Emotional Lewis Hamilton struggles to hold back tears after securing record-breaking victory at British Grand Prix

There were tears of joy and relief for Lewis Hamilton after the home favourite claimed his first win since 2021 at the British Grand Prix.

Hamilton conquered the changing conditions to regain the lead from fellow Brit Lando Norris, who ended up third behind Red Bull’s championship leader, Max Verstappen, after timing his pitstops to perfection following a rain shower at Silverstone.

And after 945 long days, Hamilton finally went on to take the chequered flag for the 104th time in his career.

‘I can’t stop crying,’ said Hamilton after dabbing the tears away with a towel. ‘Since 2021 every day getting up to fight, to train to put my mind to the task and work as hard as I can with this amazing team.

‘This is my last race here with this amazing team and I wanted to win it for them. I’m forever grateful to everyone in this team. 

‘All our incredible fans, I could see you lap-by-lap as I was coming round and there’s no greater feeling than to finish at the front here.’

Victory was a record-extending ninth at Silverstone for Hamilton, who flew the Union Jack from the cockpit on an emotional lap of honour.

Hamilton could be heard fighting back the tears as he thanked his race engineer Pete Bonnington and Mercedes boss Toto Wolff in what was his final home race with the team before he moves to Ferrari from the start of next season.

‘It's so tough for anyone but the important thing is how you continue to get up and dig deep even when you feel like you’re at the bottom of the barrel,’ said Hamilton of his struggles during the past few seasons.

‘There’s definitely been days since 2021 where I didn’t feel like I was good enough or if I was going to get back to where I am today.

‘But the important thing is I have great people around me continuing to support me and my team. Every time I turn up and see them and put in the effort that really encouraged me to do the same thing.’