Lewis Hamilton wins rainy British GP to lead drivers championship

The Associated Press ,  Silverstone, England   |  Mon, 07/07/2008 1:03 AM  |  Sports

Lewis Hamilton mastered wild and wet racing conditions to score an impressive runaway victory at the British Grand Prix and throw the Formula One drivers championship wide open.

After failing to collect a single point from his previous two races in Canada and France, Hamilton would have been in trouble if the same had happened in front of his home fans at Silverstone on
Sunday.

But the 23-year-old British driver, who threw away a 12-point lead with two races left in his rookie season last year, stayed in control of his car and his emotions to achieve a remarkable victory
on the rain-soaked track. His rivals, many of them unsure what tires to use, repeatedly spun or veered off the track.

Hamilton led from lap four in his McLaren to win his first British GP and take the lead in the overall championship which is getting more exciting with every race.

Hamilton lapped all but two of the field and finished over a minute ahead of Nick Heidfeld's BMW Sauber. Honda's Rubens Barrichello was third for his first podium in four years and Honda's first of the season.

"It is by far the best victory I've ever had," Hamilton said after waving to the 90,000 fans who gave him a standing ovation after his runaway 68.5 second victory.

"The conditions were bad and as I was driving I thought, 'If I win this, it will be the best race I've ever done'. On my last lap, I could see the crowd starting to rise to their feet, and I was just praying, praying, praying I could get the car round.

"You could never imagine the emotions that were going on inside. I wanted to push, I wanted to get around. It was so extreme out there. I was having big problems with my visor. I couldn't see a thing."

Hamilton's third victory of the season gives him a total of 48 points, level with Ferrari's Felipe Massa and fourth place finisher Kimi Raikkonen in a drivers championship which is neck and neck at the halfway stage of the campaign with 10 more races to go. Robert Kubica, who dropped out after 39 laps after spinning off the circuit in his BMW Sauber, is only two points behind with 46.

But there was nothing close about this victory for Hamilton. After the experience of going so close to last year's title, however, he's saying little about this season's chances.

"It's a work in progress we're doing a good job and I just want to keep on building on it," Hamilton said. "I would have been happy with a point."

Barrichello had been in the points only twice before this season, placing sixth at Monaco and seventh in Canada.

"It's fantastic. I've never lost the belief I have in me," said the Brazilian, who has been racing in F1 for 15 years, longer than any of the other 19 drivers and has won nine races.

"I've this great feeling. It's like I'm young, I just love the sport. I just love the speed. I can't live without that. But I love the wet weather conditions. It was a perfect race."

In an eventful beginning to the 60-lap race in soggy conditions, Hamilton, who started fourth on the grid, burst past both Mark Webber's Red Bull and Raikkonen's Ferrari straight from the start.

Hamilton also tried to overtake pole-starter and McLaren teammate Heikki Kovalainen on the inside of the first bend but the Finn responded and the two McLarens almost touched as Kovalainen held the British driver off.

Also on lap one, Massa, Webber and Kazuki Nakajima went into a spin but rejoined the race. David Coulthard, in his last British GP before retirement at the end of the season, and Sebastian Vettel both slid into the same gravel area at the sharp lefthand Priory
bend and were out of the race.

Seven of the 20 starters failed to finish.

Two points clear in the drivers standings at the start of the race, Massa failed to recover from his early spin and slipped to the back of the field, more than a minute behind the leader after only 13 laps. The Brazilian finally overtook Nico Rosberg on lap 17 and then Giancarlo Fisichella up into 15th but more trouble later in the race meant he was lapped twice by the leader and finished at the back.

"This Silverstone weekend is one to be wiped out," Massa said.

"On Friday I had an accident, yesterday there was the problem in qualifying and today a series of mistakes at all levels. Today I could hardly keep the car in a straight line and it was always
difficult to drive."

At the front, Hamilton overtook Kovalainen on lap four with a brave maneuver going into the fast Stow righthander, powering ahead and then timing his braking just right to keep the lead and the position.

The British driver then opened up a six second gap only for Raikkonen to cut the lead down to less than a second when they both came into the pits for the first time on lap 22. Although Hamilton changed tires, he kept the same intermediate style while Raikkonen made no change, which was to prove a mistake.

Although Hamilton left the pit line just ahead of the Finn's Ferrari, he began to pull away and opened up a lead of almost 25 seconds halfway through the race.

From that point, no one got near him and, despite the conditions, Hamilton stayed in control and gave the British racing fans a top quality victory they had been waiting for. (***)

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