Lewis Hamilton gets record-breaking win at British Grand Prix, earning first F1 victory since 2021

Lewis Hamilton pulled in a huge victory on Sunday, outracing his opponents to win the British Grand Prix with Mercedes. The win, besides being on the British driver's home turf, marked Hamilton's first victory since 2021.

The win was the ninth for Hamilton at Silverstone racetrack in England, breaking an F1 record for most wins on a single circuit. F1 heavyweight Max Verstappen took second, while Lando Norris took third.

Sunday's win also marks Hamilton's 104th career F1 win, the most of any driver.

Hamilton was emotional after the race, which took place 945 days after his last win at the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. The 39-year-old racer embraced his father, Anthony, and wiped away tears underneath his visor.

After winning four consecutive F1 championships from 2017 to 2020, and second place in 2021, Hamilton struggled to make the top three in several races. He recorded nine podiums in 2022 and six in 2023, after recording 17 podiums in previous seasons.

Hamilton's second-place finish in 2021 was controversial, with Verstappen taking the win only after race director Michael Masi instructed cars to unlap themselves before a final lap sprint to the finish, allowing Verstappen to pass Hamilton on fresh tires before the checkered flag.

Hamilton’s winless streak since has come as Mercedes struggled to get a grip on F1’s new car regulations introduced that season. As Verstappen has dominated the series for the past three seasons, Hamilton’s win Sunday is just the third for Mercedes since the start of 2022.

However, there are signs of a serious upward trend. Hamilton’s victory comes a week after teammate George Russell won in Austria following a collision between Norris and Verstappen. And Russell and Hamilton started Sunday’s race on the front row. Russell was on pace for a top-five finish before he was forced to retire his car midway through the race because of a suspected water pump issue.

Hamilton remains at No. 8 in the F1 standings with 110 points and one other podium — a third-place finish at the Spanish Grand Prix in June. He is now one point back of Russell and 14 points back of Oscar Piastri in fifth.

Verstappen, who has dominated F1 since 2021, leads the standings by a significant margin with 255 points, seven wins and nine podiums.

Next up for F1 is the Hungarian Grand Prix on July 21, a race where Hamilton has done well in the past. He took fourth in the race last year, and second the previous two years.