Across 103 grand prix victories and seven world championships in close to 20 years on the Formula One grid, never had he felt the staggering rush of emotion that came at Silverstone upon crossing the line.
"I can't stop crying," Hamilton said with a chuckle, sniffing to compose himself for the post-race interview as he stood draped in a British flag collected from a marshal on the cool-down lap. The crowd cheered his name.
The release of emotion meant so much to Hamilton. Nearing the twilight of his F1 career and into his final season with Mercedes ahead of his switch to Ferrari next year, he inevitably wondered if he'd scored his last race win. If he'd forever be stuck on 103 and seven world titles.
"There's definitely been days between 2021 and here where I didn't feel like I was good enough or whether I was going to get back to where I am today," Hamilton admitted.
Disappointment and frustration were evident on Norris' face from the moment he took off his helmet. He rested his hands on the platform that held his bright helmet behind the P3 marker in parc ferme, staring at the ground. He would flash a smile every so often, like when he hugged Lewis Hamilton after the seven-time world champion won his first Formula One race in 945 days. But it wasn't a clear-cut Mercedes runaway victory. Either McLaren driver nearly had it.
At one point, McLaren held the first two spots of the race, but losing the lead came down to how it handled pit stops from both the team and driver's sides. Because the British Grand Prix is the latest race McLaren should've won.
"I'm fed up of saying, 'I should have done better' and, 'Could've done this, that,'" Norris told Sky Sports. "I don't want it to take time – we should be winning now, I should be making better decisions than the ones I'm making. I'm disappointed. It's a win in Formula One, and I'm not going to settle for something less when we should've achieved it."
Nico Hülkenberg finished right where he qualified in P6 today, capping a terrific wire-to-wire weekend at Silverstone. It's the first time he's finished in the top six in back-to-back races since 2018 – and the first such result for Haas since 2018, too.
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