© Jiri Krenek for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd.
By Carol M. Creasey
Although he’s had so many wins over the years at Silverstone, more specifically eight, this year Lewis Hamilton knew that realistically the most he could probably achieve was a podium finish, owing to recent struggles with the Mercedes car.
Last year it was the bouncing, but he still managed a third place finish, and this year, although the bouncing is no longer a problem, the car still lacks performance. However, so far this year, he has managed to get two second places in Australia and Spain, and a third place in Canada.
Both Lewis and George Russell struggled with the car in practice, so it was clear that adjustments had to be made before qualifying. However, whether he is winning or not, the support Lewis enjoys at Silverstone is phenomenal. Many still remember the days when he used to do crowd surfing after a win, and still the faithful fans return in their thousands to support him, as well as other British drivers – Norris and Russell.
During qualifying, at one point in Q2, Lewis briefly put the car on top of the timing sheets, and the crowd absolutely erupted with cheers. Unfortunately after that, others were faster, and by the time Q3 was over, he had qualified in seventh place, with Russell in sixth. The times in the Top 10 were very close (apart from Verstappen’s), the drivers were separated by about three tenths of a second. The surprise of the weekend were McLaren’s Norris and Piastri, who qualified in P2 and P3 respectively, with the Ferraris P4 and P5. Later, while on stage, Lewis promised the fans that he would do his best to give them a good race, and the cheers and shouts of support were as loud as ever.
We were very fortunate to be able to go to Silverstone on race day. It was the second time that I attended the British Grand Prix, and the last time I was there, in 2019, Lewis won the race and set the fastest time. Everywhere I went people were so happy and celebrating, but I knew this year it would be much harder for him.
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We arrived in brilliant sunshine, and I took a moment to look at the supporters around me. Lewis may not be winning right now, but there were so many people with Mercedes t-shirts and green Lewis hats. They also supported Lando and George, two other British drivers on the grid. Interestingly, security people had to remove some Orange Army supporters, who tried to light flares in the grandstands, where people were sitting with small children. There were reports of them creating havoc in Austria, Belgium and the Netherlands, but Silverstone was so much safer, in part due to 100 extra volunteers who were recruited especially for the weekend.
When the race started it was exciting to see Norris overtake Verstappen after his poor start, and race away. For 5 laps Norris held him off, and the cheers from the fans were wild and excited. Lewis had a bad start when he was run wide, and lost a couple of places, whereas Russell made up a place to P4. But it wasn’t long before Lewis came back, and the cheers from the crowd when he overtook Alonso were immense. Such is the atmosphere at Silverstone.
Then drivers started to pit, but Lewis on his medium tyres was going well, and had moved up to 3rd. Magnussen came to a stop when his car caught fire, and a Virtual Safety Car was deployed, and soon after the full Safety Car. This enabled Verstappen, Lewis and Norris to get a free pit stop. So, Lewis remained in 3rd place, Russell was 5th, and sandwiched between them was Piastri. Lewis then tried to overtake Norris, who did some spectacular defending, but in the end he had to settle for 3rd, as his soft tyres were wearing out. His car just lacked the speed necessary to overtake McLaren’s “rocketship”, as Lewis called it after the race. However, it was thrilling entertainment for all the fans, nonetheless.
Once again Verstappen won, but how wonderful it was to see two Britons on the podium at their home race, especially since this has not happened since 1999. Afterwards, Lewis attributed his 3rd place finish to the energy he got from his fans.
Mercedes now realise what a threat the two McLarens are, and it’s a wake-up call for the team to improve the car, although Toto admits they are restricted to what changes they can make this year because of the cost cap.
We left Silverstone very happy, like many others, because we witnessed Lewis on the podium after a difficult weekend. As a footnote, I would like to reply to all the sour grapes people on the internet who said that Lewis got lucky because of the Safety Car. This is long overdue, this bit of luck, because in recent times the Safety Car brought him nothing but bad luck. And if we go a bit further back, Lewis lost his eighth championship because of the drama surrounding the Safety Car. Had the Safety Car not been deployed at the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, he would have won that race by over 11 seconds, and had the Safety Car been handled as the rules dictate, he would also have won that championship.
Coming back to the 2023 British Grand Prix, Lewis drove a brilliant race, went from P7 to P3, and on our way out of Silverstone I’ve heard nothing but praise for him. Next up we have Hungary, so let’s see which team will prevail (apart from Red Bull of course).
Be sure to follow Carol on Twitter @eagertogo and visit her website www.carolmcreasey.com!
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