BRITAIN: Incredible.

NUMBER TWELVE

Silverstone. Back to where it all began.

On a typically British summer’s day with bright sunshine one minute and lashing rain another, we watch the greatest racing driver of all time finally win a race.

There is plenty to discuss, but I feel a moment for Sir Lewis Hamilton is necessary. He drives with care, determination and experience. It might be win number nine at Silverstone, but the tears over the radio show just how much this one means to him and the team. A win for Britain, Silverstone, and Mercedes, for motorsport as a whole, and most importantly, for Hamilton – he is not done yet.

To the race…

For most of the season it has been the midfield that have supplied the risky overtakes, continuous position swapping and general chaos in a bid to nab a couple of points. At Silverstone we get all of this and more, but it’s between the top six. The weather adds drama as tyre choice becomes crucial – when to change from slicks to inters and back again is key.

We’ll start with the highest scoring team of the race: McLaren. Norris takes P3 but his disappointment is obvious. After an immediate overtake by Verstappen in the first lap, Norris is on his tail and claims back P3 by Lap 15. He’s on a roll and takes P2 from Russell, then P1 from Hamilton by Lap 20. It goes wrong at his final pit in Lap 40. With Verstappen on hards, Hamilton on softs and Piastri mediums, the tyre choice is left in Norris’ hands. He chooses softs, suffers a 4.5 second stop, and is hunted down by a rapid Verstappen who nabs P2 just five laps before the chequered flag. Frustrating for Norris, as his performance alongside his teammate is impressive. In Lap 20, with DRS disabled due to wet conditions, Norris and Piastri (on slicks) manoeuvre their way past both Mercedes and make it a McLaren P1 P2. After seven leading laps, rain calls for inters and the team decide against a double stack, pitting Norris while Piastri is left out. Arguably a bad call, but Piastri still manages to come out and climb his way back up to take P4. Strong from the drivers, perhaps a let down by their pit wall.

McLaren’s strength is in numbers – both their drivers sit high up in the points. Unlike some. Verstappen, having made little impact qualifying P4, finishes on the podium at P2. Following his aggressive demonstration in Austria, he opts for quick, clever tyre decisions and sweeping overtakes (leaving plenty of room this time) to seal a solid result. The same cannot be said for Perez who qualifies P19 and finishes the race P17. No comment. Mercedes also has a split result but it’s caused by a dodgy water system on Russell’s car as he is forced to retire in Lap 33 – a shame for the man on pole at his home race. Ferrari too are split, with Sainz putting in a decent race at P5, while Leclerc has another poor result at P14, after qualifying P10 and facing several poor tyre choices in the race.

What is really encouraging to see is 8 different teams in the top 10. We’re seeing battles in the first couple of laps for P7 between Leclerc in a Ferrari, Stroll in an Aston Martin, and Hulkenberg in a Haas – love it. Aston Martin, having made little impact all season, find themselves P7 and P8. Hulkenberg brings home a P6 for Haas, Albon takes P9 for Williams, and Tsunoda P10 for RB. Their teammates are just behind them at the top end of midfield – Sargeant is P11(!!!) his highest finish by far, Magnussen is P12 and Ricciardo P13.

Sauber are rubbish and Alpine are even worse. Harsh but true – Bottas P15, Zhou P18, Ocon P16 and Gasly retires in the formation lap.

Phew. A long one, but Silverstone is magic and so was that race.