The Formula One championship produced its most dramatic weekend of the season – and arguably for many years – as Lewis Hamilton collided with Max Verstappen and clawed his way back from a 10-second penalty to win his eighth British Grand Prix in front of a packed Silverstone crowd.
It was a weekend of firsts, as the premier qualifying sprint in Formula One history met with the return of capacity crowds for the first time since 2019. But as an increasingly familiar sight on the track recurred on Saturday – Hamilton surrendering his lead to Max Verstappen, seemingly allowing the championship to slip further from his grasp – one could be forgiven for viewing this as the race where the season, and possibly the sport, began to pass Hamilton by for good. Hamilton, who had won six of the last seven British GPs going into this weekend, must have been aware of this reality after Verstappen overtook the reigning champion at the first corner of the Saturday sprint, before defending well twice shortly after and cruising to a routine victory.
But Sunday brought new omens – an umbrella-carrying Lewis Hamilton strode through Silverstone, trying to deflect the heat as though it were also a shield to any other speculation and conjecture as he once again faced up to the difficult task of outpacing Verstappen at lights out. It would have been difficult to avoid those extenuating factors as the drivers reached their grids. The feverish crowds as Silverstone returned to its 140,000 capacity; the searing 30oc heat, bouncing off the tarmac and blistering through the tyres; and for Hamilton, the awareness that his window of opportunity to take an eighth world title was closing, and that if he didn’t pounce early there was a good chance it would shut entirely.
These were each surely factors in what came on the first lap. There have been suggestions a collision was close since the start of this season’s GP, Hamilton implying Verstappen had something to ‘prove’ with wheel-to-wheel racing, while the Brit has consistently been forced into aggression in the absence of a faster car.
On this occasion Hamilton ran Verstappen close twice without success, before the Mercedes took the inside line on Copse corner, catching Verstappen’s back right tyre and sending the Red Bull into the barricades. For his part, Hamilton received a 10-secong pit penalty, as Verstappen received hospital treatment. Verstappen labelled Hamilton ‘disrespectful’ and ‘unsportsmanlike’ after his celebrations; Red Bull chief Christian Horner called the Mercedes driver’s actions in colliding with the Dutch racer amateur; Hamilton maintained he held the inside line.
Their fight looks to be one for the ages; the old guard versus new blood reminiscent of James Hunt vs Nicki Lauda, or Ayrton Senna vs Alain Prost. With this collision, the Hamilton-Verstappen rivalry may have elevated to those ranks, both prepared to endanger themselves for every point; if nothing else, it clearly just become personal.
Having watched Hamilton defy expectations through his career, viewers were left wondering whether he and Mercedes calculated the crash on the first lap and the according manageable penalty. Whatever the reality, Hamilton’s task was helped by the folly of the younger drivers’ racing teams. Lando Norris, who had negotiated his way past Valtteri Bottas, was failed by a costly 6.2 second pit stop, which saw him surrender track position and flounder to 4th place. Leclerc, who had pounced on Hamilton and Verstappen’s collision to take the lead, suffered from engine issues that would prove fatal to his chances of victory.
But each would have been pointless for a worse chasing driver. With more grip, more experience and more pace following his 28 second pit stop, and with a roaring crowd behind him, Hamilton returned to vintage. Fastest lap after fastest lap, the Briton chased down Leclerc in the final 10 laps, a nine second lead becoming eight seconds, then five, then three. A relentless inevitability became realised as Hamilton surged past the Ferrari driver – outmuscled at the same Copse Corner with which he deposed Verstappen – in the 50th of 52 laps. Once again, the old guard had pushed out the young guns. Once again, Hamilton took the win at Silverstone.
While the narrative of the weekend began as one of renewal and a new order, Hamilton again refused to follow the convenient narrative. The driver has cut the championship deficit from 33 points to eight; and in doing so looks to have confirmed a generational rivalry with Verstappen. Both will return to Hungaroring in August with a fire in their bellies borne of that feverish day in Silverstone, Verstappen aware that Hamilton will not give in easily to the barriers of an inefficient car, the Briton knowing the Dutchman wants revenge. Now that the fire has been lit, don’t expect it to be extinguished any time soon.