British GP takeaways: Don't call it a comeback, Lewis never left

We offer our takeaways following each race weekend this year and continue the 2024 schedule with the British GP.

Moments that decided the race ?

Hamilton seizes the opportunity, breaks his drought

It was a weekend that had everything you’d want in a grand prix, and more.

There were constant battles for P1. Rainy conditions forced an additional pit stop midway through the race. Four different drivers held first place at different times. And records were broken, ending with Lewis Hamilton winning his ninth British Grand Prix. Hamilton’s victory ended the longest drought of his storied career, a 56-race winless streak dating back to the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. He’s the sixth winner of a Grand Prix this season, which is the most in over a decade.

Hamilton held onto his second-place position after qualifying P2 before momentarily moving ahead of teammate George Russell with the onset of the rain during Lap 18. But Lando Norris passed both of them once the rain took hold, and Russell retired due to a water system issue.

Hamilton switched to softs on Lap 39 and, after a costly slow pit stop by Norris during Lap 40, sped down the straight to take back his lead. The Brit then held off both Norris and Max Verstappen in the final 12 laps to take the victory and demonstrate that he still has the pace and mindset to rise to the occasion.

The midseason is where you start to see the champions rise and others stagnate. The Silver Arrows have been rising, as their front wing upgrades in Monaco have resulted in improved aerodynamics. Mercedes technical director James Allison also noted before the Canadian GP that there were more enhancements to come.

Mercedes has managed to avoid the strategic and miscommunication problems that have plagued both Ferrari and McLaren. The Silver Arrows’ back-to-back wins for the first time in over two seasons have shown they’re in consistent, competitive form.

McLaren fumbles another win

McLaren can only walk away from the British Grand Prix wondering what if after squandering another opportunity.

A compound of errors from both driver and pit wall saw McLaren finish third and fourth in a race where the team was first and second at one point.

Problems began at the start when Verstappen overtook Norris. By the time Norris got past Verstappen on Lap 15, he was nearly five seconds off the leaders. He grabbed the lead on Lap 20, while Oscar Piastri slid into second as the rain began to fall.

But it all started to go wrong shortly after.

With the rain increasing on Lap 27, McLaren made the call to pit Norris but leave Piastri out for an additional lap. While a timely double stack would’ve been impossible, the time lost would’ve still been less than when Piastri stayed out on slick tires on a wet track. Piastri was over 11 seconds slower than Verstappen – who pitted two laps earlier for intermediates – through the first two sectors of his lap.

Then, Norris lost his lead in the next pit stops. He stayed out one lap longer than Lewis Hamilton and Verstappen and came out behind Hamilton for the lead. At first glance, it looked like an error on the pit crew. But the McLaren driver lost valuable seconds after missing his marks in the pit.

However, Norris ultimately finished third behind Hamilton and Verstappen due to strategy (more on this below). The pit wall opted for a set of soft tires despite having an extra set of medium tires, which Lewis Hamilton and Verstappen didn’t have. As a result, Norris finished 7.5 seconds off the win and was overtaken by the Dutch world champion, who was on fresh hard tires.

Despite having a very competitive car since Miami, McLaren hasn’t added to its win despite Red Bull, Mercedes, and even Ferrari doing the same.

F1 seems better than ever

It’s not hyperbole to say that the year has progressed almost perfectly at the halfway point of the season.

Formula 1 has made a concerted effort with new regulations, including spending caps, to improve parity. It seemed like it’d be the same old at first with Verstappen winning five of the seven races and finishing first in every qualifying.

But through 12 chapters, F1 fans have been treated to six different winners from four different teams. Tuning into a grand prix is no longer a foregone conclusion. The teams behind Red Bull have also done an impressive job at closing the gap themselves with midseason upgrades.

There’s still a ton to race for when F1 resumes in Hungary two weeks, including first place. It’d be pretty foolish to bet against Verstappen clinching his fourth straight title down the back half of the campaign, but only 61 points separate second-place Norris from eighth-place Hamilton. That seems to be what the FIA, drivers, and fans all want to see.

Driver of the Day ?

Hamilton: It was a record-breaking race for Hamilton in Silverstone. The Brit surpassed Michael Schumacher for the most ever Grand Prix wins at a singular circuit. In his 344th start, Hamilton became the first driver in the history of F1 to win after their 300th and the oldest driver to win a race in the 21st century. To top it all off, he extended his record for the most wins of all time with 104. It was a storybook final home Grand Prix for Hamilton and Mercedes, one of the most decorated partnerships in the history of the sport.

What were they thinking? ?

There were a few poor strategy calls from McLaren to pick from, but it was one decision in particular that likely threw away another win for Norris. After going back and forth with Norris on the radio, McLaren opted to follow Hamilton’s lead and fit soft tires for the final stint despite having fresh mediums available. Oddly, McLaren put a fresh set of medium tires on Piastri for the final stint. Looking at their stints, it’s obvious that the mediums were the right call.

Final stint race pace:

Despite the Australian being 17 seconds off Norris when emerging from the pits, he ended up just 4.8 seconds off Norris at the checkered flag. Fitting the medium tires on Norris was likely the difference between him standing on the third step of the podium and winning his home Grand Prix.

They said what? ??

Hamilton on his race win: “I’ve never cried from a win. … I can’t stop crying! 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. … There’s definitely been days between 2021 and here where I didn’t feel like I was good enough, or whether I was going to get back to where I am today, but the important thing is I had great people around me continuing to support me.”

Toto Wolff on Hamilton winning his final British GP with Mercedes: “Fantastic. You couldn’t have written it better for our farewell at the British Grand Prix. That was great. … It’s like a fairytale, how we leave the British crowds there with the most successful British driver ever.”

Norris on McLaren falling short of victory: “Should we (have) won a race today? Yes. Did we? No. I’m not going to be happy. We lost points to Max, so I’m not happy. I’m not going to be happy. It’s where we deserve to be now, we’re fighting the guys at the top.”

Russell on his shocking DNF and another potential podium lost: “Yeah, really disappointed. … Everything was under control at the beginning in the dry, then very challenging conditions in the damp. I started losing power, and next thing I had to retire the car. So yeah, really disappointing.”

Verstappen on battling back from a P4 start to a second-place finish: “It didn’t look great at some point. I was really thinking, ‘Are we going to finish fifth, sixth?’ But we made the right calls. Going from the slicks to the inters, and then also from the inters back to the slicks, I think it was every time the right lap.”

Norris on which race he wants to win the most: “Silverstone. My home race. It’s where I grew up. It’s the track I remember watching first off in Formula 1 back in 2006, 2007. But it’s just the feeling you get from the people there supporting you beats anything to do with history of Monaco or importance of place.”

Russell on himself, Norris, and Hamilton being fastest in qualifying: “The crowd give(s) us all so much energy, the three of us. I don’t think Silverstone could have dreamt of the three Brits in the top three. So, honestly, the support, we just absolutely love it, and we can’t wait for the race.”

McLaren boss Zak Brown on ongoing spat with Red Bull: “We need to have respect for regulations, and we’ve seen there be lack of respect, whether it’s financial regulations or, you know, sporting, on-track issues with fathers and things of that nature. And I just don’t think that’s how we need to go racing, and we need to guide our drivers on what’s right or wrong.”

Former F1 champ Sebastian Vettel on Hamilton’s win via Instagram:

What’s next?

After a short summer break, the season resumes July 21 with the Hungarian Grand Prix getting underway at 9 a.m. ET at the Hungaroring.