Lewis Hamilton elected “Driver of the day” at Silverstone

It was necessary to go back to December 5, 2021 to find a trace of a victory by Lewis Hamilton in Formula 1. Two and a half years and 57 Grand Prix later, the Mercedes driver finds himself once again on the top step of a podium.

At the end of the suspense after the 52 laps scheduled at Silverstone, Lewis Hamilton held firm against all his competitors. Whether it was against his teammate George Russell at the start of the race, then against the McLarens, and finally against Max Verstappen in the final laps, the Briton showed those who doubted that he had lost none of his talent after two difficult seasons.

As often at Silverstone, the weather spiced up the debates. Following George Russell at the start of the race, Hamilton then took the lead before handing it over to the two McLarens when the rain arrived. When the cars switched back to slick tires as the sun returned, he managed to play the undercut to pass Lando Norris and hold onto the lead until the checkered flag.

With this victory, his 104th in F1, the Briton becomes the sole record holder for victories on a single track with his nine successes at Silverstone. The first of his victories on home soil dates back to 2008 with McLaren, the year of his first of seven world titles. He also improves the record for the number of podium finishes, with 199 units.

This second consecutive victory for Mercedes confirms the strong comeback of the team led by Toto Wolff. Before leaving for Ferrari next season, the seven-time world champion intends to offer more successes to the Brackley troops. At mid-season, he is still in 8th place in the championship, just one point behind Russell, and only fourteen points away from the fifth place currently held by Oscar Piastri.