Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton's trophy drought of 945 days finally ended as he won the British Grand Prix on Sunday, July 7. Hamilton beat Max Verstappen to the title despite the latter's late charge, his ninth at Silverstone, the most for any racer on any track as the British Driver scripted F1 history. It has been a long wait for Hamilton, who had not won a title for 945 days since Saudi Arabia in 2021 and was tied on eight wins on a single track with Michael Schumacher, who had won the French Grand Prix on eight occasions.
It was an emotional moment for Hamilton. "I am still crying,” said Hamilton. "The important thing is how you continue to get up and dig deeper than ever, even though you are at the bottom of the barrel and there are days since 2021 where I didn’t feel I was good enough or I would get back to where I am but I have had great people around me," he added.
In front of a crowd of 1.64 Lakh, Hamilton turned the screws on literally as he battered rain and scary Verstappen, who gave it his all till the final second but the 7-time F1 champion prevailed in the end in what was an emotional few minutes for him.
Verstappen may be the World No 1 driver but Hamilton proved and showed everyone that he has still got it, something he wasn't sure of amid the lean run since 2021. As soon as he finished the race in front of his home crowd, he draped himself in the UK national flag, and hugged everyone whom he encountered while tears fell from his eyes.
McLaren's Lando Norris finished in third place. Norris was leading the Silverstone race before the tyre change at the final pitstop as which reduced his chances of victory and lost to Hamilton and Verstappen in the final stages of the race.