Reverend
July 6th, 2008, 23:02 PM
Lewis Hamilton answered his critics and got his title campaign back on track with a superb British Grand Prix win.
The McLaren driver mastered tricky conditions, and his team made the right tactical calls, as all his main title rivals had a day to forget.
Hamilton is now tied on points at the top of the championship with Ferrari drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa, who finished fourth and 13th.
Nick Heidfeld took second for BMW ahead of Rubens Barrichello's Honda.
Hamilton's victory was possibly the best race of his short career, and it was a much-needed fillip after he had failed to score points in the previous two races.
The Englishman had been under pressure heading to Silverstone, and looked to be feeling it when he made mistakes on his qualifying laps to end up only fourth on the grid.
But the rain gave him a chance to showcase his natural talent, and he grabbed it with both hands making him the first Englishman to win the British Grand Prix since Jonny Herbert in 1995.
Hamilton made a superb start from the second row almost passing team-mate Heikki Kovalainen on the first corner but he bid his time in second place to take the lead on lap five.
He quickly pulled out an advantage, but was soon back under pressure from Raikkonen, who passed Kovalainen when the McLaren spun on lap 10 and began to eat into Hamilton's lead.
The decisive moment of the race came on lap 21, when Hamilton and Raikkonen came in for their first fuel and tyre stops.
McLaren changed Hamilton's intermediate wet-weather tyres for fresh ones, while Ferrari - gambling it would stay dry - left Raikkonen's used set on.
Within a lap, though, it had started to rain again, and Raikkonen suddenly started struggling with a catastrophic lack of grip.
Hamilton, knowing he could effectively win the race there and then, piled on the pressure, and by lap 26 was 21.8 seconds ahead of Raikkonen, who then lost his second place to Kovalainen.
Already, it was clear that Hamilton pretty much had the race under control.
The weather remained difficult to predict, though, and McLaren had another tough call to make when Hamilton came in for his second pit stop on lap 38, with the rain beginning to come down much harder.
They fitted Hamilton with a new set of intermediates - even though conditions were bad enough for Honda to call both its drivers in and fit them with "extreme" wets in what would turn out to be a successful attempt to conjure an unexpected good result.
The conditions were treacherous - a number of drivers spun off at this stage of the race, including Jenson Button's Honda - but Hamilton continued on his serene way, by now almost a minute ahead of Heidfeld.
British Grand Prix Result:
1. Lewis Hamilton (GB) McLaren
2. Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber
3. Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Honda
4. Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari
5. Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren
6. Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault
7. Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota
8. Kazuki Nakajima (Jap) Williams - Toyota
Championship standings:
1. Lewis Hamilton (GB) McLaren 48 pts
2. Felipe Massa (Brz) Ferrari 48
3. Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 48
4. Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber 46
5. Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 36
6. Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren 24
7. Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 20
8. Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull-Renault 18
Constructors' Championship:
1. Ferrari 96 pts
2. BMW Sauber 82
3. McLaren-Mercedes 72
4. Toyota 25
5. Red Bull-Renault 24
Full report: BBC Sport (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/7492145.stm)
The McLaren driver mastered tricky conditions, and his team made the right tactical calls, as all his main title rivals had a day to forget.
Hamilton is now tied on points at the top of the championship with Ferrari drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa, who finished fourth and 13th.
Nick Heidfeld took second for BMW ahead of Rubens Barrichello's Honda.
Hamilton's victory was possibly the best race of his short career, and it was a much-needed fillip after he had failed to score points in the previous two races.
The Englishman had been under pressure heading to Silverstone, and looked to be feeling it when he made mistakes on his qualifying laps to end up only fourth on the grid.
But the rain gave him a chance to showcase his natural talent, and he grabbed it with both hands making him the first Englishman to win the British Grand Prix since Jonny Herbert in 1995.
Hamilton made a superb start from the second row almost passing team-mate Heikki Kovalainen on the first corner but he bid his time in second place to take the lead on lap five.
He quickly pulled out an advantage, but was soon back under pressure from Raikkonen, who passed Kovalainen when the McLaren spun on lap 10 and began to eat into Hamilton's lead.
The decisive moment of the race came on lap 21, when Hamilton and Raikkonen came in for their first fuel and tyre stops.
McLaren changed Hamilton's intermediate wet-weather tyres for fresh ones, while Ferrari - gambling it would stay dry - left Raikkonen's used set on.
Within a lap, though, it had started to rain again, and Raikkonen suddenly started struggling with a catastrophic lack of grip.
Hamilton, knowing he could effectively win the race there and then, piled on the pressure, and by lap 26 was 21.8 seconds ahead of Raikkonen, who then lost his second place to Kovalainen.
Already, it was clear that Hamilton pretty much had the race under control.
The weather remained difficult to predict, though, and McLaren had another tough call to make when Hamilton came in for his second pit stop on lap 38, with the rain beginning to come down much harder.
They fitted Hamilton with a new set of intermediates - even though conditions were bad enough for Honda to call both its drivers in and fit them with "extreme" wets in what would turn out to be a successful attempt to conjure an unexpected good result.
The conditions were treacherous - a number of drivers spun off at this stage of the race, including Jenson Button's Honda - but Hamilton continued on his serene way, by now almost a minute ahead of Heidfeld.
British Grand Prix Result:
1. Lewis Hamilton (GB) McLaren
2. Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber
3. Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Honda
4. Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari
5. Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren
6. Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault
7. Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota
8. Kazuki Nakajima (Jap) Williams - Toyota
Championship standings:
1. Lewis Hamilton (GB) McLaren 48 pts
2. Felipe Massa (Brz) Ferrari 48
3. Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 48
4. Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber 46
5. Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 36
6. Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren 24
7. Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 20
8. Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull-Renault 18
Constructors' Championship:
1. Ferrari 96 pts
2. BMW Sauber 82
3. McLaren-Mercedes 72
4. Toyota 25
5. Red Bull-Renault 24
Full report: BBC Sport (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/7492145.stm)