After two back-to-back weekends of racing, the triple-header came to a close at Silverstone with the FORMULA 1 QATAR AIRWAYS BRITISH GRAND PRIX 2024. This race marked the halfway point of the season. It was a British top three in qualifying, giving the British fans hope of an all-British podium. Although that didn’t happen, they were still treated to a show under changing weather conditions.
There was trouble for Alpine before the race even began. Pierre Gasly pulled into the pit lane at the end of the formation lap with a suspected gearbox failure, ending his weekend early.
George Russell had an excellent start from pole position and teammate Lewis Hamilton immediately slotted in behind the other Mercedes. Max Verstappen had a good launch, drawing himself close to Lando Norris in the first corner, but not close enough to attack. Norris ran wide on the exit of the third corner, allowing Verstappen to promote himself to P3.
By the time DRS was enabled, the two leading Mercedes had created enough of a gap to keep Verstappen outside of the DRS range. Although Hamilton was initially within DRS range of his teammate, Russell was able to increase the gap a few laps into the race.
Further back, Charles Leclerc finally got by Lance Stroll on lap 14, having been stuck behind the Canadian for many laps. This promoted the Ferrari driver to P7, working to recover from a disappointing qualifying on Saturday.
Raindrops began to fall around the circuit on lap 15. Verstappen seemed to struggle during the first stint under severe pressure from Norris behind. He put up no defence when Norris overtook him on entry of T15. Piastri made the same move the following lap.
As the rain continued to fall, Hamilton caught up to his teammate and was all over the back of the Mercedes. He was able to overtake Russell for the race lead. Both cars ran wide in the damp conditions in the first corner, putting both McLaren cars into the battle. Norris was able to get by Russell in the opening corners. On the following lap, both McLaren drivers overtook the Mercedes cars to make it a McLaren 1-2 as DRS was disabled.
As the first cell of rain began to slow, some teams made the gamble to switch to intermediate tyres, including Leclerc. But much of the circuit was still dry, chewing up the intermediate tyres. With the track drying every lap, these cars lost a lot of time waiting for the next patch of rain.
This rain finally arrived a few laps later, proving heavier than the first cell. Verstappen and Sainz were the first leaders to pit for intermediate tyres on lap 27. Norris and both Mercedes double-stacked for intermediates the following lap. Crucially, McLaren left Piastri out for an additional lap to avoid double-stacking their cars, costing Piastri dearly. He rejoined the race on lap 29 in P6, previously running in P2.
There was bad news for Russell, who had lost a position to Verstappen under the pit stops. He was called into pits on lap 34 to retire the car with a mechanical failure.
The rain stopped a few laps after everyone switched to the intermediate tyres and the sun quickly dried the circuit. Drivers began switching back to the slick tyres on lap 38. Hamilton pitted for soft tyres, Piastri for medium tyres, and Verstappen shocked everyone by taking a set of hard tyres with only 14 laps remaining. Carlos Sainz took the same tyres the following lap. Having pitted a lap later than Hamilton, Norris rejoined the race on his soft tyres behind Hamilton, giving his fellow Brit the lead.
As the laps ticked down, the hard tyres began to look like a good choice for Verstappen, as he closed the gap to Norris in the closing laps. With only five laps remaining in the race, Verstappen was within DRS range of Norris and promoted himself to P2 with an easy overtake on the run down to T15. But there were not enough laps for him to make any meaningful dent in Hamilton’s lead and he had to settle for P2.
The crowd erupted as Lewis Hamilton crossed the finish line at the head of the field for the first time since the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, ending his winless streak. To top things off, he breaks the record for the most wins at a single circuit, with nine wins at Silverstone. He stood on the podium with Max Verstappen and Lando Norris alongside. Carlos Sainz picked up an extra point for the fastest lap, having pitted for new tyres on the penultimate lap.
The teams and drivers have earned themselves a short break. They will get a week off before heading to Hungary for the Hungarian Grand Prix on July 21.
| Pos. | Driver | Laps | Time | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 52 | 1:22:27.059 | 25 | ||
| 2 | 52 | +1.465 | 18 | ||
| 3 | 52 | +7.547 | 15 | ||
| 4 | 52 | +12.429 | 12 | ||
| 5 | 52 | +47.318 | 11 |  | |
| 6 | 52 | +55.722 | 8 | ||
| 7 | 52 | +56.569 | 6 | ||
| 8 | 52 | +63.577 | 4 | ||
| 9 | 52 | +68.387 | 2 | ||
| 10 | 52 | +79.303 | 1 | ||
| 11 | 52 | +88.960 | |||
| 12 | 52 | +90.153 | |||
| 13 | 51 | +1 Lap | |||
| 14 | 51 | +1 Lap | |||
| 15 | 51 | +1 Lap | |||
| 16 | 50 | +2 Laps | |||
| 17 | 50 | +2 Laps | |||
| 18 | 50 | +2 Laps | |||
| DNF | 33 |
