Hamilton Takes Silverstone From Second on the Grid
Lewis Hamilton started from second and finished first at Silverstone on 7 July 2024, taking his first victory of the season in round 12 of the 2024 season. George Russell had taken pole for Mercedes but did not convert it into the win, leaving his teammate to collect the 25 points instead.
It was a result that underlined the complexity of a mid-season Mercedes that could put a car on pole one moment and lose the lead to its own second driver the next. Hamilton's win from P2 on the grid added a layer of intrigue to an already complicated internal dynamic at the team.
The Top Four: Red Bull and McLaren Split the Remaining Podium Places
Max Verstappen crossed the line second for Red Bull, having started fourth. That recovery through the field added to a points haul that kept him firmly in contention in the drivers' standings heading into the second half of the season. Verstappen took 18 points — a useful return from a race where he was never in realistic contention for the lead.
Lando Norris finished third for McLaren, starting from P3 and holding that position through to the flag. His teammate Oscar Piastri completed the top four, moving forward from fifth on the grid to fourth at the finish. A double points finish for McLaren, with both cars inside the top four, was a signal of where their 2024 development trajectory was heading.
Compare Norris and Piastri's 2024 performances across the season to see how this Silverstone result fits into the bigger picture.
Ferrari, Haas, and the Midfield Story
Carlos Sainz ran fifth for Ferrari, gaining two positions from his seventh-place grid slot and also taking the fastest lap of the race. It was a quietly productive afternoon for Sainz — 11 points plus the fastest lap bonus would have been 12 had the championship bonus applied — and it demonstrated Ferrari's underlying race pace even when their Saturday wasn't good enough to challenge the front row.
Nico Hülkenberg delivered one of the results of the afternoon in sixth, scoring 8 points for Haas F1 Team from sixth on the grid. Maintaining a front-row starting position through a full race distance at Silverstone is not straightforward, and Hülkenberg did exactly that.
Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso filled seventh and eighth for Aston Martin, with Stroll gaining one place from his grid slot and Alonso advancing two positions from tenth. Both cars in the points is a solid return for the team.
Albon and Tsunoda Complete the Top Ten
Alexander Albon took ninth for Williams, holding his ninth-place grid position to score two points — consistent, professional work. Yuki Tsunoda was the final points scorer in tenth, having started thirteenth for RB F1 Team. That three-place gain from outside the top twelve represented the biggest grid-to-finish gain in the points.
The bottom half of the top ten was remarkably stable, with the exception of Tsunoda's forward movement, suggesting the cars in the 8-13 grid range had relatively little tyre degradation spread between them.
What the Silverstone Result Told Us About 2024
Hamilton's win was his first of the 2024 season and it came at his home circuit — where he had already won more times than any other driver in F1 history. That it came from second rather than pole was almost fitting: a race won on pace and execution rather than track position.
Russell's pole-to-not-win told a story about Mercedes' race-day consistency. The W15 was clearly capable of front-row pace at Silverstone. Whether it could sustain that through a full race was another matter, and on this Sunday the answer was no — at least not well enough to keep even its own second-placed starter behind.
For the broader 2024 season picture, the Silverstone points distribution — Hamilton 25, Verstappen 18, Norris 15, Piastri 12 — represented a competitive midpoint between four drivers who were all capable of winning on any given weekend.
Explore the full 2024 season standings and race-by-race breakdown on F1Rec, or compare Hamilton and Russell's 2024 season data directly.