Lewis Hamilton cries in his dad's arms after emotional British Grand Prix win

Lewis Hamilton broke down in tears as he hugged his dad after winning the British Grand Prix. On what proved a dramatic afternoon at Silverstone, the seven-time world champion fended off old rival Max Verstappen in the closing laps to take the chequered flag for the first time since December 2021.

And amid raucous cheers from the home crowd, Hamilton was emotional afterwards, going straight from his car to embrace his father Anthony.

The 39-year-old cried almost uncontrollably as they hugged, and was still in tears when he conducted his post-race interview with Jenson Button.

"Yeah, I can't stop crying," he admitted, as he struggled to answer Button's first question. "I think, you know, it's been since 2021. I 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.

"And 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 all of these years. I'm forever grateful to everyone in this team, everyone at Mercedes, and all of our partners, and then otherwise to all our incredible fans."

Hamilton's victory ended a 945-day drought without standing on top of the podium, by far the longest barren spell of his esteemed F1 career. And he admitted his struggles to keep pace with the front runners had tested him mentally.

He added: "It's so tough, I think, for anyone. But I think the important thing is just how you continue to get up, and you've got to continue to dig deep, even when you feel like you're at the bottom of the barrel. I mean, 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."

Every sentence that Hamilton completed was greeted with a huge cheer by a sold-out Silverstone crowd. And he finished off by paying tribute to his personal and team supporters, with the atmosphere ramping up as he took the lead from Lando Norris late on.

"The important thing is I had great people around me." he said. "Continuing to support me and my team every time I tone up, and see them putting in the effort, that really encouraged me to do the same thing.

"And otherwise, my fans, when I see them around the world, they have been so supportive. So a big, big thank you to everybody back at the factory, everyone here, love you guys, and God bless you."

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff also paid tribute to Hamilton, who he called an "iconic driver." He also insisted there was no animosity following the star's decision to move to Ferrari, and appeared emotional himself before joking "but it's only racing."