It’s been a successful week for British sports as the national football team reached the Euro 2024 final and the most successful Formula 1 driver, Lewis Hamilton, returned to his winning ways on his home turf at Silverstone. Bollywood fans also had something to cheer about as actress Kriti Sanon attended the Formula 1 race. Here are the hits and misses of the 2024 British Grand Prix.Â
F1 British GP: Hamilton creates history
It was a day when several records were broken. Seven-time Formula 1 world champion, Lewis Hamilton, showed that form and car problems are temporary, but class is permanent. By winning for the ninth time in Silverstone, Hamilton broke the record for maximum victories at a single race track.
Mercedes got their strategy spot on and quickly adapted to the wet conditions. Starting from second position, Hamilton took the lead on Lap 18 as he overtook his teammate George Russell. With changing weather conditions, the seven-time world champion was struggling to keep pace with McLaren’s Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, but once the track started drying, Hamilton switched to slick tyres and led the way to the finish line.
F1 British GP: McLaren bites the dust
McLaren had a 1-2 finish in the back of their pocket, but a sluggish outing for the pit crew cost the team. From almost winning the race Norris and Piastri were forced to settle for third and fourth respectively. It was a comedy of errors from long pit stops to switching to soft tyres instead of the medium compound for Norris and even getting the timing wrong for a pit stop. This is the second time in a row that McLaren has self-destructed and handed a win to their competitors.
F1 British GP: Against all odds
Max Verstappen didn’t win the Grand Prix, but the defending champion showed what he’s made of. For a change, Red Bull wasn’t the fastest car on the track, but he pretty much kept the team in the hunt. Believe it or not, at the initial stage, Verstappen was almost 10 seconds behind Norris, who was leading the race at that time, but, Red Bull did what they do best and got the timing of pit stops and tyre selection to perfection. By opting for medium compound tyres for Verstappen, the Dutchman managed to go past Norris and finish second.
F1 British GP: Masterstroke by Hulkenberg
Full credit to Nico Hulkenberg of Haas as we adapted to the challenging driving conditions and the everchanging weather and finished sixth. The German has been exceptional this season as this was his second consecutive sixth-place finish after Austria. As good as this result is for the team, this will be Hulkenberg’s last season with Haas. He has now scored 22 points and is eleventh in the driver’s championship table. Keeping in mind that Haas finished last in 2023, the team has till now scored 27 points and is seventh out of ten teams.
F1 British GP: Celebrity buzz at SilverstoneÂ
Silverstone saw many movie superstars like Bollywood heartthrob Kriti Sanon and Emilia Clarke from Game of Thrones. Sanon also became the first Bollywood actress to attend the British Grand Prix. She was seen hobnobbing with the Red Bull team and even wished both Verstappen and Sergio Perez all the best for the race.Â
Clarke popularly known as Daenerys Targaryen from the Game of Thrones was busy chatting with the Ferrari drivers, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz. Later, she also added some flair to the McLaren pit with her presence.
