“Lewis Hamilton did a great job”: Red Bull senior figure praises ‘master’ rival driver for his British Grand Prix success 

Lewis Hamilton's masterful drive in the British GP earned plaudits from his rivals, as he returned to the top step of the podium for the first time since 2021. The victory marked his record-breaking ninth win at Silverstone.

Hamilton qualified on the front row for the British GP and took the lead when rain hit the track before relinquishing it to Lando Norris. The duo swapped positions in the final stint with the veteran Mercedes driver putting in an immaculate performance to keep the hard-charging Max Verstappen at bay.

Despite Red Bull and Verstappen's underwhelming performance, Helmut Marko heaped praises on Lewis Hamilton's impressive final stint on soft tires. Marko, who has rarely praised his rivals, lauded Hamilton's masterful drive to win the British GP.

"You can only congratulate Hamilton. He held up well on a dry track. You then see his strength in terms of tire management. We could see that his tires had already started to grain slightly. And we thought it would be OK, but that shows what a master he is, who can read a race and who challenges the tires just right so that they don’t collapse," the 81-year-old told Sky Deutschland (via Planet F1).

"Lewis Hamilton did a great job, and that just shows how much experience and speed he still has," he added.

Hamilton's last victory came in the 2021 Saudi Arabian GP when he was embroiled in a title battle with Max Verstappen. The two rivals were back on the podium in the British GP with a 1-2 finish. Lando Norris rounded out the podium finishers for the final race of the triple header.

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Lewis Hamilton recounts his "full attack" final stint to keep Max Verstappen at bay

The seven-time world champion recounted his final stint during which he undercut Lando Norris to snatch the lead at the British GP. Hamilton was on soft tires, but Max Verstappen was setting the pace on the hards, dispatching Norris for second place and chasing the Mercedes driver.

Hamilton explained that he "was on the edge" in the final stint to maintain the gap to Verstappen. He suggested that if the race had been five laps longer, he might have been overtaken by the Red Bull driver.

"Then at the end, obviously, when Max started to close in, again just trying to give it absolutely everything right on the edge, full attack to try and keep the gap at three seconds, whatever it was. And the tyres started to just drop off a little bit towards the end. So I think it was the perfect distance of a stint. If we had another five laps I don't know if we would have held on to it but I'm grateful that we were able to," he said in the post-race press conference (via FIA.com).

Hamilton extended his record victory tally to 104 with his win at the British GP. He currently occupies eighth place in the drivers standings, trailing his teammate George Russell by one point.