Our verdict on Hamilton’s emotional win and McLaren’s mistakes

After a wait of more than two and a half years – 945 days to be precise – Lewis Hamilton is once again a Formula 1 Grand Prix winner.

And his triumph at Silverstone, as the seven-time F1 champion held firm with 2024 championship leader Max Verstappen closing in, marked an incredible ninth British GP victory, making Hamilton the first driver to win a race as many times.

But the British GP had much more to offer than that narrative, so we asked our writers to react to a long-awaited end to a win drought and whether McLaren let another victory slip away for Lando Norris thanks to strategy.

The less experienced drivers would lose that race.

Scott Mitchell-Malm

Hamilton’s first F1 win since 2021, at Silverstone of all places, is something very special. And I wonder how many thought it would never come.

There has been a lot of talk about Hamilton in this Mercedes era. George Russell is very quick and has made little progress over more than one lap in this type of car. But Russell’s qualifying prowess is almost certainly underestimated and Hamilton is often up to the task. He is no slouch.

And most importantly, he is still very good on Sundays. For example, less talented drivers lose that race. As in all cases, there are days when Hamilton can struggle, make mistakes or lose his head. But when he gets the chance, he lights up and that cannot be done if there is no fire and skill left.

This bodes well for the rest of the season and his era at Ferrari. He is not a burned-out driver. Maybe this win will help some people realise that.

McLaren’s decisions seemed wrong at the time

Glenn Freeman

McLaren will regret having made so many strategic mistakes in a single Grand Prix.

Yes, it was a chaotic race that put the pit walls under pressure, but McLaren’s decisions looked wrong at the time, not just in retrospect.

Not stacking the cars at the early stops, leaving Norris out for an extra lap when the weather turned again, then using soft tyres on Norris’s car when he had fresh mediums available – even Hamilton could identify at least two of those mistakes when he arrived in the cool-down room before the podium.

I suppose the team will attribute this to the fact that they learned to make those decisions in the pressure cooker that is competing for victory, but that is a generous assessment.

An old season of emotions that we must savor

Josh Suttill

It started slowly and there’s no fight for the drivers’ title… but those are the only real downsides to F1 2024 so far.

And the highlight of this season has been the emotional victories we’ve had in spades.

First there was Carlos Sainz recovering from his Ferrari sacking and missing a race with appendicitis to win on his return, then there was Lando Norris’ first F1 win in Miami followed by Charles Leclerc ending his home racing curse in Monaco.

George Russell then took an emotional victory in Austria as a small compensation for the Montreal win that slipped through his fingers.

And now Hamilton, arguably more emotional than ever, finally ending a painful three-year win drought, may be the icing on the cake.

This is real sport and real sports stars at the top of their game, wearing their hearts on their sleeves and displaying courage, determination and emotion that are an example to everyone on the racing ladder.

The new rules for 2026 will inevitably sound exciting, as will a potential restart of the title fight between the top four teams in 2025. But we should savour this season for the classic year of emotional victories it is turning out to be.

And we’re only halfway there…

A timely reminder of what Hamilton is capable of

Rob Hansford

That trip was nothing short of extraordinary.

It wasn’t a win that was handed to Hamilton. He had to work for it, he had to earn it. Even when he got the lead when everyone switched to slick tyres at the end, it was still not a sure thing that he would win, especially with Verstappen chasing him and Norris.

But this is what Hamilton is capable of when it matters. He may no longer have perfect single-lap pace, but he has lost none of his driving intelligence or racing ability.

The way he handled those soft tyres over the last 11 laps was simply sublime. You only have to look at how Norris’ pace dropped in the closing laps to see how well Hamilton did.

Hamilton has not had it easy at Mercedes in recent seasons, but it was entirely fitting that a race of this quality ended his drought.

The question now is whether he can repeat it this season. If he does, will he start to question his own decision to leave Mercedes for Ferrari in 2025?