Lewis Hamilton returns to triumph at his home in the GP of Silverstone. After a very difficult race he managed to grab with all his strength the 104th victory of his career, the ninth here on the English track. After a very long time, number 44 did it: he returned to victory after two and a half years, writing another wonderful and historic page of this sport.
Lewis Hamilton moved by his return to victory in the Silverstone GP
Just a few kilometers to go. Lewis Hamilton, after overtaking his teammate team in the first part of the race, in the rain and armed with slick tyres, he was closely followed by Norris' McLaren. The laps pass, just as Verstappen passes Norris, still on a wrong strategy. The Dutchman shows himself in the mirrors of Hamilton's Mercedes. But it's too late. The English driver confidently drives his car towards victory, also pushed by the fans who cheer him on from the stands at Silverstone. It is the 104th success for Lewis Hamilton, perhaps the most awaited, the most unexpected.
We witnessed a historic race, very emotionally charged. When Hamilton he arrives in parc fermé in his Mercedes and can't hold back his tears. He gets out of the car, the hug with the team and then the long, heartbreaking hug with his father Anthony, who has always been by his side in these difficult years. Before the interviews, however, there is time for one last hug: Lewis runs with the United Kingdom flag on his shoulders under the stands and lets himself be captivated, for a few seconds, by the love of his fans. They too, after all this time, have never abandoned him.
Hamilton after the race: "I wanted to win one last time here with Mercedes"
Speaking to Jenson Button's microphone in the post-Silverstone GP, Lewis Hamilton retraced a bit of everything he had to face from the defeat in Abu Dhabi in 2021 until his return to victory: “I can't stop crying. Since 2021, every day I got up, tried to fight, train and prepare myself mentally to achieve this goal. Winning this race, in my last British Grand Prix with Mercedes was something I wanted very much, because I owe him so much and I will be forever grateful to him. And then I saw all these huge fans, lap after lap. There is no greater feeling than to finish this way here.”
The English driver has in fact underlined how, in the last two and a half years, he has had to shake the dust off his shoulders several times and get up, always and in any case: "The important thing is to grit your teeth and fight even when you think you have scraped the bottom of the barrel. There were days when I thought I was no longer capable of being here again. But I had great people next to me. My team has always supported me and seeing them work so hard has always thrilled me. And then my fans, from all over the world, have always supported me."
