Lewis Hamilton has won the 2024 British Grand Prix. It was his final as a Mercedes driver and his 104th win overall. Max Verstappen finished P2 with fellow Briton Lando Norris rounding the podium off.
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Round 12 of the F1 World Championship saw George Russell start from Pole Position ahead of Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton in P2 and Lando Norris in P3. This was the first British 1-2-3 since since 1986 when Clark, Hill, and Stewart accomplished the triple start in South Africa.
Norris started on the second row alongside Max Verstappen after their collision at the Austrian Grand Prix last week, which saw Norris DNF and Verstappen finish P5. Elsewhere, Sergio Pérez started from the Pit Lane following a PU change while Pierre Gasly started P20 following a 50 place grid drop. However, the Frenchman pulled into the pits at the end of the formation lap with a reported issue and was out of the race.
2024 British Grand Prix
Lap 1-10
A great start from Russell saw the Mercedes driver lead into the first corner ahead of Hamilton. Behind the pair, Verstappen went around the outside of Norris at Turn 4 for P3. Leclerc made several places from P11 to P8 while Hülkenberg moved down to P9.
DRS was enabled as Norris had his tyres up to temperature. He was suddenly behind Verstappen. Hamilton was told that rain would potentially arrive within 25 minutes, which would have been a good sign for the driver who won at Silverstone in 2008 in the rain.
Russell led Hamilton by 1.3s and broke DRS. Hamilton also broke the one-second barrier to Verstappen with 1.4s between them. Unfortunate for Verstappen as Norris was within one-second of him.
Verstappen was told that heavy rain would fall on Lap 16 but on Lap 7 it became visible in the distance. This was no worry for Mercedes, however, whose pace looked impressive. Russell led by 1.6 seconds while Hamilton was 2 seconds ahead of Verstappen.
Several drivers were waited for the rain before pitting in-case intermediate tyres were needed. A weather radar from RB showed that after the first shower in a few laps time, there would be heavy rainfall approaching for the latter stages.
Lap 11-20
Piastri was the only driver in the top five with DRS on Lap 11 but McLaren held position. To continue the bad weekend for Red Bull, Verstappen reported that his front tyres were wearing out fast. He fell over three seconds behind Hamilton.
Stake F1 took a gamble that the rain approaching would not be heavy enough for intermediate tyres and therefore Zhou pitted for a set of fresh mediums. However, the rain started to fall on Lap 15. Russell reported that it was already becoming heavy in places, which left teams to decide which strategies were better for their drivers.
After DRS opened on Lap 14, Norris overtook Verstappen into Stowe. While Norris was flying, Verstappen was beginning to struggle further. Three laps later, Piastri followed his teammate and overtook Verstappen in the same spot.
Up at the front, Hamilton was all over the back of Russell as the battle of the Mercedes’ commenced. Hamilton now led the 2024 British Grand Prix, something we have not said for a long time. However, the heavy rain in sector 1 saw both Mercedes drivers go off at the first corner. Hamilton remained in the lead but Norris overtook Russell for P2.
Lap 20 saw Norris overtake Hamilton for the lead. The McLarens had much more pace in the mixed conditions as seen by Piastri’s overtake on Russell. Drivers were also beginning to pit for intermediate tyres. The leaders were still going.
Lap 21-30
Hamilton was now down to third after Piastri overtook him. It also seemed that the leaders were correct to avoid pitting for intermediate tyres as the first shower passed and the circuit was dry again.
The next shower was expected to arrive in four minutes. Norris led Piastri by 1.7s while Hamilton was a further second behind in P3. Russell led Verstappen by four seconds.
McLaren reported that the next spell of rain was going to last for 30 minutes. With this, they expected intermediate tyres to be required. This would not help Leclerc and Pérez, however, who were both lapped on Lap 25. This does not bode well for Pérez’s contact nor Leclerc’s contentment at Ferrari after another disaster with the Italian team’s strategy.
The rain began to fall on Lap 26 and it looked heavier. Out of nowhere, Piastri suddenly caught Norris and was right behind his teammate.
Verstappen and Sainz pitted for intermediate tyres and were soon followed by Norris, Hamilton, and Russell a lap later. Piastri was kept out by McLaren, which ruined his race, as he was almost caught by Norris before diving into the pits. He rejoined P6.
Lap 31-40
Lap 31 saw every driver on intermediate tyres. The top ten were Norris, Hamilton, Verstappen, Russell, Sainz, Piastri, Hülkenberg, Stroll, Alonso and Tusnoda. The rain was expected to stop soon and at this point already appeared much lighter. Verstappen reported that his tyres were degrading quickly.
Three seconds separated Norris and Hamilton at the front. The seven time World Champion soon reported that the rain had stopped while the circuit was already drying in places. Teams had to decide whether or not it was the right time to switch back to slicks.
On Lap 34 polesitter Russell was called into the pits by Mercedes and retired from the race. The team suspected a water system issue. Sainz was promoted to P4, Piastri to P5, and Hülkenberg to P6.
His retirement meant that there was no longer a chance of a national sweep of a podium since Imola 1983, where it was a French 1-2-3.
Some good news for Mercedes followed as Hamilton was catching Norris fast. He was 1.6s behind from 3 seconds. Norris increased his lead back to two seconds on Lap 37.
The dry line was appearing fast and pit stops felt imminent for slick tyres. Hamilton and Verstappen pitted for these on Lap 39 while Norris continued on his intermediates. They went back on track behind Norris in P1 and Sainz in P2.
Norris pitted for softs and lost his lead. Hamilton now led the 2024 British Grand Prix by two seconds.
Lap 41-50
Hamilton and Norris were both on the same compound with 2.6s between them. Verstappen was a further three seconds behind Norris on the hard tyre.
Norris appeared to be struggling on Lap 46. Verstappen was just 1.4s behind with Hamilton 2.6s ahead of him. With five laps to go, Verstappen was all over the back of him but Norris was defending hard.
Verstappen overtook Norris into Stowe on Lap 49. The Dutchman was now into second and set the fastest lap. He was 3.4s behind Hamilton with four laps to go.
Hamilton was giving it everything. He was three laps from his ninth victory at Silverstone and led Verstappen by three seconds.
Final Two Laps
Verstappen was flying heading into Lap 51. He was no match for Hamilton, however, who was 2.1s ahead with half a lap remaining.
After 945 days without a win, Lewis Hamilton won the 2024 British Grand Prix after an incredible drive. He now has 104 wins and becomes the first driver to win at a singular circuit nine times. Max Verstappen finished P2 and Lando Norris rounded off the podium.
He still can't quite believe it! 🤩#F1 #BritishGP pic.twitter.com/kq16MqsCJR
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 7, 2024
Image Credit: Mercedes
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