Lewis Hamilton won the British Grand Prix last weekend for the ninth time, his 104th Formula 1 career win, showing once again that he and Silverstone are tied together by what can only be a symbiotic relationship.
[But first, let us get one thing out of the way. As you may have noticed, this Takeaways column has been delayed, but the thing is, I have been running the GrandPrix247 desk solo over the British Grand Prix weekend which, given how that race turned out to be, was an excruciating task; and all this because my partner in crime, Paul Velasco, decided to go and take photos of some old rock stars aka #TheBritFest whom I have never heard of over the same weekend of the F1 race in Silverstone.
That meant I was burnt out by the time Paul was back last Monday and a couple of days off were the only solution to recharge the batteries and reflect a bit on the great F1 weekend Silverstone delivered.]
Reflecting I did, but the only thing that I could not find an answer for was that special relationship between Lewis and his home race, a race he won in 2020 on three wheels. Almost nothing seems to stop Hamilton from winning in Silverstone.
So let's look into his latest triumph there, in our Takeaways from the 2024 British Grand Prix.
The legend goes on at Silverstone
Hamilton's win at Silverstone last weekend couldn't have been any better. It was his final race there with Mercedes, his first win since the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in 2021, an unprecedented achievement, and most importantly proof for all doubters - including Lewis himself - that he still has what it takes as a new milestone in his illustrious F1 career draws closer - his upcoming Ferrari drive.
While George Russell has had the upper hand in qualifying with the Mercedes camp, Hamilton seemed to be the driver in control at Silverstone, and while some might argue that Russell's DNF with a water systems issue, helped his teammate win, I would beg to differ, Hamilton smelled blood that British summer afternoon and could not be stopped.
While the form between Red Bull, McLaren, and Mercedes ebbed and flowed throughout the race with rain playing games with the teams and drivers, Mercedes and Hamilton had the winning package: A fast car and a bang-on strategy.
McLaren had the fast car and dropped the ball massively with strategy. Red Bull had the slowest car - apart from the final stint - but made amends with their pit wall decisions to keep Max Verstappen in contention.
The result, was Hamilton victorious for the 104th time. The win counter had stopped for 945 days as Mercedes went through the pains of trying to get their heads around the ground effect regulations, something they finally seem to have done.
I mentioned in my previous Takeaways column how great it would be for Lewis to win before he left Mercedes, and that came true in the most special of ways, at home under the watchful eyes of his parents and in front of his home fans.
However, and I hate to be the party pooper, but while Hamilton and Mercedes won, Ferrari, his team from 2025 onwards was being lapped (Charles Leclerc) not to mention being outqualified by Haas... Just saying.
McLaren collectively drop the ball again
As I mentioned in the previous paragraph, McLaren had a fast car in the British GP, but the team's pitwall failed miserably in dealing with the changing conditions of the race, pitting at the wrong time and giving Lando Norris the wrong tyre when it mattered.
They destroyed Oscar Piastri's race when they kept him out too long at the first round of stops (slicks to Inters) and did the same with Norris at the second stop (Inters to slicks) and to make things worse, they put him on the Soft tyres which meant he was a sitting duck for Verstappen flying on the Hards.
It was obvious that McLaren should have given Norris the Mediums again as the MCL38 was rapid on them earlier as was Piastri in the final stint - and they had those tyres available.
As for Norris, well that is another story, and while he was hard on himself after the race for making wrong decisions, that does not cut it, he needs to stop the mistakes.
Also in my previous Takeaways column, I said McLaren are missing out on their best chance for an F1 Title challenge and they may not get the same opportunity in 2025 as they may need to fight on several fronts.
Well too late, Red Bull are still tough to beat despite their RB20 not being the class of the field anymore, but they still have Verstappen and a formidable strategy team, but now Mercedes crashed the party and will be more potent from now till the end of 2024, especially with Hamilton back to winning ways.
Back to Norris, the way Verstappen passed him on Lap 1 in the race showed that he is still wanting in terms of race craft, and I dare say, after Austria, I think the Dutchman broke him...
As our own Kevin Melro nicely put it: "No learning from Lando, his first move on circuit is to willfully put himself out of position on Hamilton, gets pushed off line and Verstappen gets a free pass around him. Alarmingly poor race craft."
Action needed at Red Bull Racing
Red Bull's weekend in Silverstone was disappointing, on several fronts and we start with their car, the once-dominant RB20. The highlight on the other hand was their impeccable race execution.
With McLaren and Mercedes catching up, the reigning F1 Champions need to find a way to keep up with them now, which is a challenge given the "law of diminishing returns" which Christian Horner said is currently judging his team's development.
McLaren and Mercedes have reached Red Bull's level now and even surpassed it, so shouldn't they now be expecting diminishing returns from their development?
My point is, that Horner's explanation as to why Red Bull have lost their edge does not really justify their struggles to keep up with their rivals.
While Verstappen has a healthy lead in the F1 Drivers' Championship, the same cannot be said about Red Bull in the Constructors' especially as Sergio Perez's lack of contribution in points continues.
It was a surprise when Perez was given a contract extension despite his struggles, but after a number of rough weekends, he seemed to be in good form as the weekend in Silverstone started but then came qualifying.
He may have been unlucky that his car got beached in the gravel and he couldn't get going again, but a driver of his experience should've avoided that incident for starters. After that, he looked to make amends in the race, but he ended up being lapped, although his gamble on an early switch to Inters back fired.
Liam Lawson was probably testing the RB20 at Silverstone as the time this article was written. Remember when Daniel Ricciardo did the same last year; how that panned out? I believe Lawson is better than Ricciardo...
Dr Helmut Marko hinted in a recent exclusive interview with GrandPrix247 that the summer break is a time for some assessment at Red Bull. Tough times for Checo...
Verstappen on the other hand messed up his qualifying with the gravel trip he went on which destroyed his floor, and if the amount of downforce he lost - 100 points according to Red Bull - was accurate, the fact that he qualified fourth, a little over four tenths off the pace, was impressive, but does not give him a free pass.
At a time when the competition is at its fiercest, Verstappen cannot afford mistakes. He finished almost 1.5s behind Hamilton. Imagine what could have been had he started closer to the front.
As a summary, Red Bull needs to sort out the car, and Perez if they hope to fend off McLaren and Mercedes. Verstappen, as mighty as he is, cannot fight alone.
Furthermore, when asked, after Russell won in Austria if Mercedes could now lure Verstappen, Toto Wolff said they still needed the guys in front to crash for them to win. In Silverstone, they didn't, Mercedes won on merit.
British GP Quick Hits
- Ferrari found out their latest upgrade from Barcelona was rubbish and reverted to an older spec, they were outqualified by Haas in Silverstone and lapped in the race. Do I really need to say more?
- Speaking of Haas a great job by Nico Hulkenberg both in qualifying and the race and kudos for the team on delivering an upgrade that works.
- Aston Martin were back in the points in Silverstone, can they repeat it in Hungary?
- Great weekend for Alex Albon, qualifying in the top ten and finishing ninth scoring points on a track that shouldn't favour their car on paper, but they dealt with the conditions well.
Also Logan Sargeant delivered his best qualifying in 2024 (12th) and finished 11th but it is probably too late for him to save his seat at Williams. - A final shoutout goes to the British summer that played a major factor in F1 delivering a thrilling racing weekend.
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