Britain 2008: Hamilton wins British Grand Prix

A MESMERISING drive in the wet at Silverstone saw Lewis Hamilton cruise to a stunning British Grand Prix victory, to the delight of the 90,000-strong crowd.The McLaren driver drove a masterful race, in changeable conditions, with his team making all the right tactical decisions, as Ferrari had a day they would rather forget.

The win means Hamilton's World Chamiponship hopes are now back on track, and sees him in a three-way tie at the top of the drivers' championship with Ferrari drivers Kimi Raikonnen and Felipe Massa.

Nick Heidfeld took second for BMW, with Brackley-based Honda celebrating an excellent third place for Rubens Barrichello. Honda's Jenson Button - one of many drivers who spun off the slippery track - had to retire, but Barrichello used all his experience to drive well in the wet as Honda got their tyre choices spot on. Barrichello would have taken second place if not for a late problem with the refuelling rig.

Hamilton's victory in the rain saw him give a masterclass in skillful driving, making up two places at the first corner from his start at fourth on the grid and taking the lead from team-mate Heiki Kovaleinen on the fifth lap.

Ferrari's Kimi Raikonnen began to challenge, but when the pair came in for their first pit stop on lap 21, McLaren made the crucial decision to replace Hamilton's intermediate wet-weather tyres, while Ferrari deciding wrongly that the weather would remain dry, left Rakonnen's used ones on. The rain came down shortly afterwards and Raikkonen could not get the grip he needed.

Hamilton still had a huge job to do, but drove the best race of his Formula One career, keeping his head in extremely tough conditions, and finishing over a minute ahead of Heidfeld.

Massa had his worst race of the season, spinning five times on his way to a position as last of the finishers.

British Grand Prix Results
1 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes
2 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber +68.5 secs
3 Rubens Barrichello Honda +82.2 secs
4 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari +1 Lap
5 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes +1 Lap
6 Fernando Alonso Renault +1 Lap
7 Jarno Trulli Toyota +1 Lap 14 2
8 Kazuki Nakajima Williams-Toyota +1 Lap
9 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota +1 Lap
10 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault +1 Lap
11 Sebastien Bourdais STR-Ferrari +1 Lap
12 Timo Glock Toyota +1 Lap
13 Felipe Massa Ferrari +2 Lap
Ret Robert Kubica BMW Sauber +21 Laps
Ret Jenson Button Honda +22 Laps
Ret Nelsinho Piquet Renault +25 Laps
Ret Giancarlo Fisichella Force India-Ferrari +34 Laps
Ret Adrian Sutil Force India-Ferrari +50 Laps
Ret Sebastian Vettel STR-Ferrari + secs
Ret David Coulthard Red Bull-Renault + secs

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Britain F1 2008 - Qualifying : Maiden pole for Kovalainen

MCLAREN have claimed pole position for Sunday's Santander F1 British Grand Prix at Silverstone, but it was Heikki Kovalainen, not Lewis Hamilton who took the honours, with a stunning winning lap in Saturday qualifying.

The Finn, who looked faster than his team-mate throughout practice and qualifying sessions, had to battle against spitting rain and high winds which affected the cars on the exposed circuit during the first part of final qualifying on Saturday afternoon, but secured his first ever pole with a time of one minute 21.049.

Hamilton's car was blown into an oversteer which put him on the gravel at Priory on his first lap in Q3, but his second run put him into second, until Mark Webber snatched a surprise second-place for the Milton Keynes-based Red Bull team, and Kimi Raikkonen, for Ferrari, knocked Hamilton down to fourth spot.

BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld was fifth ahead of Renault's Fernando Alonso.

World championship leader Felipe Massa, for Ferrari, will be desperately disappointed with ninth place, behind Renault's Nelson Piquet Jr and Toro Rosso's Sebastian Vettel.

Brackley-based Honda endured another dismal qualifying showing, Jenson Button failing to advance to Q2 at his home GP for the third successive year and managing only 17th on the grid, one spot behind team-mate Rubens Barrichello. Silverstone-based Force India-Ferrari also failed to make it through Q1.

