Lewis Hamilton's F1 British Grand Prix win proves sport has moved past Max Verstappen problem

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, Britain, 2024 — Photo: © IMAGO

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Hamilton's Silverstone win proves F1 has moved past Verstappen problem

The British Grand Prix was thrilling to the very end

Daniel Austin

Tuesday 9 July 2024 09:13 Updated: 11:05

After the 2023 British Grand Prix, Red Bull were 208 points clear at the top of the Formula 1 constructors’ championship, having won all ten rounds of the season on their way to delivering the most dominant campaign in F1 history.

A year later they remain in first position, but their advantage has been reduced to just 71 points, and they have won only seven of the 12 grands prix run so far in 2024.

F1 HEADLINES: Hamilton declared GOAT by F1 rival as Verstappen revelation emerges at Silverstone

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Impressive performance, absolutely, but the Milton Keynes squad’s clinical dominance of F1 has been decisively disrupted by a group of rivals who have rapidly reeled them in.

Sunday’s scintillating British Grand Prix was the proof.

Red Bull dominance is over

Though triple world champion Max Verstappen produced a very strong, measured, drive to take second behind winner Lewis Hamilton, the Red Bull was only the third-fastest car all weekend long, and the Dutchman would have finished way off the pace had changeable conditions not drawn him closer to the leading pack in the closing stages.

At different points in the race, Mercedes and McLaren seemed to trade the pace advantage. The Silver Arrows were consistent at the start and looked comfortable in the dry before the McLarens’ superior balance in the corners allowed them to take the lead in the wet.

It could even be argued that had Lando Norris opted for the medium tyres rather than the softs for his final stint, he could have passed Hamilton for the win.

Max Verstappen and Red Bull have faced much tougher competition in 2024

But Hamilton was more than value for his record-breaking victory, making smart strategic calls all race long, and maximising the impressive speed of a car which looked quick, planted and reassuringly predictable as the weather caused significant changes to the conditions on track.

The win was as deserved as it was popular – this, after all, was the seven-time world champion’s first win in over 900 days, since his enthralling season-long battle with Max Verstappen in 2021 ended in desperate disappointment.

By crossing the line first, Hamilton became a race winner in a record-extending 16th season, and also became the current campaign’s sixth different victor, following in the footsteps of Verstappen, Norris, Carlos Sainz, Charles Leclerc, and team-mate George Russell.

Resurgent Mercedes

Mercedes are undergoing a significant resurgence. Having begun the season as the fifth-fastest team on the grid behind even Aston Martin, they have now won the past two races and are closing in on Ferrari for third place in the constructors’ standings.

Russell’s victory in Austria may have been fortuitous, coming as a gift thanks to Verstappen and Norris’ collision following their wheel-to-wheel battle, but he and Hamilton have been steadily qualifying higher up the field on Saturdays.

Furthermore, on Sundays, the pair have increasingly been able to hold on to those around them for longer.

Mercedes have significantly improved their pace in recent weeks

Their genuine pace and the improvement already shown by McLaren – who have developed what seems to have been the field’s fastest car in the last five or six rounds - means that any of Hamilton, Russell, Norris, Piastri and Verstappen could very realistically have won at Silverstone.

Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc were never in contention in their Ferraris, having endured a succession of difficult weekends since Monaco in which they seem to have dropped slightly behind each of their rivals and are currently outside bets for a podium at best.

However, despite their recent struggles, the Italian outfit are probably only one strong upgrade package away from being back in with a shout for the front spots once again, as they were earlier in the season.

F1's Verstappen problem no longer

What that means, then, is that in just a couple of months, F1’s Verstappen-Red Bull problem has been solved.

Barring calamity, no longer are one team and driver almost certain to win on any given weekend, adding to the excitement and anticipation for each grand prix.

Instead, four teams and their drivers all have a realistic shot of crossing the line first between now and the end of the season.

Competition is currently fierce at the front of the F1 grid

Sure, the lead that Verstappen and Red Bull built up in those early rounds of the campaign when their pace advantage was still clear means they are unlikely to be overtaken in either championship, but the unpredictability of outcomes and hard racing is what F1 fans have been crying out for over the past two seasons – and that has now become the new reality.

F1 races next in Hungary in just under a fortnight, and who will be victorious at the Hungaroring is anybody's guess at this stage.

Motorsport doesn’t get much more exciting than that.

Red Bull Mercedes Formula 1 Hamilton British Grand Prix Verstappen