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 already taking nine wins at Silverstone.
Could hamilton achieve a tenth victory, and the first in his home event as ferrari driver – this time? We’ll have to wait and see, but in the meantime, we’ve been looking back at their wins so far and asking 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 chosen by you…
3. 2020 – Cross the finish line on three wheels
In third place is the 2020 British Grand Prix, an event that featured perhaps one of the most memorable race finishes in recent history. During a season shortened due to the Covid pandemic, Silverstone hosted the fourth race of a campaign that already looked promising for Hamilton, as the reigning World Champion had won the previous two rounds in Styria and Hungary.
It looked like a similar result could be on the cards when Hamilton and his teammate Valtteri Bottas blocked a mercedes front row in qualifying before racing in a 1-2 formation for much of the Grand Prix. But, just as fans watching at home were likely beginning to prepare for the victory celebrations, drama erupted with just two laps to go.
Bottas’ left front tire delaminated, causing him to lose order and likely raising concern on the Mercedes pit wall for Hamilton. Those concerns soon became reality when Hamilton suffered the same fate on the final lap, just as the red bull of Max Verstappen I was chasing him with new tires.
Incredibly, thanks in part to Verstappen’s late pit stop, Hamilton maintained enough of a gap to limp across the line essentially on three wheels, scoring one of his most dramatic home wins in the process.
2. 2021 – High point in Verstappen’s title rivalry
He went on to rate Hamilton’s 2021 win at Silverstone as his second-best, a win that was somewhat controversial at the time. Ahead of that weekend’s Sunday race, Hamilton’s title rival Verstappen had emerged victorious in F1’s first sprint on Saturday, and the rules of the time meant he would subsequently start from pole position for the Grand Prix.
On the first lap of Sunday’s race, Hamilton and Verstappen engaged in a fierce battle before colliding at Copse, causing Verstappen to crash out of the race and causing red flags to be thrown.
Hamilton was able to continue and, although a 10-second penalty for causing the collision relegated him to fourth position, he recovered to overtake the McLaren of Lando Norris as well as Bottas.
He would later take over the leadership ferrari‘s Carlos Leclerc just two laps from the end, on a day that many would consider a key point in the tense fight for the championship between Hamilton and Verstappen.
1. 2024 – An emotional return to the top step
Finally, we come to Hamilton’s home victory that he voted as his favorite: the 2024 British Grand Prix, a victory in which the veteran driver emotionally returned to winning ways after a 945-day wait.
Following the introduction of ground effect regulations, Mercedes experienced two challenging seasons in 2022 and 2023, a time in which they only managed one victory thanks to George RussellThe success of 2022 in Brazil. However, there were signs of progress in 2024, with Russell taking a surprise victory in Austria following a late-race collision between leaders Verstappen and Norris.
Just a week later at Silverstone, the team was back in good shape. While Russell took pole position ahead of Hamilton, it was the latter who navigated the wet and dry conditions, as well as timing his pit stops perfectly, to take the lead and manage his soft tires until the end of the race.
Former title rival Verstappen looked to be in the chase after overtaking Norris for P2 in the closing stages, but Hamilton held on to claim his 104th victory by almost a second and a half, the British driver unable to hide the excitement in his voice as he radioed: “It means a lot to get this.”
The victory would be Hamilton’s last British Grand Prix victory as a Mercedes driver, and his switch to Ferrari for 2025 was already announced before the season began. Now, this year, their mission will be to achieve a first local victory in red…