Hamilton triumphs at Silverstone and breaks record for wins: all the excitement of the race

There is Queen's guitarist Sir Brian Harold May to seal victory number 104, an all-time record, for another rider, Sir Lewis Hamilton, which comes after a fast of more than two years. The last one, in fact, had been in Jeddah at the end of 2021: in the Saudi Arabian GP Hamilton had, however, done the 'hat trick' by also bringing home the fastest lap in the race. The seven-time British world champion thus won for the ninth time in his career in the top series in front of his home crowd, at one of the oldest and most popular tracks in the history of the sport.

A race that has never disappointed spectators and drivers, because it takes place on a fast, safe and largely enjoyable track for the drivers, even though they have often been forced to race in the wet, including today. The British event was an exciting one thanks to a mix of emotions mediated by Hamilton, but also by Verstappen and Norris, who played it out to the last despite diametrically opposed tyre choices.

Verstappen, to be fair, was a late entrant between the two Britons, who were the real stars of the weekend. So much so that yesterday, for the first time in the annals, it was three Britons who topped Silverstone qualifying, with Russell, Hamilton and Norris in order. For Russell it was the third pole of his career and Hamilton had not been on the front row for 22 Grands Prix.

It has to be said that if Mercedes has got the recent upgrades right, as opposed to Ferrari, which 'relegated' the single-seater to the theoretically more suitable and reassuring setups of Imola, it was not all smooth sailing for the three-pointed star either, which had to retire the car of Russell, who started on pole and was able to 'empty' the field in the very first laps. Mechanics aside, due to rain, the young Briton of the Mercedes had already lost the lead of the race to Norris, who seemed to favour the McLarens. The Woking single-seaters, in the wet, proved to be completely at ease: it was no coincidence that Norris finished on the podium a short distance behind Max and Lewis, and a fine fourth for Piastri, still a long way from his more experienced team-mate but still able to play a good role as a supporting driver. For the Australian, today also marks the conquest of fourth place in the drivers' championship at the expense of a practically non-existent Perez. If he had not had to retire his car, moreover, overtaking the Mexican would also have mathematically taken over from Russell, who is still seven points behind, while for Hamilton it could be a matter of one or two races at most.

Mercedes therefore finally recovered from an uncertain start to the season: in particular, since the disaster in Monaco they have always scored more points from the prancing horse. Especially today, when Leclerc, along with Perez, were already lapped in the first half of the race. Yet after overtaking Hulkemberg, the Ferraris looked like they might be able to make some comeback, at least in the first few laps. It was just an illusion: in the end Sainz brought home a decent fifth place, while Leclerc trailed in fourteenth.