| SILVERSTONE, England – 07/07/08: True to form of any World Formula 1 event (Melbourne 08 being no exception; which, co-incidentally was also a win for Hamilton), so too will the Silverstone leg of Formula 1 2008 be written as a classic!With torrential rains and gusty winds conspiring to end the race early, it was guaranteed to be a nail biting session!However, British driver for the McLaren-Mercedes Team, Lewis Hamilton had other plans; and his fans other expectations as well. Starting in 4th place on the grid, he had something to make up for them, and he certainly did not disappoint. Hamilton took the lead from the beginning and held control for the duration, ending to a standing ovation as a sold out Saturday crowd cheered his last lap to take the top spot on the podium. At this point, Hamilton became the first British driver to win on home ground since 2000 when Mclaren team mate and Scottsman, David Coulthard won gloriously. This win also marks a personal victory for Hamilton who had mentioned that the three he wanted to win were Australia which he won in March 08, Monaco in May and of course Silverstone yesterday.This was the seventh victory for Hamilton in his career, and one he said was the best race he’d ever run.
“As I was driving, I was thinking, if I win this, it will definitely go down as the best race I have ever won, because of its history on my home ground, but also because I think I drove one of the best races”. Australia’s Mark Webber started the race in second spot, behind Heikki Kovalainen in his first pole start, and with Kimi Raikkonen behind in third. Kovalainen got away clean at the start whilst Raikkonen and our boy Webber fought it out for second. Hamilton, coming in from the fourth spot, saw a gap and successfully passed the two jostlers to claim second on his way to the lead. At this point Mark Webber spun out and dropped to last spot, although he did manage to complete the race in a respectable 10th spot. By lap 5, Hamilton was now in the lead and he held that spot furiously until the end although he too would run off the track a few times! With Kovalainen spinning out on Lap 10, Raikkonen was now free to challenge Hamilton for the pole. Driving for the Ferrari team, Raikkonen set faster laps than Hamilton with Lap 12 being the fastest. Hamilton though drove superbly and by Lap 38, the Mclaren-Mercedes driver had a 48 second gap between himself and the Ferrari in second place. Hamilton went on to say that although the weather made it tough, he had very good calls from his crew and that contributed greatly to the win. ________________________________________________________________ The results of the 2008 British Formula 1 Grand Prix are as follows :
The fastest lap was Lap 18 by Kimi Raikkonen in 1minute 32.150 seconds. ________________________________________________________________ |
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