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5 Winners and 5 Losers from Silverstone – Who excelled in a barnstorming British Grand Prix?
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Lewis Hamilton became Formula 1’s sixth different winner in 2024 with a sensational victory in front of his adoring crowd but, while the tearful Mercedes racer celebrated, many of his rivals were left licking their wounds. Lawrence Barretto picks out his winners and losers from a remarkable British Grand Prix at Silverstone.
Winner: Lewis Hamilton
There is just something about Silverstone that brings out the very best of Lewis Hamilton and, on Sunday, the Briton’s reward for one of his finest drives was a first victory since the 2021 Saudi Arabia Grand Prix ending a 56-race winless streak.
It was his ninth win at Silverstone – which is a record tally for a driver at a single circuit – and a 12th successive podium (and 15th in total) at the British venue that he has made his own.
At 39 years and 182 days, he is the oldest F1 race winner of the 21st century and he has also become the first driver to triumph in a Grand Prix beyond their 300th start (this was his 344th). An incredible day for an incredible driver.
It was a historic Silverstone victory for Lewis Hamilton
Loser: George Russell
While one half of the Mercedes garage celebrated, the other was left wondering what might have been as pole-sitter George Russell dropped down to fourth before retiring with a suspected water system problem.
It was a bitter end to a weekend that offered so much hope for the Briton, who led a British 1-2-3 in qualifying, starting alongside Silver Arrows team mate Hamilton.
This was his second DNF at Silverstone in three attempts and the second time he has failed to see the chequered flag in 2024. He now leads Hamilton by just a single point in the drivers’ standings.
READ MORE: Russell reflects on ‘really disappointing’ retirement from home race at Silverstone
Winner: Max Verstappen
This wasn’t the easiest of weekends for Max Verstappen, the Dutchman unhappy with the balance of his RB20 throughout practice ahead of qualifying fourth.
Another strong getaway helped him leapfrog Lando Norris at the start – but his pace in the next couple of stints was such that he started to fall back.
However, an inspired decision to take the hard tyre in the final stint helped him pass Norris to take second and extend his championship lead to 84 points.
It was his 107th podium, moving him to fourth on the all-time table, behind only Sebastian Vettel, Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton.
Pole-sitter Russell was forced to retire from the race
Loser: Sergio Perez
This was another disastrous weekend for Sergio Perez, who failed to make the top-10 in qualifying for the fifth time in six races after he spun out in Q1.
After taking a suite of new engine components – as resulting penalties were nullified as he was already starting at the back – he made an uninspiring start.
Progress through the field was minimal and his afternoon was effectively over with an erroneous call to take the intermediate tyre when the weather started to improve.
He ended up two laps down in 17th, yielding his third non-score in five races and extending his run without a podium to seven Grands Prix.
Winners: Haas
Haas brought an upgrade so good to Silverstone, it hauled them up the midfield and marked them out as, in Nico Hulkenberg’s eyes, the fifth-fastest team on pure pace.
Hulkenberg made the most of that machine, qualifying a superb sixth and then recovered from a bad start that dropped him to ninth to take back-to-back sixth places.
Those eight points mean the American team trail RB by just four in the fight for sixth in the constructors’ championship.
It was another nightmare race weekend for Perez
Losers: McLaren
Not so long ago, third and fourth would have been a real cause for celebration for McLaren – but the iconic British team have significantly upped their expectations in recent times and will leave Silverstone wondering what might have been.
Norris and Oscar Piastri judged the changeable conditions to perfection to overhaul the Mercedes duo and run one-two but that was the high point.
A decision to not double stack the cars when conditions dried sufficiently dropped Piastri out of contention. Then a delay in bringing Norris allowed Verstappen to undercut, with the Briton dropping to third as his soft tyres couldn’t fight against Verstappen’s hards.
Yes, they have closed the gap to Ferrari to just seven points with also cutting the gap to leaders Red Bull to 78 – however they know they should have won their home race and probably also have got a one-two.
Winners: Aston Martin
Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso gave Aston Martin a huge boost to end a challenging triple header as they secured a double points score with seventh and eighth respectively.
The Silverstone-based team had failed to score in either of the previous two Grands Prix but they seemed to have turned a corner with their recently upgraded package.
Stroll’s P7 was his third top-seven finish of the season while Alonso’s run to eighth was only his second points finish in the last six Grands Prix.
McLaren know they should have won their home race and probably also have got a one-two
Loser: Charles Leclerc
Charles Leclerc admitted he was struggling to find the words to explain what is going on with Ferrari right now as he endured another painful race weekend.
Since winning his home race for the first time in Monaco, Leclerc has now scored points only once in the last four Grands Prix after finishing a woeful 14th at Silverstone, one lap behind the winner.
He failed to make it into Q3 on Saturday – and saw his hopes of recovering into the top-10 go out the window when the team swapped to intermediate tyres expecting rain, only for the anticipated shower to fail to materialise until a significant amount of laps later. By then, his tyres were done and another stop was required.
Winner: Alex Albon
Alex Albon survived a hectic first sequence of corners – where he suffered contact twice to break part of the front wing – to battle his way to a superb ninth at Silverstone.
Ninth equalled his best-result of the season (he also finished ninth in Monaco) and helps put some breathing space between Williams and Sauber in the fight for ninth in the constructors’ championship.
Leclerc said he was struggling to find the words to explain what is going on with Ferrari right now
Losers: Alpine
Alpine’s run of four points-scoring Grands Prix came to a halt at Silverstone, as the French manufacturer enjoyed a difficult afternoon.
Pierre Gasly was set to start from the back after taking a suite of new engine components that triggered a significant penalty. However, he didn’t get the chance to take that position as a gearbox issue forced his retirement at the end of the formation lap.
Team mate Esteban Ocon lamented a string of strategic errors across the weekend – and specifically the race – as he ended up 16th, two laps down on the race leader.
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