British racing is in rude health – but Hamilton’s story still grips us

Outside Milton Keynes Central station, the flags fluttered in the breeze as fans queued up to pack on to the buses that would take them to Silverstone. It is British Grand Prix weekend and adorning the flags are the faces of a select group of drivers. Lewis Hamilton, Lando Norris, George Russell, Ollie Bearman and Arvid Lindblad provide a smorgasbord of British talent for home fans to throw their support behind. Even with that many to choose from, there is one arguably absentee in Alex Albon, who grew up in Suffolk but represents Thailand.

British racing has not been so well represented on the Formula One grid since 2002, when David Coulthard, Eddie Irvine, Jenson Button, Anthony Davidson and Allan McNish were all drivers. Yet what has made this season feel so exceptional is the sheer quality of the drivers involved. Nowhere was that clearer than in Barcelona three weeks ago when there was an entirely British podium for the first time since 1968. Back then it was Jackie Stewart, Graham Hill and John Surtees at the United States Grand Prix. Fast forward 58 years and it was Hamilton, Russell and Norris. 

To understand how unusual that feat is, the last time any country managed it was 1983, when there was an all-French podium at the San Marino GP.

With Norris as the reigning world champion at McLaren, Russell in the best car at Mercedes and Hamilton seemingly Mercedes’s biggest challenger at Ferrari, this all-British podium is no freak accident, even if the trio did benefit from championship leader Kimi Antonelli crashing in Spain.

It is ostensibly unsurprising that British drivers would be well represented given that 10 of the 11 constructors are based here. But clearly in comparison to past years, this is a uniquely strong crop.

Silverstone’s growing popularity year on year can be lumped in with the show that sent Formula One supernova, Drive to Survive. That opened up the personalities of the drivers to fans, allowing them to connect in a way that had in the past been fleeting. In many ways Formula One is a far superior television sport, given the limited vantage point available from a seat in the stands. The sheer speed of the cars going past gives a terrifying sense of what hurtling around the course is like, but that is an adrenaline rush rather than a way of being able to follow the race coherently. The blobbed helmets of the drivers move on before the eyes can focus.

Into that void then, nationality becomes an even stronger motivator. With different slices of British culture represented, fans love and hate through their own understanding of the societal indicators of the drivers.

For some, Norris is seen as the nepo baby who managed to keep his composure to win last year, but for others, the sight of a posh man being able to speak honestly about his feelings tugs at the heart strings. Ollie Bearman’s background will inspire similar feelings, but his wide-eyed babyface forces a quick Google to check if he is actually old enough to be doing this.

Then there is George Russell, the man who would be king. Given the car he is driving this season, and a face that screams private school, it is easy to laugh at the expectation he must surely have had this year. Russell has still never made the podium at Silverstone, failing to finish the race two years ago when he started on pole. He qualified in P4 this year, behind both the Ferraris and his teammate Antonelli.

Arvid Lindblad represents the story of migration to this country with his Indian mother’s family fleeing partition before moving to settle here. He has impressed in his rookie season with Racing Bulls, aged only 18, finishing in P9 in his debut qualifying at Silverstone.

And then, of course, there is Hamilton, the man who has been most embraced by this circuit and has embraced it back. Across his career, Hamilton has made Silverstone look like the go-karting tracks of his youth, winning the race nine times. Hamilton’s career is littered with records; his love affair with this place is just another one, but it represents the most wins at one track of any driver. He had started on pole for the sprint race but could only finish second after he was overtaken by Antonelli. But it was the lap he put down in sprint qualifying to get that pole that was the best reminder of the sprinkle of magic he finds here.

Hamilton’s story is well worn after his two decades in Formula One, but no one better fulfils the idea that someone can do anything they set their mind to in sport, even with the significant financial barriers that are in place in this one. It is why even as the other Brits might catch the eye of the more than half a million people who will come through the gates across the entire weekend, Hamilton will surely forever be the one that is rooted for most.

Photograph by Gongora/NurPhoto via Getty Images