Mercedes Veteran Thanks Lewis Hamilton for His Special Gesture in Honor of Their Factory Workers

Mercedes hadn’t won a race in over 600 days, but when they did, they won two consecutive races. George Russell’s Austrian GP win was lucky, with P1 contenders crashing and squandering the victory. But Lewis Hamilton’s follow-up at the British GP was an emotional rollercoaster, creating history with his 9th win on home soil. While the entire world understandably put his greatness on a pedestal, the 7-time champion humbly headed to Brackley to celebrate with the hundreds of factory employees.

In almost all post-win interviews in his Mercedes career, Hamilton has thanked “everybody back at the factory” for their undying efforts. After this monumental victory in Silverstone, when he visited Brackley, the entire workforce was on its feet, welcoming him with a thundering ovation. Mercedes also brought all 10 British GP-winning trophies from across generations. Out of those, eight belonged to Hamilton, one to Nico Rosberg, and one to Stirling Moss.

The Silver Arrows’ trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin has expressed how special this victory felt. “The mood in the garage was fantastic,” Shovlin said on the F1 Nation podcast. “Then we had so many of the team up at the track over the weekend. So that was great. That vibe continued into Monday.” He also made a special mention for the star driver who made it a point to come to Brackley and give credit where its due. “Lewis came to see us on Wednesday anyway and spoke to the whole team.”

Shovlin also explained how the team immediately got back to work with a doubleheader coming up. “So we’ve been getting on with work. We haven’t downed tools to enjoy the moment too much. But it has been quite a long time that we haven’t won for,” he added. “So those 8 days were quite pleasant to experience winning again. Everyone’s looking forward to doing it more frequently.”

Mercedes has rightfully become a victory contender again. Max Verstappen is shivering (metaphorically, of course) in fear with his biggest rival now eligible to take the top podium spot again. But was the Silverstone win Hamilton’s best ever? Here’s Shovlin’s take on it.

Andrew Shovlin admires ‘classic’ Lewis Hamilton showing in Silverstone

Lewis Hamilton has 104 F1 victories to his name. But never before the 2024 British GP had he cried after winning. Not only both his parents, but an entire nation embraced him for his spectacular comeback after 945 winless days. Yet, his win portfolio is so amazing that Andrew Shovlin couldn’t choose one. After all, the Mercedes driver’s once-in-a-lifetime P20 to P1 in Brazil was also in contention.

“It was classic Lewis,” Shovlin delightedly said on F1 Nation. “He is a difficult driver to say when you start picking his best because you’ve got Brazil from 2021 (P20 to P1) in there. There’s a lot of best races for Lewis. But it was absolute classic Lewis. How it felt after the race, it was incredible. It was nice seeing him do what he does best,” he concluded.

The Hungarian GP up next at the Hungaroring was also Hamilton’s best track, tied with the British GP at 8 wins. But the Silverstone count has now ascended to 9. Can the 7-time champion break his own record when F1 returns to Hungary this weekend and give Mercedes a hattrick of wins before the summer break?