“It’s just always special”: Max Verstappen explains his gesture towards Lewis Hamilton despite defeat at British GP

Max Verstappen spoke positively of Lewis Hamilton's recent win at the 2024 British GP. Despite the defending world champion securing second place, he was happy for his rival to end a 945-day race-win drought.

Coming into the British GP, Lewis Hamilton looked strong in practice sessions. In qualifying, the Brit secured P2, his highest qualifying position in 2024. He started Sunday's Grand Prix from the front row with his teammate and polesitter George Russell. Both Mercedes drivers had a good start off their grid boxes and kept McLaren's Lando Norris and Red Bull's Max Verstappen at bay.

Though both McLaren drivers overtook Mercedes drivers after a while, the Silver Arrows were clever with their pitstops and regained the top two positions. Russell had to retire the car due to a water system malfunction, but Hamilton kept pushing on and won the race against Norris with the help of another timely pitstop.

Max Verstappen had accurately timed pitstops and right tires but was too far from the top spot. In the end, he managed to overtake Lando Norris and secure second place. After the race, Verstappen drove past Hamilton, giving him a thumbs-up.

Speaking to Viaplay after the race, Max Verstappen praised Lewis Hamilton's on-track performance and was happy to see him win his home race in front of his fans.

"Great right? He of course drove a good race. Also made the right calls and they were just a bit faster than us. And for him to win infront of his home audience. Its just always special"

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Lewis Hamilton thanked Mercedes wholeheartedly after winning the British GP

Lewis Hamilton was quite emotional after winning the 2024 F1 British GP. Speaking in the post-race press conference, he said that he was unable to stop crying. He also thanked Mercedes for being there for him and giving him a good car to win his last British GP with them.

"Yeah, I can't stop crying. I think, you know, since 2021, I’m 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, 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 over the years," Hamilton said.

This was Lewis Hamilton's first race win after 945 days. Before that, the seven-time world champion was in the 2021 F1 Saudi Arabian GP.

After the British GP, Hamilton is still in eighth place with 110 points. Meanwhile, Max Verstappen continues to lead the table with 255 points.