The heartbreaking sob of emotion from Lewis Hamilton and the entire Silverstone is the best manifestation of the meaning of the triumph that the Mercedes driver celebrated this Sunday with his people, two and a half years after the last time he climbed to the top step of the podium (Saudi Arabia, 2021) and who knows if in the victory that will close his stage as the spearhead of the Silver Arrows, before putting on the Ferrari suit. In his best race of the year, a Grand Prix that the intermittent rain turned into an unpredictable carousel, the compass of the workshop of the star brand gave him the exact coordinates to cross the finish line first. A feat that makes Hamilton the only driver capable of winning nine times on the same circuit, which, in addition, is his home circuit. Max Verstappen once again made it clear that he is not as fast as he is perceptive, to the point of finishing second on a day in which he suffered much more than he enjoyed. Lando Norris had one of the most bitter podiums of his life, after having everything going his way to come out on shoulders and slipping at key moments, not due to a lack of talent but of lucidity. Carlos Sainz finished fifth and Fernando Alonso, eighth, in a Grand Prix in which neither Ferrari, nor much less Aston Martin, had a chance of fighting for a place on the podium.
A victory as important for Hamilton’s Formula 1 record as this one – the 104th of his career – could not have happened in a typical race. More than anything, because at the moment the Mercedes is not up to the level of the fastest car, a privileged position that is disputed by Red Bull and McLaren. However, the capricious rain opened a gap through which the multi-champion from Stevenage slipped through, who did everything right and had a perfect day, without forcing himself too much or letting himself be overwhelmed by the circumstances, especially in the workshops.
Mercedes’ success was combined with the folly of Norris’s team, who faced their second stop one lap too late and opted for the wrong compound – the soft – due to their obsession with copying Hamilton. This not only made him lose the lead (lap 40), but also left him exposed to the voracity and jaws of Verstappen, who gobbled up his friend without blinking (lap 48) and, to top it off, increased his lead in the championship.
“I can’t stop crying,” Hamilton said as soon as he got out of the car, his cheeks still wet with tears. “Since 2021, I have gotten up every day to train and work. I have often thought that this was not going to be possible,” the local idol agreed. “But the important thing is to keep getting up and have people around you who help and advise you. Luckily, I have many of those,” the Mercedes driver added.
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