Lewis Hamilton holds off Max Verstappen to end F1 win drought in epic British GP

Lewis Hamilton ended a two-and-a-half-year wait for an F1 victory by claiming a record ninth win in an epic wet-dry British Grand Prix. 

945 days after his last F1 victory at the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Hamilton capitalised on a crazy race interrupted by multiple rain showers to beat Max Verstappen to the win. 

• 2024 F1 British Grand Prix - Race Results from Round 12

Hamilton moved into the lead on Lap 40 following a slow pit-stop for race leader Lando Norris, who overshot his pit box when he stopped a lap later than his rivals to switch onto slicks for the closing stages.

Norris was caught by a charging Verstappen and was overtaken four laps from the end, with the Red Bull driver breezing past before Stowe. 

Verstappen was catching Hamilton in a tense final few laps but the seven-time world champion held on to cross the line 1.4 seconds ahead of his fierce 2021 title rival. 

The victory is Hamilton's ninth at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone and sets a new record for the most wins of a driver at a single circuit. 

Hamilton was visibly emotional after the race and was heard crying over team radio. 

"I can't stop crying!," Hamilton said in parc ferme. "Since 2021, just every day, getting up, trying to fight, to train, to put my mind to the task, and work as hard as I can with this amazing team. 

"And this is my last race here at the British Grand Prix with this team. 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. 

"I’m forever grateful to everyone in this team, everyone at Mercedes, and all of our partners. And otherwise, to all our incredible fans, I could see you lap by lap as I was coming around. There's just no greater feeling as to finish at the front here."

Norris completed the podium in third, ahead of McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri, whose own chances of victory were ruined when he was kept out too long on dry tyres when the first rain cell arrived. 

Ferrari's Carlos Sainz took fifth ahead of Nico Hulkenberg, who claimed an excellent sixth for Haas. 

The Aston Martin duo of Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso came home seventh and eighth, with Alex Albon and Yuki Tsunoda completing the top-10 for Williams and RB. 

Polesitter George Russell suffered a heartbreaking DNF when Mercedes told him to retire his car on Lap 34 with a suspected water leak.