis, despite having a tremendous pace today, could have been caught in the "crossfire" of Norris and Piastri. But, as mentioned, the latter was no longer a protagonist of the race, stuck in fifth position even behind Sainz's Ferrari, as the Spaniard was very good at resisting to the Australian's attacks, but with little hope of keeping him behind until the chequered flag...

Second McLaren strategic error: choosing Softs in the final stint of Lando Norris

About 20 minutes after what we described, the end of the rain above Silverstone and the strong wind caused the track to dry rapidly, with the protagonists of the race once again grappling with the strategic puzzle of having to choose when to pull into the pits to fit dry tyres, and which compound to use.

Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

Net of the availability of tyre sets for everyone, McLaren pitwall managed the arduous task of getting both the timing and the compound wrong for Lando Norris, as he consequently - pitting on lap 40 versus lap 39 of Hamilton and Verstappen (on Hards) - handed the lead of the Grand Prix to his compatriot.

But, in my opinion, the worst mistake was not in the timing of the pitstop, but in choosing to use the same Soft compound that Hamilton had fitted one lap earlier. Even though at that moment there were only 13 laps remaining in the race, the need to push hard to try and win would certainly have exposed the Soft compound to a performance drop in the final laps, which occurred to such an extent that Norris (at lap 48) also lost second position to Verstappen...

British GP - Analysis of the race pace held by Hamilton, Verstappen and Norris

British GP - Analysis of the race pace held by Hamilton, Verstappen and Norris

Here, in addition to the mistake of the Woking engineers (who, having a set of Mediums available, should have also fitted them on Lando's MCL38 as well as on Oscar's, to create an offset compared to Hamilton), it's worth noting the ability of Hamilton himself, who succeeded - whereas the McLaren driver failed - in making his set of Softs last until the chequered flag in good shape, preventing Verstappen from taking away victory number 104 of his career.

An unstoppable Verstappen only surrenders to Hamilton at his best

Talking about the second-placed Verstappen, today's race leads to a reflection on how we shoundn't never consider him as defeated as long as he is on track, beyond the actual potential that his RB20 - or its predecessors of recent years - make it available to him. In this British GP there were moments in which his maximum aspiration seemed to be fifth position, behind the four Mercedes-powered drivers who were dominating the race.

Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images

Yet, whether due to a particularly successful strategy, or due to the disasters in the pits which Norris and Piastri suffered, or perhaps due to Russell's DNF, the fact is that Max even seemed capable of undermining Hamilton for first position, crossing the finish line less than 1.5 s from the home hero. Only an astonishing performance (like the one Lewis delivered) could have put the World Champion under pressure, as the latter still emerges from the British race with his leadership in the World Championship slightly strengthened, when we're halfway through the Championship.

One statistic describes better than the other ones how Verstappen can never be underestimated: the last time he lost two races in a row was in the middle of the 2022 season, when - ironically, again at Silverstone and Austria - had been the Ferraris of Sainz and Leclerc to prevail. This year, with the two GPs reversed, it fell first to Russell and then to Hamilton to break the dominance of a driver who is rewriting the books of this era in Formula 1.

Disappointing race for Ferrari, another zero for Leclerc. Haas' Constructors Championship is on Hukenberg's shoulders!

Behind the top positions we find, in fifth position, the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz, author of a race from which he extracted the most he could hope for and even a little more, in the form of the additional point gained due to the fastest lap (as you can see in the graph below), set on the last lap. Carlos therefore leaves Silverstone with a haul of 11 points, a small consolation that his teammate Leclerc (P14) won't even be able to have, given that for the third time in the last four race weekends he finds himself with a zero in the Drivers' Championship standings.

British GP - Fastest laptime set by each of the top teams' drivers

British GP - Fastest laptime set by each of the top teams' drivers

Since his fantastic victory in Monaco, 42 days have passed in which everything went wrong for Charles, both from a technical point of view - with the issues with porpoising we were talking about after yesterday's qualifying - and the execution of each session. Today, what took away the Monegasque from the seventh position he was in was a risky strategy by the Ferrari pitwall, who, observing the weak race pace of car number 16, brought forward the transition to Intermediates by many (too many) laps... The result was that the tyres overheated and fell apart, on an asphalt which was not yet completely wet, forcing the driver and team to make an additional pitstop to fit another set of Intermediates.

Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

In hindsight, it was a risk that was worth taking (considering that only 6 points were at stake at that time), although with the data available regarding the weather forecast, the job done wasn't accurate: from the first pitstop to the perfect situation in terms of rsin intensity, about 7-8 laps passed, in which Charles' SF-24 was even lapped by the front runners...

Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images

Sixth position therefore goes to Nico Hulkenberg, who at Silverstone repeats the same - excellent - result achieved just a week ago at the Red Bull Ring. Thanks to today's performance, in true Hulkenberg style (without too many shenanigans but extremely solid), Haas consolidates seventh position in the Constructors' World Championship ahead of Alpine: in addition to that, given that Visa CashApp RB in sixth place is now only four points distant! The team from Faenza takes home a point thanks to Tsunoda's tenth position, but the momentum seems to be in favour of the Italian-American team in the fight between the two teams.

Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

Also noteworthy is the race concluded in the points by both Aston Martins (with Stroll in P7 and Alonso in P8) and Alexander Albon's Williams (P9), all relegated to the lower positions of the top ten  also due to the great performance of the above-mentioned Hulkenberg, good at defending even when his race pace was slower than the cars behind him...

Outside the points, however, Kick Sauber (with Bottas in P15 and Zhou in P18) and Alpine stand out negatively, with Ocon in P16 and Gasly retiring before even starting from the pitlane... In addition to them, terrible performance also from Perez, who finished in P17, a race that was in some ways a carbon copy of Leclerc's, with an early first pitstop that effectively ruined his Sunday.

One week without F1, before going to Hungary and Belgium. Then, summer break!

With the chequered flag crowning Lewis Hamilton for the ninth time in his career, not only the British Grand Prix ends, but also a triple header of race weekends which - in retrospect - marked the sporting resurrection of Mercedes, the confirmation of a McLaren technically at the top but still not ready to compete for victories against Verstappen, and a Max who is demonstrating his ability to turn even difficult situations in his favour, a factor that will be important in conquering his fourth World Title...

Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

The 2024 calendar now sees a week without racing, which will be followed by the classic events in Hungary and Belgium; then there will be a summer break of three weeks, during which the teams will have the opportunity to organize their ideas and re-launch the attack on their rivals. But until then, see you in two weeks!

Categories

Reading time: minutes
Back to blog