British icon Lewis Hamilton stormed back to the top of the podium as he won his home race, the British Grand Prix on Sunday, July 7. Hamilton ended his F1 race-win drought with a record-breaking victory in Silverstone as he fended off a late surge from the championship leader Max Verstappen to take the chequered flag first in the 52-lap race.
Hamilton has shattered legendary Michael Schumacher's record for most wins on a single track in F1 history with his 9th win at Silverstone. Michael, the seven-time world champion, had won eight races at the French GP, while Aryton Senna had six wins at the Monaco GP.
Hamilton's last F1 race win came way back in 2021 at the Saudi Arabian GP, the year in which he lost his four-year title defence to the Dutch. This was the Brit's 104th career win in the sport.
The race was a rain-hit one with drivers being forced to change their strategies. From dry tyres, the drivers had to shift to the Intermediate ones as the rain arrived during the middle phase of the race. The leaders kept on switching from George Russell to Lando Norris to Oscar Piastri and then finally Hamilton, who did not concede his lead after getting it.
Hamilton has also become the oldest driver to win a Formula 1 race in the 21st century, breaking Kimi Raikkonen's record. Hamilton was 39 years and six months old during his Silverstone win, while Raikkonen was 39 years and four days old at the time of his victory in the USA GP in 2018.
"Yeah, I can't stop crying," Hamilton said after winning the race. "It's been since 2021, I just every day, getting up, trying to fight, to train, to put my mind to the task, and work as hard as I can with this amazing team. And this is my last race here at the British Grand Prix with this team.
"So I wanted to win this so much for them, because I love them, I appreciate them so much, all the hard work they've been putting in all over these years. I'm forever grateful to everyone in this team, everyone at Mercedes, and all of our partners. And otherwise, to all our incredible fans, I could see you lap-by-lap as I was coming around. There's just no greater feeling as to finish at the front here," he added.
