Historic Hamilton thrills on way to ninth home victory

Mercedes driver shows mastery in wet conditions to end 945-day winless run

- Giles Richards

The win was a long time coming but when Lewis Hamilton secured victory in the British Grand Prix, what it meant to him and indeed the home crowd at Silverstone that roared him across the line was unmistakable.

This was sport as emotion writ large, the perfect stage for the perfect drama, an intense, gripping piece of theatre that left its protagonist for the first time in his career in tears, with likely all but the hardest of hearts similarly touched.

Hamilton has gone over two years without a win, his last at Saudi Arabia in 2021, a full 945 days then, so long and so hard a drought, including being controversially denied his eighth title at the close of that year, he admitted afterwards it had brought him low and led to him doubting even himself.

An almost unthinkable admission from the seven-time world champion but a reminder of how human he is and how much heart is in his driving.

Yet at the same time also understandable given the context that since his debut in 2007 and 2021 he had won a race in every season but the spiral in form of Mercedes since 2022 has looked at times to be a vortex from which even Hamilton could not reach escape velocity.

He ultimately took the flag at Silverstone from the Red Bull of Max Verstappen in second and the McLaren of Lando Norris in third after a race that ebbed and flowed across wet and dry periods but through which the 39-year-old held his nerve with the same precision and control he has exhibited repeatedly in a remarkable career.