Podium place: Lewis Hamilton
(Picture: Getty Images)In 15 previous seasons in Formula 1, Lewis Hamilton has remarkably never ended a season without a grand prix victory.
Similarly, he has never not won a race in the opening 10 race weekends of that decade and a half.
That latter record was unwantedly broken at yesterday’s thrilling British Grand Prix and yet Hamilton was buoyed by coming agonisingly close to a first grand prix win of 2022 which a few days ago had been fanciful.
The 37-year-old produced fastest lap after fastest lap in the chase of the two Ferraris: eventual race winner Carlos Sainz and his teammate Charles Leclerc.
And when a safety car was deployed on lap 39 to recover the parked car of Esteban Ocon and Hamilton pitted for soft tyres along with Sainz, it looked to pave the way for the 104th victory of his career.
But Hamilton couldn’t get his car to emulate the earlier pace on the new rubber. It left him and his Mercedes team to ponder what might have been following another positive weekend and a second successive podium finish.
Team principal Toto Wolff said: “Without the safety car, he would have probably won the race. We were that close from winning it, and it would have been fantastic for him. The most encouraging thing is we had a car that was able to race.”
Hamilton finally appeared to be devoid of the bouncing, which has caused Mercedes more headaches than virtually any team on the grid this season.
The early part of the race was overshadowed by Zhou Guanyu’s high-speed crash, from which the Alfa Romeo remarkably walked away unscathed, and protestors taking to the track shortly afterwards. But what followed was one of the most memorable races in F1 history.
But the seven-time world champion was reticent to say it marked a turning point for him and Mercedes after a tough season.
He said: “We’ve still got work to do. We need more naturally, we have to keep pushing and stay positive but it’s great to be back in the fight.”
Hamilton said he genuinely believed he could win the race and came close after thrilling wheel-to-wheel racing with the likes of Leclerc and runner-up Sergio Perez in the latter stages at Silverstone.
“That was very reminiscent of karting days,” said the Briton. “And I feel that that’s Formula 1 at its best. The way that we were able to follow and dice like that, lap on lap is a testament to the direction I think that we’re now in. I was just grateful that I could be in the battle because I’ve not been in that fight for a while.”
A record crowd of 142,000 and more than 400,000 people over the course of the race weekend cheered on Hamilton, who was buoyed by the fact his Mercedes was, for the most part, a match for the Ferraris and Red Bulls except on the long straights.
Despite that, looking ahead to next weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix, he said: “I don’t think we’re in a winning position yet but we’re not far away. There is potential in this car and we just have to keep doing our due diligence, keep our heads down and stay focused, and not give up.”
It proved a weekend to forget for defending world champion and championship leader Max Verstappen, who damaged the floor of his car and stuttered to a lowly seventh place. But it proved damage limitation in the title fight as earlier race leader Leclerc could only fourth, undone by Ferrari failing to bring him in for soft tyres following the safety car for Ocon.
Verstappen said, “I think seventh place was still a good result with the damage I had,” while Leclerc refused to Ferrari for the lack of pitstop, which denied him a third win of the season.
The Ferrari driver said: “It’s not good. I would rather not have these problems. As much as I am disappointed on my side, I don’t think this should be a headline on what is an amazing first victory on Carlos.”
