Lewis Hamilton won his first race since December 2021 by outlasting Max Verstappen and Lando Norris in a thrilling wet-dry British Grand Prix.
Hamilton had just enough to fight off a late push from Verstappen’s Red Bull to win his 104th career race, his ninth at home, and set the record for most victories on a single track.
Verstappen, who had battled for pace for much of the race due to two distinct bouts of rain, came alive in the last circuits to capture second place behind Norris, who finished third.
Hamilton, who was racing in his final British Grand Prix for Mercedes before moving to Ferrari next year, looked to be in tears in the vehicle as he told his team: “This means so lot to me,” as they applauded him over the radio.
“This one means a lot to us all,” his engineer, Peter Bonnington, explained. “I adore you, Bono,” Hamilton said.
Toto Wolff, Mercedes team principal, characterized the victory as “a fairytale” for both the team and Hamilton.
Norris’ teammate Oscar Piastri, who was also in the lead fight for the opening part of the race, finished fourth ahead of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz.
Classic race for Hamilton’s comeback victory.
Despite the bad weather, the top drivers and three leading teams put on a fantastic performance in front of a crowd of 164,000 people who cheered the British drivers, particularly Hamilton, to the rafters.
Mercedes drivers George Russell and Lewis Hamilton dominated the early laps after the team secured the first row of the grid, while Verstappen past Norris down the outside of Turn Four on the first lap to finish third.
However, the Red Bull did not display its normal racing pace, and Norris reclaimed third position on lap 15 with a move into Stowe turn.
Piastri followed the Briton two circuits later, shortly as the first sprinkle of rain began, bringing the McLarens, who
had selected a higher-downforce setup than Mercedes and Red Bull, coming into their own.
Hamilton made the first move, however, by overtaking Russell into Stowe on lap 18.
A few laps later, both Mercedes drivers skidded off the track at Turn Two at the start of lap 19 as they battled for grip on the treacherous track, and Norris pounced, past Russell at Turn Four before closing up on Hamilton and passing him at Turn One on lap 20.
Piastri raced up to second behind him, and the McLarens went one-two for five circuits as the track began to dry.
Decisive pit stop tire selection
The lead cars went out on slick tires for the initial bout of rain, but the teams knew more was on the way, and when the rain fell heavier, Verstappen benefitted from an early intermediate stop on lap 26.
Norris, Hamilton, and Russell followed him a lap later, with Piastri suffering as a result of lingering out on the slicks for another lap and losing ten seconds to the lead group.
Verstappen moved into third place behind Norris and Hamilton, with Russell in fourth.
Four circuits later, Russell was forced to withdraw his Mercedes due to a water system issue.
By lap 38, with 14 laps remaining, the track was mostly dry, and Verstappen again jumped early for a tire change.
He and Hamilton came to a halt together, with Mercedes using soft tires and Verstappen using hard, while Norris waited a lap before switching to softs.
The early halt put Hamilton ahead of Norris in the lead.
It set up a spectacular finale, with the three cars captured in a single camera shot on the Hangar Straight during the race’s climax.
Hamilton always appeared to have Norris under control, but it quickly became evident that Verstappen was the real threat, with the Red Bull altered by the decision to move to hard tires.
Verstappen passed Norris on lap 48 down the Hangar Straight and entered the final four laps 3.2 seconds behind Hamilton and closing close.
But Hamilton had enough to hold him off, reaching the finish line 1.4 seconds behind, before fighting back tears as he climbed out of the vehicle.
Meanwhile, Norris and Piastri were left to lament some questionable McLaren pit calls – both Norris’ stops were a lap too late, and Piastri was undone by the decision not to double-stack him behind Norris when they switched to intermediates.
And Piastri’s performance on the medium tires at the conclusion of the race – he was the quickest car on the track by a significant margin – suggested that Norris, too, should have switched to them when he made his last pit stop.
Behind Sainz, Hulkenberg finished sixth in a highly improved Haas, while Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso finished seventh and eighth, respectively, with Williams’ Alex Albon and RB’s Yuki Tsunoda rounding out the top ten in points.
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