Lewis Hamilton wins the British Grand Prix : NPR

SILVERSTONE, England — Lewis Hamilton held off Max Verstappen’s late cost to win an exhilarating British Grand Prix on Sunday and safe his first victory because the penultimate race of the 2021 season.

Hamilton grew to become the primary F1 driver to win on any observe 9 occasions and in addition prolonged his F1 report to 104 wins. His final got here on the Saudi Arabian GP in December 2021 — the yr he misplaced the title to Crimson Bull driver Verstappen.

“You’ve acquired to proceed to dig deep even when you’re feeling the underside of the barrel,” Hamilton mentioned. “My followers world wide have been so supportive.”

It was a becoming method for Hamilton to finish his final British GP with Mercedes, earlier than becoming a member of Ferrari subsequent yr.

“That is my final race right here with this workforce so I wished to win this a lot for them as a result of I really like them and I respect them a lot,” he mentioned. “I used to be coming spherical and there’s simply no higher feeling than to complete on the entrance right here.”

The seven-time F1 champion beat defending champion Verstappen by 1.5 seconds, with Lando Norris ending third for McLaren forward of teammate Oscar Piastri.

A tearful-sounding Hamilton thanked his workforce over radio and was nonetheless emotional a number of minutes later as he struggled to compose himself.

“I’m nonetheless crying,” Hamilton mentioned as he addressed the gang. “There’s undoubtedly been days between 2021 and right here after I didn’t really feel I used to be ok.”

There have been excessive hopes for a house win at Silverstone, with Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate George Russell on pole place forward of Hamilton and with Norris going from third and Verstappen fourth.

Russell’s hopes of a second straight F1 win ended on Lap 34 of 52 with a suspected water system situation on his automotive. A number of laps later, McLaren botched Norris’ tire change.

Verstappen overtook Norris with 4 laps left however couldn’t catch Hamilton, to the delight of a lot of the 164,000 followers attending the race.

Moments after crossing the road, Hamilton jumped into the arms of mechanics after which shared an extended hug along with his father. Then it was time to soak up the applause from the house followers. Carrying a British flag he jumped over a crash barrier after which held it aloft.

“I can see you lap by lap, there’s simply no higher feeling,” he informed the cheering crowd.

The beginning noticed Russell and Hamilton get away cleanly whereas Verstappen overtook Norris.

Rain began falling some 25 minutes into the race and made the 5.9-kilometer (3.7-mile) observe extra greasy.

After Hamilton took the lead from Russell on the damp observe, Norris took benefit of a Russell error to maneuver into second.

Verstappen, Norris and each Mercedes vehicles pitted for brand spanking new tires shortly after the midway level of the race. However McLaren saved Piastri out somewhat longer, which finally value him an opportunity of victory.

After the tire-change shakeup, Norris was simply over three seconds forward of Hamilton whereas Verstappen was drifting again at this level.

The subsequent tire modifications, with somewhat greater than 10 laps remaining, proved essential.

Verstappen, Hamilton and Norris made fast modifications however McLaren took too lengthy on Norris’ rears – 4.5 seconds – and he got here out 2.4 seconds behind race chief Hamilton, with Verstappen now making up floor quick.

He couldn’t get shut sufficient, although, and Hamilton’s win made it six completely different winners thus far this season — in comparison with simply three in 22 races final yr.

Though Verstappen isn’t profitable as a lot, he’s nonetheless extending his hole as a result of Norris is ending behind him.

He’s 84 factors forward of Norris within the standings, 255-171, with Charles Leclerc in third place with 150. Regardless of amassing 25 factors for his win, Hamilton is eighth general with 110.

Carlos Sainz Jr. completed Sunday’s race in fifth for Ferrari forward of Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg, with Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin), Alex Albon (Williams) and Yuki Tsunoda (RB) rounding out the highest 10.

Sergio Perez apologized to Crimson Bull after qualifying in a dismal nineteenth, and began from the pit lane as his workforce made a number of half modifications. He completed seventeenth, whereas Leclerc began eleventh and positioned 14th.