Lewis Hamilton gives rare paddock confession over British Grand Prix win

In tears after his British GP victory, Lewis Hamilton revealed that watching Rubens Barrichello cry in yesteryear, he thought that would never be him but Silverstone hit “hard”.

945 days after his last Formula 1 Grand Prix win, Hamilton made history at Silverstone on Sunday when the Briton became the first driver to win the same race nine times.

Lewis Hamilton finally had his Rubens Barrichello moment at Silverstone

Holding off a late-race charge from Max Verstappen, Hamilton crossed the line 1.4s ahead to secure his first race win since their 2021 World title fight.

It was an emotional moment for the Mercedes driver, more so than he ever thought possible, and said it was the first time in his legendary career that he has cried after winning.

“It’s surreal,” he told Sky F1. “My heart is racing.

“I had so many amazing times here in the past but when I came across the line, something released in me that I have been holding onto for a long time.

“It was the most emotional end to a win I have ever experienced. I always wondered why I never cried! You see Rubens Barrichello crying and I was like ‘that doesn’t happen to me’ but it hit me hard.”

In tears with Mercedes on the radio as he took in the moment on his way back to the pits, Hamilton was given a huge hug from his father, Anthony, in parc ferme and the tears kept coming.

“I’m still crying,” he told Jenson Button in the post-race interview in front of the Silverstone crowd.

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“I think since 2021, I’m just every day getting up, trying 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, the British Grand Prix, with this team so I wanted to win this so much for them, because I love them, I appreciate them so much, all the hard work they’ve been putting in over the years.

“I’m forever grateful to everyone in this team, everyone at Mercedes, and all of our partners. And I just want to say thank you to all of you for being here with us today.”

His emotional reaction was applauded, Dutch pundit Jack Plooij saying F1 got to see the “real Lewis again”.

He told Ziggo Sport: “He did everything he could for this. This is his 150th podium for Mercedes.

“I’ve never, really never seen him cry, and we had the pleasure of working with him in the paddock for a long time.

“He had a lot of emotion. I’ve never seen this with Lewis. From a modest boy he has become a bit of a diva, but here he has shown the real Lewis again. Fantastic.”

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