In a stellar weekend for UK motorsport, British drivers not only swept the podium at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix but also claimed victory in all three classes at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
At Barcelona, Lewis Hamilton led home George Russell and Lando Norris to secure his 106th Grand Prix victory and his first since joining Ferrari at the start of last year. It was also the first all-British F1 podium since 1968 when Jackie Stewart, Graham Hill and John Surtees stood on the same platform.
The triumph was an emotional one for the record breaking seven-time World Champion, who became the oldest Grand Prix winner since Jack Brabham in 1970 and the F1 driver with the longest race-winning career: almost 19 years to the day from his maiden victory in Canada.
“I started out on a dream last year which seemed almost impossible, but we never gave up hope and the team just continued to lift me up,” said Hamilton.
“I watched Ferrari have all that success when I was younger, watching it on TV, and as I’ve been racing here I’d always watch the screens and wonder what it would be like to win in that car, and it’s come.
“Everyone worked so hard for it, everyone truly deserves it, so I am forever grateful to them and this is just the first, I hope, of many. Great pit stops today, great strategy, the car felt fantastic – and forza Ferrari.”
Meanwhile, at Le Mans, three more British drivers were celebrating success after one of the closest-fought editions of the world-famous endurance classic in recent history.
In the premier Hypercar category, Mike Conway (pictured left above) claimed his second Le Mans victory with Toyota, further extending Britain’s unrivalled record of success in the legendary French endurance race.
“It was a crazy race,” admitted a delighted Conway. “Positions were swapping back and forth, and it wasn’t until the last couple of hours that we felt we were in with a chance. This one is really special.”
In a memorable twice-around-the-clock contest, the battles in both the LMP2 and LMGT3 categories were equally intense. For the second consecutive year, Nick Yelloly was among the Inter Europol Competition drivers celebrating top honours in LMP2, while Johnny Edgar secured LMGT3 victory with Corvette.
Edgar, Yelloly, Russell and Norris are all alumni of the Motorsport UK Academy, while the career paths of Hamilton and Conway predate the Academy programme. Both, however, progressed through British karting and the junior single-seater ranks before reaching the pinnacle of Formula 1 and international endurance racing.
The remarkable achievements across both Formula 1 and endurance racing underlined the strength and depth of British motorsport talent, from emerging Academy graduates to established world champions competing at the very highest level.
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