Hamilton holds off Verstappen to win record ninth British Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton produced a brilliant drive to clinch a record ninth British Grand Prix victory from a charging Max Verstappen.

The Mercedes driver, 39, held off the reigning world champion at Silverstone in a thrilling race to take his first Grand Prix win since 2021.

The seven-time world champion beat Red Bull's Verstappen by 1.5 seconds, with McLaren's Lando Norris in third.

After the race, an emotional Hamilton, who will move to Ferrari next season, was in tears as he waved the Union Jack flag to cheers from the delighted British fans.

The Briton became the first driver to secure nine victories at any circuit and stretched his record to 104 Grand Prix wins. Hamilton's last victory was 945 days ago at the Saudi Arabian GP in December 2021 – the year he lost the title to Verstappen in Abu Dhabi.

"Since 2021, every day fighting, training and putting my mind to the task, working as hard as I can," said Hamilton.

"This is my last race for the team here, I love them so much, I'll be forever grateful to everyone at Mercedes and to the incredible fans."

Hamilton's teammate George Russell, the winner a week earlier in Austria, was forced out with a water leak after starting from pole position.

Verstappen increased his lead over Norris at the top of the drivers' standings to 84 points despite failing to win for two consecutive races for the first time since Silverstone and Austria in 2022.

Oscar Piastri of McLaren was fourth with Carlos Sainz of Ferrari sixth and Nico Hulkenberg of Haas seventh.

As Hamilton took the chequered flag Mercedes' team engineer Peter Bonnington shouted on the radio: “Get in there, Lewis. You are the man, you are the man! I have been waiting for this.”

Hamilton’s voice cracked as he replied: “Thank you