Hamilton win 'a fairytale' in Silverstone farewell - Wolff

Toto Wolff has described Lewis Hamilton's victory in the British Grand Prix as "like a fairytale" as he prepares to leave Mercedes.

Hamilton recorded his first grand prix win in 945 days in a dry-wet-dry Silverstone race to end a drought stretching back to the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix as he also broke the record, he jointly held with Michael Schumacher for most wins at a single grand prix with his ninth home win. 

It was Hamilton's first win at Silverstone since 2021 as he prepares to leave Mercedes at the end of the season to switch to Ferrari. 

Given the struggles the team has faced in the ground effects era, with Hamilton going win-less for the entire 2022 and 2023 seasons, Wolff felt the win was a huge relief. 

"You couldn't have written a better farewell British Grand Prix after 12 years, it was great," Wolff told Sky Sports F1. 

"It is the last British Grand Prix together, and the sign-off is like a fairytale. 

"We leave the British crowds with the most iconic and most successful British driver.

"He's a fantastic racer, and when he has a sniff of being able to win a grand prix, that's why he is so strong."

Missing P2

The only downside for Mercedes was the Lap 34 retirement of pole-sitter George Russell with a water pressure issue, with Wolff feeling the team let Russell down. 

"We've had some difficult times recently and I really enjoy us bouncing back. We were running one and two for a long time in the dry, so performance-wise, it looks like we're coming back," he said.

"George has been coming up so strong. 

"It's a shame that we had a DNF, because we could have had a second car [on the podium], so that's maybe the only thing that we let him down on."