Lewis Hamilton’s race engineer reveals secret behind ninth British Grand Prix win

Lewis Hamilton holds up the British flag.

Lewis Hamilton’s long-serving race engineer Peter Bonnington revealed tyre management was everything at Silverstone, as Hamilton raced on to a record-breaking ninth British GP win.

With rain showers passing through the Silverstone Circuit, strategy was crucial in determining the race winner, in what proved to be a three-way battle between Hamilton, Max Verstappen and Lando Norris.

Lewis Hamilton nurses his tyres to British GP victory

And it would be Hamilton who reigned supreme, setting a new record for the most victories at a single circuit with his ninth Silverstone triumph, that Hamilton’s first win since the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

The emotion was understandable and could be heard in the voices of both Hamilton and Bonnington – who has been Hamilton’s race engineer since he joined Mercedes in 2013 – over team radio.

“Oh I won’t say crying, I had something in my eye,” Bonnington joked with Sky F1.

“It’s an emotional one. Yeah, it’s been a long, long time and he and I have been working hard, trying to get back there and, yeah, baby steps, but it’s taken a lot of them so far.”

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While Hamilton and Norris went with soft tyres for their final stint, Verstappen went with hards and thrived on that compound, catching and passing Norris, but his 2021 title rival Hamilton kept out of reach and took the win by a second-and-a-half.

Bonnington was asked to identify the crucial factor behind Hamilton outrunning Verstappen, which he put down to tyre management after getting the W15 into a “really good position” for that final stint.

“I think it’s the fact that the feedback he was giving me of where we were on the initial stint balance, it wasn’t great, we knew where we needed to correct the car and I think we put the car in a real good position for that final stint,” he said, “so it allowed him to push.

“You knew the front tyre was going to be weak, so you’ve just got to make sure you’ve got enough front end in there to protect it.

“And he does a great job, you know, when it comes down to the wire, he’s the one that’s going to manage the tyres and get you to the end.”

Asked if that meant he never had a doubt that Hamilton would stay ahead of Verstappen, Bonnington replied: “I wouldn’t say zero doubt, but I knew that once he had the bit between his teeth.

“As soon as I get told to shut up, then I know that the game is on.”

Hamilton stretched his record-breaking tally of Formula 1 race wins to 104 with that Silverstone triumph.

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