# 2024 British Grand Prix

The 2024 British Grand Prix (officially known as the Formula 1 Qatar Airways British Grand Prix 2024) was a Formula One motor race that took place on 7 July 2024 at the Silverstone Circuit in Northamptonshire, England. It was the twelfth round of the 2024 Formula One World Championship.
George Russell of Mercedes took pole position, but abruptly retired mid-race due to a water leak in his car. Teammate Lewis Hamilton won the race for what was his first win since the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix more than two seasons prior, ahead of championship leader Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing and Lando Norris of McLaren. The win was Hamilton's 104th career victory and his record ninth British Grand Prix victory.

## Background

The event was held at the Silverstone Circuit in Northamptonshire for the 59th time in the circuit's history, across the weekend of 5–7 July. The Grand Prix was the twelfth round of the 2024 Formula One World Championship and the 75th running of the British Grand Prix as a round of the Formula One World Championship.

### Championship standings before the race

Going into the weekend, Max Verstappen led the Drivers' Championship with 237 points, 81 points ahead of Lando Norris in second, and 87 ahead of Charles Leclerc in third. Red Bull Racing, with 355 points, led the Constructors' Championship from Ferrari and McLaren, who were second and third with 291 and 268 points, respectively.

### Entrants

The drivers and teams were the same as the season entry list with no additional stand-in drivers for the race. In the first free practice session, Oliver Bearman stood in for Kevin Magnussen for Haas, Franco Colapinto replaced Logan Sargeant at Williams, Jack Doohan drove instead of Pierre Gasly for Alpine and Isack Hadjar was in for Red Bull Racing in place of Sergio Pérez. Colapinto made his Formula One practice debut.

### Tyre choices

Tyre supplier Pirelli brought the C1, C2, and C3 tyre compounds (the three hardest in their range) designated hard, medium, and soft, respectively, for teams to use at the event.

## Practice

Three free practice sessions were held for the event. The first free practice session was held on 5 July 2024, at 12:30 local time (UTC+1), and was topped by Lando Norris of McLaren ahead of Lance Stroll of Aston Martin and Norris's teammate Oscar Piastri. The second free practice session was held on the same day, at 16:00 local time, and was topped by Norris ahead of Piastri and Sergio Pérez of Red Bull Racing. The third free practice session was held on 6 July 2024, at 11:30 local time, and was topped by George Russell of Mercedes ahead of his teammate Lewis Hamilton and Norris.

## Qualifying

Qualifying was held on 6 July 2024, at 15:00 local time (UTC+1).

### Qualifying classification

| Pos. | No. | Driver | Constructor | Qualifying times | Qualifying times | Qualifying times | Final grid |
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Constructor | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Final grid |
| 1 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1:30.106 | 1:26.723 | 1:25.819 | 1 |
| 2 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:29.547 | 1:26.770 | 1:25.990 | 2 |
| 3 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:31.596 | 1:26.559 | 1:26.030 | 3 |
| 4 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT | 1:31.342 | 1:26.796 | 1:26.203 | 4 |
| 5 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:30.895 | 1:26.733 | 1:26.237 | 5 |
| 6 | 27 | Nico Hülkenberg | Haas-Ferrari | 1:31.929 | 1:26.847 | 1:26.338 | 6 |
| 7 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jr. | Ferrari | 1:30.557 | 1:26.843 | 1:26.509 | 7 |
| 8 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes | 1:31.410 | 1:26.938 | 1:26.585 | 8 |
| 9 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams-Mercedes | 1:31.135 | 1:26.933 | 1:26.640 | 9 |
| 10 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes | 1:31.264 | 1:26.730 | 1:26.917 | 10 |
| 11 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:30.496 | 1:27.097 | N/A | 11 |
| 12 | 2 | Logan Sargeant | Williams-Mercedes | 1:31.608 | 1:27.175 | N/A | 12 |
| 13 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB-Honda RBPT | 1:30.994 | 1:27.269 | N/A | 13 |
| 14 | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | Kick Sauber-Ferrari | 1:31.190 | 1:27.867 | N/A | 14 |
| 15 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | RB-Honda RBPT | 1:31.291 | 1:27.949 | N/A | 15 |
| 16 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Kick Sauber-Ferrari | 1:32.431 | N/A | N/A | 16 |
| 17 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas-Ferrari | 1:32.905 | N/A | N/A | 17 |
| 18 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine-Renault | 1:34.557 | N/A | N/A | 18 |
| 19 | 11 | Sergio Pérez | Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT | 1:38.348 | N/A | N/A | PL |
| 20 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine-Renault | 1:39.804 | N/A | N/A | 19 |
| 107% time: 1:35.815 ||||||||
| Source: ||||||||
Notes
* ^1 – Sergio Pérez qualified 19th, but was required to start the race from the pit lane for replacing power unit elements without the approval of the technical delegate during parc fermé.
* ^2 – Pierre Gasly was required to start the race from the back of the grid for exceeding his quota of power unit elements. He gained a position as Sergio Pérez started the race from the pit lane.
* ^3 – As qualifying was held on a wet track, the 107% rule was not in force.

