Why 2024 British GP was Hamilton's greatest F1 win

All the front-runners but Piastri finally gave up on their dry tyres and came in for intermediates on lap 28.

Once the Australian pitted, it was Norris back in the lead with Hamilton 3sec further back.

“Okay Lewis, this is our time,” said Mercedes engineer Peter ‘Bono’ Bonnington on the radio as the rain continued to hammer down.

Russell then had to retire with a water pressure issue, but Hamilton pressed on, taking chunks out of Norris sector by sector.

The fickle weather soon changed again though. With the sun bursting through the clouds and drying the track, Hamilton dived in for soft tyres on lap 39.

It proved the right call. Using the fresh Pirellis, the Mercedes driver’s undercut proved highly effective against a flailing Norris who was stuck behind traffic, who went a lap too long on intermediates.

Come the moment of reckoning, Hamilton rocketed past as Norris slithered out of the pitlane following his stop. The crowd were in raptures once more as F1’s most successful driver was back in the lead.

The McLaren man had chosen to use old soft tyres instead of new mediums, a decision that proved terminal.

His Pirellis having less life in them, Norris was unable to mount a challenge to Hamilton, and then fell back into the clutches of the charging Max Verstappen.

The Dutchman got past with four laps to go and a 3.3sec gap to Hamilton, but here the latter’s brilliance was on display once more.

The Brit had been saving his tyres while Norris struggled, and once Verstappen was past, was able to unleash the performance left in them to maintain his margin.

Hamilton remained unchallenged to the end, with the Silverstone faithful roaring him over the line as he took an incredible ninth British GP win.

“What a victory, Hamilton is back!” exclaimed Sky commentator David Croft, before emotionally-charged team radio messages were soon broadcast.

“Get in there Lewis! You the man, you the man!” exclaimed Bono from the garage. “Oh mate, I have been waiting for this! This one means a lot to us all.”

“Thank you so much guys,” replied Hamilton, struggling to hold back the tears. “It means a lot, it means a lot to get this one. I love you Bono.”

“What a sign off!” added team boss Toto Wolff, referencing Hamilton’s imminent move to Ferrari.

Once back in the pits, Hamilton leapt out of his car and ran off to celebrate with the crowd, before coming back to share his thoughts on an incredible race.

“I can’t stop crying!” he said. “I think the important thing is just how you continue to get up, and you’ve got to continue to dig deep even when you feel like you’re at the bottom of the barrel.”

“There’s definitely been days between 2021 and here where I didn’t feel like I was good enough, or whether I was going to get back to where I am today, but, the important thing is I had great people around me, continuing to support me.

“This is my last race here at the British Grand Prix with this team [before moving to Ferrari], so I wanted to win this so much for them, because I love them, I appreciate them so much, all the hard work they’ve been putting in all over these years.”

With over a hundred race wins, there have been a multitude of other great Hamilton victories through the years to choose from.

His wet-weather masterclass in Silverstone ’08, where he lapped nearly the entire field, was even better than his Monaco win that same year, while there have been sensational duels with Fernando Alonso, Nico Rosberg, Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen.

But, owing to the passage of time, the 2024 British GP win, his 104th, has a back story like no other.

Some doubted him, so thought he’d never win. But Hamilton dug deep, and drove brilliantly when it mattered to show he still had it.

It truly is Hamilton’s greatest F1 victory.