Lewis Hamilton claimed a fairytale victory at the British Grand Prix on Sunday following an exceptional dry-to-wet-to-dry spectacle at Silverstone.
Russell held his nerve when the lights went out, but it was Max Verstappen who made the early move, rather than Hamilton or Norris. The Dutchman scythed around the outside of the McLaren man to snatch third place.
However, the three-time champion rapidly fell back into the clutches of the two McLaren drivers, and within the space of two laps both Norris and Oscar Piastri moved by. Further up the road, Hamilton made the first pass for the lead, cruising past George Russell with the help of DRS.
Mercedes didn’t have the upper hand for long though. As the rain trickled down, the McLaren duo came into their own. First Norris and then Piastri sauntered past the two Silver Arrows drivers, who were left tiptoeing around the Silverstone tarmac.
At this point, some drivers opted to strap on intermediate tyres. This proved to be a disastrous decision for Charles Leclerc and Sergio Perez, both of whom were lapped when the rain dried up and the track along with it.
When the true crossover point arrived it was Verstappen who pulled the trigger first. That decision eventually promoted him up to third place behind Norris and Hamilton. The loser of the situation was Piastri, who was hung out to dry by McLaren’s strategy call, dropping from second to sixth.
Another of the frontrunners was taken out of the equation on lap 34. Despite running close to the rear of Verstappen’s RB20, Russell was forced to retire with a mechanical issue. Meanwhile, his team-mate started to close in on Norris at the front of the field.
However, Hamilton didn’t have to make the pass on track. After a successful undercut, the seven-time world champion snatched the lead of the race, streaking towards a historic 104th Grand Prix victory while Verstappen closed in on Norris in the battle for second place.
Verstappen made the pass on Norris at the end of lap 48, setting up an almighty finale, but the Dutchman couldn’t find the pace to hunt down his old nemesis.
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