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The 2024 F1 British GP had a feel-good ending if there ever was one. Lewis Hamilton won his ninth race at Silverstone, fending off the challenge from the likes of Max Verstappen and Lando Norris.
This was a race with a multitude of challenges, beginning with a dry start followed by a short spell of rain, followed by a larger spell that pushed everyone towards intermediates, and then a dry track at the end. Amidst all that, there were strategic blunders and masterclasses that culminated with Hamilton taking the chequered flag ahead of Verstappen.
Lando Norris was P3, as the McLaren driver had to contend with a poor tyre strategy from the team. He was followed home by teammate Oscar Piastri in P4 and Carlos Sainz in P5. In a British GP that had everything from start to finish, what did we learn?
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2024 F1 British GP: Key takeaways
#1 Lewis Hamilton has still got it
The 2024 season has not been the best for Hamilton. He has been outpaced by George Russell regularly in qualifying, and he has also struggled at times in general. At the British GP, though, it was the performance of a driver who is as good as anyone else on the grid.
Hamilton was great throughout the race, and even when he made the most of mistakes made by his rivals, what stood him apart is that he was still there when it mattered.
If Lewis Hamilton has the car to fight for the title next season, it would be difficult to bet against him. He has not lost any of his guile or racing chops, and what a race he chose to remind everyone of it.
#2 McLaren dropped another win
Since the race in Miami, where McLaren first introduced the upgrade, they could have won the race in Canada, Barcelona, Imola and Austria. Worst of all, it was a race handed to Lando Norris on a platter, but the team screwed up big time.
Fitting soft tyres on the McLaren when they had the better medium ones available was almost diabolical from a strategic standpoint, and it cost the team a win at the British GP.
Fortunately for Norris, this season is not the one where he's fighting for the title, and he can learn from these mistakes. For the team's and the driver's sake, they need to do the learning quickly, though.
#3 Max Verstappen was splendid to finish P2
There are no two ways to put it, but the Red Bull didn't deserve to be on the podium at the British GP, but the fact that Verstappen was able to place it there speaks a lot about his prowess. This was a race where the driver and his strategic unit made calls, which were the distinguishing factors.
They had a max pit for intermediates at the perfect time, calling the Red Bull driver into the pits for the slick tyre at the right time. Eventually, though, he was possibly in a slower car with the right tyres, but he was hunting down Hamilton.
Red Bull need a faster car for sure, but what Verstappen has achieved with the current car would be foolish to ignore.
#4 Ferrari back to its former version
Charles Leclerc's British GP was a complete shambles, as it involved a panicked move to intermediates, which went horribly wrong.
The team completely ignoring the weather projections and kept their driver on a dry track on worn-out intermediates for five laps where he was 12 seconds per lap slower, It was a sign of a team whose strategy unit needs to fare much better.
Unfortunately, it's not the first time we've seen this from the Ferrari strategy unit. In fact, since 2008, you can pick far too many races where shambolic pit calls have been made.
Fred Vasseur's team was supposed to be different from the Scuderia of old, but in all fairness, it's just the same at the moment.
#5 Nico Hulkenberg's British GP performance showed how unfair F1 can be
Nico Hulkenberg secured a second consecutive P6 finish for Haas at the British GP, which cannot be undermined.
Most importantly, it was the driver who made the right calls at the right time throughout the race. Moreover, Hulkenberg was just brilliant overall this weekend when you compare with what his teammate, Kevin Magnussen, did (not even finish in the top-10).
Nico Hulkenberg has singlehandedly dragged Haas to within striking distance of P6 in the championship. One could say that he has outperformed in the car.
Unfortunately for him, the reward of such an impressive drive would come to nothing. He's going to Sauber/Audi next season on a long-term contract where one can almost guarantee that the car could be worse than what he's driving now.
All this time, his former teammate Sergio Perez continues to put in one underwhelming performance after another in a Red Bull.