## Race
### Race report

The race was held on 7 July 2024, at 15:00 local time (UTC+1), and was run for 52 laps. At the race start, Russell kept his spot at the front, while Verstappen jumped to third ahead of Norris. Norris would eventually get back in front of Verstappen on lap 15 and started chasing after the two Mercedes, with teammate Oscar Piastri following suit two laps later. As the weather slowly transitioned to rain, Hamilton overtook Russell at Stowe corner on lap 18, but both ran off the track at Abbey just a few corners later. Norris took advantage to get past Russell almost immediately after, then got past Hamilton a lap later.
On lap 27, Verstappen pitted for the intermediate tyres, being the first runner in the top five to do so. Norris, Hamilton and Russell all pitted for inters as well on lap 28, but Piastri waited a lap more. This resulted in him dropping to sixth when he would eventually switch to inters on lap 29. Five laps later, Russell unexpectedly retired from the race in the pit lane due to an issue with his water pressure. This left Hamilton as the sole Mercedes contender for the win. On lap 39, Hamilton and Verstappen switched from their intermediates to slicks - Hamilton on softs and Verstappen on hards - while Norris waited a lap to switch to the softs. Once Norris came out, he found himself behind Hamilton and ahead of Verstappen. Verstappen passed Norris with five laps left and tried to catch Hamilton, but Hamilton stayed ahead to win from Verstappen and Norris. It was Hamilton's first victory since the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Additionally, it was his ninth overall victory at the British Grand Prix, breaking the record for the most wins at a single circuit.

### Post-race debrief

Speaking after the race, Hamilton admitted there have "been some days since 2021 and here where I didn't feel like I was good enough, or whether I was going to get back where I am today." His father Anthony stated he had "full confidence that, whatever happened, he was going to give his best, and when Lewis gives his best it normally ends up with the win." Hamilton became the first driver to win a Grand Prix beyond his 300th race start, as all other previous drivers to reach 300 starts - Rubens Barrichello, Michael Schumacher, Jenson Button, Kimi Räikkönen and Fernando Alonso - either failed to do so or have yet to do so.
Second-placed finisher Verstappen credited his team Red Bull Racing for making the call to switch him onto the hard tyres instead of the soft tyres for the final stint, believing he could not have been higher had it been otherwise. Norris praised Hamilton for his victory but rued the lost opportunity for himself, stating "These tricky conditions are always on a knife-edge, and you’re risking a lot. So many things good, but a few too many letdowns today." Russell expressed his disappointment in being forced to pull out of the race, believing he "had a shot of at least a podium.”

### Race classification

| Pos. | No. | Driver | Constructor | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
| 1 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 52 | 1:22:27.059 | 2 | 25 |
| 2 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT | 52 | +1.465 | 4 | 18 |
| 3 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren-Mercedes | 52 | +7.547 | 3 | 15 |
| 4 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren-Mercedes | 52 | +12.429 | 5 | 12 |
| 5 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jr. | Ferrari | 52 | +47.318 | 7 | 11 |
| 6 | 27 | Nico Hülkenberg | Haas-Ferrari | 52 | +55.722 | 6 | 8 |
| 7 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes | 52 | +56.569 | 8 | 6 |
| 8 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes | 52 | +1:03.577 | 10 | 4 |
| 9 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams-Mercedes | 52 | +1:08.387 | 9 | 2 |
| 10 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB-Honda RBPT | 52 | +1:19.303 | 13 | 1 |
| 11 | 2 | Logan Sargeant | Williams-Mercedes | 52 | +1:28.960 | 12 | |
| 12 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas-Ferrari | 52 | +1:30.153 | 17 | |
| 13 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | RB-Honda RBPT | 51 | +1 lap | 15 | |
| 14 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 51 | +1 lap | 11 | |
| 15 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Kick Sauber-Ferrari | 51 | +1 lap | 16 | |
| 16 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine-Renault | 50 | +2 laps | 18 | |
| 17 | 11 | Sergio Pérez | Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT | 50 | +2 laps | PL | |
| 18 | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | Kick Sauber-Ferrari | 50 | +2 laps | 14 | |
| Ret | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | 33 | Water leak | 1 | |
| DNS | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine-Renault | 0 | Gearbox | — | |
| Fastest lap: Carlos Sainz Jr. (Ferrari) – 1:28.293 (lap 52) ||||||||
| Source: ||||||||
Notes
* ^1 – Includes one point for fastest lap.
* ^2 – Pierre Gasly did not start the race due to a gearbox issue. His position on the grid was left vacant.

## Championship standings after the race

| | Pos. | Driver | Points |
| | 1 | Max Verstappen | 255 |
| | 2 | Lando Norris | 171 |
| | 3 | Charles Leclerc | 150 |
| | 4 | Carlos Sainz Jr. | 146 |
| 1 | 5 | Oscar Piastri | 124 |
| Source: ||||
| | Pos. | Constructor | Points |
| | 1 | Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT | 373 |
| | 2 | Ferrari | 302 |
| | 3 | McLaren-Mercedes | 295 |
| | 4 | Mercedes | 221 |
| | 5 | Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes | 68 |
| Source: ||||
* Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.