Lewis Hamilton will be hoping to continue his incredible record of success in front of his home crowd at this weekend’s British Grand Prix, with the seven-time World Champion having already scored nine victories around Silverstone.
Could Hamilton clinch a 10th win – and his first at his local event as a Ferrari driver – this time around? We’ll have to wait and see – but in the meantime, we’ve been looking back over his triumphs so far and asked you, the fans, to vote on which one you think is the best.
The results are now in, and we can reveal the top three as chosen by you…
3. 2020 – Crossing the finish line on three wheels
In third place is the 2020 British Grand Prix, an event that delivered perhaps one of the most memorable endings to a race in recent history. During a shortened season owing to the Covid pandemic, Silverstone hosted the fourth race of a campaign that had already looked promising for Hamilton, with the reigning World Champion having won the two previous rounds in Styria and Hungary.
It looked like a similar result could be on the cards when Hamilton and team mate Valtteri Bottas locked out a Mercedes front row in Qualifying before running in a 1-2 formation for much of the Grand Prix. But, just as fans watching at home were likely starting to ready themselves for the victory celebrations, drama struck with just two laps to go.
Bottas’ left front tyre delaminated, resulting in him dropping down the order and likely sparking concern on the Mercedes pit wall for Hamilton. Those worries soon became a reality as Hamilton then suffered the same fate on the final lap, just as the Red Bull of Max Verstappen was chasing him down on fresh tyres.
Incredibly, thanks in part to Verstappen’s late pit stop, Hamilton retained enough of a gap to limp across the line essentially on three wheels, taking one of his most dramatic home wins in the process.
2. 2021 – Flashpoint in Verstappen title rivalry
Next up, you rated Hamilton’s 2021 win at Silverstone as the second best – a triumph that was a somewhat controversial one at the time. Prior to Sunday’s race on that weekend, Hamilton’s title rival Verstappen had been victorious in F1’s first-ever Sprint on Saturday, with the rules at the time meaning that he would subsequently start from pole position for the Grand Prix.
The first lap of Sunday’s race saw Hamilton and Verstappen engage in a fierce battle before colliding at Copse, which sent Verstappen crashing out of the race and prompted the red flags to be thrown.
Hamilton was able to continue and, while a 10-second penalty for causing the collision dropped him down to fourth, he recovered to overtake the McLaren of Lando Norris as well as Bottas.
He would subsequently snatch the lead from Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc just two laps from the end, on a day that many would go on to view as a key flashpoint in the tense championship fight between Hamilton and Verstappen.
1. 2024 – An emotional return to the top step
Finally, we arrive at the Hamilton home victory you voted as your favourite – that being the 2024 British Grand Prix, a win that saw the veteran driver emotionally return to winning ways after a wait of 945 days.
Following the introduction of ground effect regulations, Mercedes experienced two challenging seasons in 2022 and 2023 – a time in which they claimed just one victory courtesy of George Russell’s 2022 success in Brazil. There were signs of progress in 2024, however, with Russell taking a surprise win in Austria following a late-race collision between leaders Verstappen and Norris.
Just one week later at Silverstone, the squad again appeared in strong form. While Russell grabbed pole position ahead of Hamilton, it was the latter who navigated the wet-dry conditions – as well as timing his pit stops perfectly – to get himself into the lead and manage his soft tyres to the end of the race.
Former title rival Verstappen looked to be on the chase after overtaking Norris for P2 in the latter stages – but Hamilton held on to clinch his 104th win by nearly one and a half seconds, the British driver unable to hide the emotion in his voice as he said over the radio: “It means a lot to get this one.”
The win would be Hamilton’s last British Grand Prix victory as a Mercedes driver, with his switch to Ferrari for 2025 having already been announced prior to the season getting underway. Now, this year, his mission will be to secure a first home triumph in red…