A few weeks ago, Formula 1 events were becoming ho-hum, with Red Bull driver Max Verstappen winning nearly every race and making the outcome seem like a foregone conclusion. That’s all changed, especially after another driver, Lewis Hamilton’s, emotional victory for Mercedes at the British Grand Prix on Sunday.

Formula 1 heads to the Hungarian Grand Prix in two weeks with “Who Knows Who Will Win,” intrigue after Mr. Hamilton became the sixth different driver to win this season by capturing his first victory since the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Only three different drives won all of last season.

Mr. Hamilton was once what Mr. Verstappen is today, the top driver in the world who carried an aura of invincibility. The seven-time world champion, though, went 56 races without a victory before capturing his ninth career win at Silverstone, an F1 record at a single circuit.

Tears followed from the 39-year-old British driver as his countrymen celebrated his 104th career victory 17 years after his first. Mr. Verstappen finished second for Red Bull, 1.4 seconds behind Mr. Hamilton’s Mercedes. Another Brit, Lando Norris,, put McLaren on the podium in third.

Mr. Hamilton, in his 344th start, is the oldest F1 race winner in this century, and his 12th consecutive Silverstone podium. He admitted he began to have doubts whether he would ever win again.

Mr. Hamilton tells  Sky Sports that “It’s been since 2021 every day trying to train and put my mind to the task, and work as hard as I can with this amazing team. This is my last race here at the British Grand Prix with this amazing team. I wanted to win this so much for them.”

Mr. Hamilton, after winning six of his seven world titles in 12 years with Mercedes, is leaving to drive for Ferrari in 2025. His focus this year, though, and for the remainder of the season is trying to win for Mercedes. “I appreciate all the hard work they’ve been putting in all these years,” Mr. Hamilton said. “I’m forever grateful to Mercedes.”

Mr. Hamilton’s triumph makes Formula 1 interesting again. Mr. Verstappen, a Dutchman, set F1 records with 10 consecutive wins and 19 victories in 22 races last year. He made the podium a record 21 times.

It looked like more of the same early this year with Mr. Verstappen and Red Bull winning four of the first five races. Television ratings were starting to slide. Interest was waning.

Now there’s a sense Red Bull is vulnerable. Though the Dutchman has won seven of the 12 races this season, he lost for the first time in back-to-back weeks. George Russell, the pole sitter for Sunday’s race, claimed the Austria Grand Prix last week. Mr. Russell retired after 33 laps on Sunday, but Mr. Hamilton’s driving in wet-and-dry conditions was deft enough to give Mercedes its second-straight triumph.

Mr. Verstappen and Red Bull did well to finish second after some early struggles with controlling his tires in the rain that soaked the track early in the race. Still, back-to-back starts without a win make Red Bull seem mortal.

Mr. Verstappen explains that “It didn’t look great at some points. I was wondering if we were going to finish fifth or sixth. But we made the right calls. It could have been a lot worse. We got on the podium and I’m happy with that.”

Now Red Bull, Ferrari, McClaren, and Mercedes have all earned victories this year, turning the predictable into the unpredictable. Mr. Hamilton has his swagger back. “You’ve just got to continue to get up and continue to dig deep when you feel like you’re at the bottom of the barrel,” he explained.  

There are 12 more races this season, including stops in Austin Oct. 18-20 and Las Vegas Nov. 21-23. Somehow it feels like the real competition is just getting started.