Lewis Hamilton may have the potential to produce something spectacular at Silverstone, a venue where he has made history on multiple occasions, but former Formula 1 World Champion Damon Hill remains unconvinced that the British crowd favourite will secure his first victory as a Scuderia Ferrari driver at the 2025 British Grand Prix.
The start of Lewis Hamilton’s much-anticipated journey with the Maranello-based team has not lived up to the immense expectations that surrounded his move from Mercedes. When the 40-year-old racing legend fulfilled his lifelong ambition of donning Ferrari red at the beginning of the 2025 Formula 1 season, few could have predicted such a difficult adaptation. As the championship heads into its twelfth round at the iconic Silverstone Circuit, Hamilton is still in search of his first podium finish in Ferrari colours.
This current campaign has already seen Lewis Hamilton enter unfamiliar territory. Never before in his 19-season Formula One career has the driver from Stevenage gone this deep into a year without finishing in the top three. In fact, his current podium drought now stretches to 13 consecutive Grands Prix — the longest such streak he has ever endured. Heading into the British Grand Prix weekend, Lewis Hamilton occupies only sixth place in the 2025 F1 Drivers’ Championship standings, having accumulated a total of just 91 points thus far.
Despite Lewis Hamilton’s exceptional record at Silverstone, Damon Hill does not foresee this race as the catalyst that will reignite the British driver’s season. Hamilton holds the distinction of being the most successful driver in the history of the British Grand Prix, with a record-setting nine career victories at his home race. No other driver in the history of Formula 1 has claimed more wins at a single Grand Prix or individual venue than Hamilton has at Silverstone. Yet, for Hill, past form may not be enough to reverse the challenging start to Hamilton’s Ferrari chapter.
Instead, the 1996 Formula 1 World Champion expects McLaren’s Lando Norris to be the leading contender to triumph at the 2025 British Grand Prix. Damon Hill believes that the 24-year-old Briton will be extremely motivated to secure a long-awaited home victory after narrowly missing out in recent years — finishing second in 2023 and third in 2024.
Hill has pointed out that while the unpredictable British weather could introduce an element of uncertainty that might help Hamilton and Ferrari become more competitive — particularly given Hamilton’s emotional win in last year’s wet-dry race at Silverstone — his prediction remains firmly in favour of Norris. In 2024, Hamilton broke a nearly three-year winless streak by mastering tricky conditions to claim victory over Max Verstappen and Lando Norris in front of his home fans. However, Hill maintains that all the momentum now lies with McLaren’s rising star, who is coming into this year’s British Grand Prix fresh from an impressive victory at the Red Bull Ring in Austria.
Weather forecasts once again suggest the possibility of rain at Silverstone, potentially replicating the mixed conditions of the 2024 event. Those conditions proved ideal for Lewis Hamilton last year, allowing him to leverage his experience and tyre management skills. Still, Hill believes that Lando Norris is better positioned in 2025, both in terms of form and car performance. According to Hill’s view, Norris has reached a point in his career where a home win seems inevitable, provided that his team executes the strategy effectively.
McLaren, however, has not always delivered under pressure. During the 2024 British Grand Prix, strategic misjudgments arguably cost Lando Norris a real opportunity to battle Hamilton for victory. The team opted to switch Norris onto the soft compound Pirelli tyres for the final stint of the race as the track began to dry, limiting his ability to attack and defend in the closing laps. The choice proved costly, as Norris lost second place to Max Verstappen, who had been fitted with medium tyres by Red Bull Racing — a decision that allowed the Dutch driver to pass and pull away in the final laps.
Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton capitalised on his own set of soft tyres to great effect, nursing them to the chequered flag to secure his first race win since the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix — ending a 945-day victory drought. That historic moment highlighted Hamilton’s mastery in changeable conditions, but repeating that feat in 2025 will be far from straightforward given the current performance gap Ferrari faces compared to McLaren and Red Bull.
As Lando Norris prepares to return to Silverstone, he will undoubtedly be hoping for a cleaner and more strategically sound race from the McLaren Formula 1 Team. The British driver will aim to finally convert his home race into a victory — especially with the momentum of having recently secured pole position and race victory at the 2025 Austrian Grand Prix.
Andrea Stella, Team Principal of McLaren, also believes that Lando Norris has the tools necessary to win the 2025 British Grand Prix. The Italian engineer has voiced confidence in Norris’s maturity, speed, and the MCL39’s improved form on a variety of tracks. With growing belief inside the team and the British public firmly behind him, Silverstone may offer Norris his best chance yet to finally deliver that elusive home win.
As the paddock prepares for what is expected to be another thrilling and potentially rain-affected weekend at Silverstone, Lewis Hamilton will be chasing a breakthrough that has so far eluded him in Ferrari colours — while Lando Norris looks to fulfill the destiny many believe is now within his reach. Whether the 2025 British Grand Prix becomes a moment of redemption for Lewis Hamilton or a coronation for Norris remains to be seen.
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