There was much discussion trackside on what fuel loads the teams were running, as there was a relatively big difference in times between the top few drivers. Sunday's race is expected to be wet, and carrying more fuel into a rain-affected grand prix can be a good strategy.

Silverstone Grand Prix Qualifying Results
1. Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren one minute 21.049 seconds
2. Mark Webber (Aus) RedBull-Renault 1:21.554
3. Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1:21.706
4. Lewis Hamilton (GB) McLaren 1:21.835
5. Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 1:21.873
6. Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault 1:22.029
7. Nelson Piquet (Bra) Renault 1:22.491
8. Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:23.251
9. Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari 1:23.305
10. Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber no time
11. David Coulthard (GB) RedBull-Renault 1:20.174
12. Timo Glock (Ger) Toyota 1:20.274
13. Sebastien Bourdais (Fra) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:20.531
14. Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 1:20.601
15. Kazuki Nakajima (Jap) Williams-Toyota 1:21.112
16. Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Honda 1:21.512
17. Jenson Button (GB) Honda 1:21.631
18. Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams-Toyota 1:21.668
19. Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India-Ferrari 1:21.786
20. Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Force India-Ferrari 1:21.885

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Britain F1 GP 2008 - Testing

IT was even stevens for McLaren and Ferrari after Friday's two practice sessions at Silverstone, ahead of Sunday's British Grand Prix.Felipe Massa for Ferrari clocked up the fastest time in the morning session - despite missing the final 30 minutes of the session after crashing at Stowe corner at 180mph when his car hit oil – while McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen was fastest in the afternoon.

Kovalainen's team-mate, top British hope Lewis Hamilton, was third in both sessions.

Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen was fourth in the morning, but struggled in the afternoon, only managing the 12th fastest time.

Brackley-based Honda will be pleased with British driver Jenson's button second practice time, which put him in seventh spot, 10 places higher than his morning session performance. Silverstone-based Force India-Ferrari again struggled to keep pace with the bigger teams.

British Grand Prix Friday practice (morning session):
1. Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari 1mins 19.575secs
2. Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren-Mercedes 1:19.587
3. Lewis Hamilton (GB) McLaren-Mercedes 1:19.623
4. Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1:19.948
5. Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber 1:20.367
6. Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault 1:20.436
7. Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:20.588
8. Nelson Piquet (Bral) Renault 1:20.653
9. David Coulthard (GB) Red Bull-Renault 1:20.698
10. Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams-Toyota 1:20.744
11. Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull-Renault 1:20.892
12. Timo Glock (Ger) Toyota 1:21.102
13. Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 1:21.107
14. Sebastien Bourdais (Fra) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:21.166
15. Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 1:21.265
16. Kazuki Nakajima (Jap) Williams-Toyota 1:21.282
17. Jenson Button (GB) Honda 1:21.901
18. Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India-Ferrari 1:22.169
19. Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Force India-Ferrari 1:22.219
20. Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Honda 1:24.123

British Grand Prix Friday practice (afternoon session):
1. Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren-Mercedes 1min 19.989secs
2. Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull-Renault 1:20.520
3. Lewis Hamilton (GB) McLaren-Mercedes 1:20.543
4. David Coulthard (GB) Red Bull-Renault 1:20.589
5. Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams-Toyota 1:20.748
6. Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:20.805
7. Jenson Button (GB) Honda 1:20.929
8. Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari 1:20.943
9. Kazuki Nakajima (Jap) Williams-Toyota 1:20.985
10. Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Honda 1:21.002
11. Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber 1:21.023
12. Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1:21.275
13. Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 1:21.453
14. Timo Glock (Ger) Toyota 1:21.472
15. Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault 1:21.511
16. Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Force India-Ferrari 1:21.520
17. Sebastien Bourdais (Fra) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:21.634
18. Nelson Piquet (Bra) Renault 1:21.642
19. Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India-Ferrari 1:21.756
20. Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 1:22.196

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