It came home. Sure England is still alive in the Euros, after a victory over Switzerland on penalties Saturday that advanced the Three Lions into the semi-finals where they will face The Netherlands on Wednesday. But something else came home on English soil Sunday.
As Lewis Hamilton finally climbed back to the top step of a Formula 1 podium, doing so at the British Grand Prix. The last time Hamilton reached the top step? That came at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix on the fifth of December, 2021. Much has changed since then, starting with the fact that a week later Max Verstappen beat Hamilton to the checkered flag at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix — in controversial fashion many will be quick to point out — to capture his first F1 Drivers’ Championship.
But this victory has been a long time coming for Hamilton. But it finally came. As the teams battled challenging weather conditions, which included two different spurts of rain at Silverstone, the second lasting longer and creating slicker conditions on the track, Hamilton and Mercedes made a series of impressive strategy calls.
The second was when the team made the decision to pit one lap earlier than race leader Lando Norris, bolting on a set of soft tires to last the seven-time champion to the checkered flag. Norris came in for his own set of softs on the following lap but was left helpless as Hamilton rocketed by him as he lumbered out of the McLaren pit box. That set up a fascinating finish, with Hamilton ahead of Norris an.
