Lewis Hamilton's dad explains why son wept in his arms after winning British GP

Anthony Hamilton has spoken about the emotional embrace with son Lewis after the British Grand Prix. Just moments after taking the chequered flag in an F1 race for the first time since December 2021, the seven-time world champion was seen weeping uncontrollably on his father's shoulder before struggling through his post-race interview.

And speaking to Sky Sports, his dad said that the pressure built up on the 39-year-old amid his struggles in the past two seasons with Mercedes led to an outpour of emotion.

"A pressure relief valve, that's all that was," he said. "You know something, it's always good to be there isn't it."

On what proved a chaotic race at Silverstone, the weather caused havoc with Hamilton overtaking team-mate George Russell in the early stages. He was duly overhauled by the McLaren duo of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, but following heavy downpours fought back to retake front spot in the closing laps.

The race eventually culminated in Hamilton having to hold off Max Verstappen for the final three laps. But to the huge cheers of a vociferous home crowd, he did just that to secure his ninth British Grand Prix win.

And his dad was adamant that once Hamilton Jnr got in front, there was no chance of him relinquishing his position."He was never going to give that up," he argued. "It was a tenth here and a tenth there. Lewis was in full control.

"There was absolutely no way with that car and the tyres he had underneath him that hewas going to allow that win to slip the British public. That's what drove him on."

The post-race scenes were a far cry from Saturday, where Hamilton appeared dejected after missing out on pole position to Russell. But his father claimed that despite having gone 945 days without victory, and fallen completely out of the F1 title picture, his son's desire remained stronger than ever.

"At the end of the day, Lewis was second yesterday and he was disappointed in himself, he could have done better after qualifying," he conceded. "He goes home, refocuses and comes back, we know that he has calculated everything."

The win made Hamilton the first ever F1 driver to taste victory in 16 different seasons. And it extended his record of race wins to 104, with his latest effort coming more than 17 years after his first in Canada in 2007.

And his dad also paid tribute to the crowd, as well as the staff at Silver Arrows. "It's great for the team, it's great for the British public and I can't believe it," he added.