Lewis Hamilton wins the British Grand Prix to claim his first race victory since 2021 – as Mercedes driver beats Max Verstappen and Lando Norris

Lewis Hamilton is once again the king of Silverstone! The most successful driver in history took his first victory in 945 days in front of a cheering crowd at the British Grand Prix.

The Mercedes man, who took a record-breaking ninth victory at his home race, told the team: “Let me do it, mate.” It was just after he took the lead with 12 laps to go. There was a huge cheer. He has been the darling of this place for two decades and 163,000 souls welcomed him home.

“Thanks, guys,” an emotional Hamilton squeaked, his voice breaking. “This means a lot to me. I love you.”

His last win came in December 2021 – in Saudi Arabia, the race before his life was turned upside down in Abu Dhabi, where he lost so controversially to Max Verstappen – a day that will live in infamy. And now this. A redeeming consolation on a podium he has dominated like no other.

He hugged his father, Anthony, for 20 seconds. Tears flowed. Later a long hug with his mother, Carmen.

He was seen in tears after the victory, which was his first of the 2024 Formula 1 season

Hamilton crossed the finish line with a lead of 1.465 seconds over his nearest rival, Max Verstappen

Verstappen (left) and Hamilton (centre) were joined on the podium by Lando Norris (right)

Echoes of the past streamed down. It was here 16 years ago that Hamilton had produced one of the greatest drives ever, in 2008, in blanketing wet conditions. This time the rain came and went, bringing a delicious danger into the equation, as it had done in qualifying when George Russell took pole 24 hours earlier. He was handed a Union Flag on his warm-down lap, held aloft in his fluorescent yellow right glove.

In reality, this could have been Lando Norris’s victory, but he was sidelined a lap too many on intermediate tyres and his stop was painfully slow, 4.5 seconds. In those two missteps by his McLaren team – too rusty to fight skillfully at the front, it seems – the victory was lost. He could have won the last four races, but he has won none.

As McLaren performs a post-mortem, Hamilton can only cheer. On lap 39, as the track dried, he was called in and went 1.2 seconds faster in the middle sector than Norris on his outdated inters. Then Norris stopped. And that was it – Hamilton drove away to a long-awaited victory.

How sweet of him, just when he was in danger of looking like an uncle to a new crop of stars. He was being watched over by his father Anthony, who was with him when he lit up the world in 2008.

Norris was third, passed by Verstappen on the outside of Stowe. Russell dropped out with a suspected water system failure. A big blow for him. He turned the radio blue.

And it was all going smoothly for Russell until the rain started. He had started cleanly, with Hamilton covering Norris’ attempt to move up from third on the grid. Nothing much happened until lap 18 when the forecast of rain became reality. At first it was just patches.

Hamilton’s record win was very popular with the home crowd at Silverstone

This was the ninth British Grand Prix victory for the 39-year-old Hamilton, but his first since 2021

Hamilton looked delighted as he held up his trophy, which was wrapped in a Union Jack flag

Hamilton, second, found his feet in the tricky conditions and regained his former glory. Russell wasn’t quite Bamby on the ice, but it was clear his teammate was the more confident. Hamilton made his move for the lead at Stowe.

Both Mercedes cars went away at the start of the next lap, allowing Norris to close the gap. He was now clearly the stronger player in the worsening conditions. On lap 20, the most exciting, see-saw lap of the afternoon, Norris passed Russell at Copse. Then, after a good exit from the final corner of the lap, he launched himself deep into the Hamilton Straight, ironically, to pass the eponymous hero at Abbey, the first corner.

McLaren’s Oscar Piastri also overtook the two Mercedes and led. But the Australian was later disappointed by a late stop – a curse from McLaren. This gave Norris the lead. Until Hamilton, taking advantage of events, came and saw and conquered.

“I love you, Bono,” Hamilton said to his race engineer Peter Bonington. He took a moment to collect his thoughts before he got out of the car. He stood on it. He held up the flag.