Lewis Hamilton catapulted himself back into title contention after mastering the treacherous conditions that took hold of the British Grand Prix.
The McLaren driver sent the 100,000 capacity crowd delirious as he crossed the finish line to take his maiden British Grand Prix win. It was the first home victory here since David Coulthard won in 2000, coincidentally for McLaren.
His almost flawless performance banished any memories of past tarnished Grand Prix. The 23-year-old Briton kept his cool despite a wet track to start and a heavy rain shower mid-way through the race to win by over a minute.
To complete a perfect day, all of his main title rivals hit trouble to move Lewis right back into the title hunt as the season enters its second half.
Nick Heidfeld profited from the conditions to take second place, and put to bed any suggestions that BMW were falling away at the halfway point. Rubens Barrichello also profited from the conditions to take third place for Honda.
Barrichello's performance rivaled Hamilton's for driver of the day after he produced a stunning drive to come from 16th on the grid. The Honda driver produced a mid-race charge when the rain was at its heaviest.
He had made the correct decision to change to extreme wet tyres, and subsequently lapped up to 20 seconds a lap faster than anyone else.
Some here actually believe that with his pace continuing to grow, had Rubens not suffered a fuel rig problem, he may have challenged for victory.
Put simply, Ferrari had a horrible day. Kimi Raikkonen did manage to salvage fourth place, but his teammate Felipe Massa thought he was a DJ and kept spinning away until the end.
Mark Webber had a horrible day. He spun on the first lap, and although he did crawl through the field, every time he made progress he would then be forced to pit. He eventually finished in 10th place, and must realise that with the pace he showed, he had a massive chance of a podium finish.
David Coulthard's final British Grand Prix ended on the first lap after he collided with Sebastien Vettel, who said before the race that he was targeting a podium finish.
Jenson Button and Robert Kubica were both caught out by the horrible conditions, and spun off into the gravel traps.
So, my driver of the day is Lewis Hamilton, but Rubens Barrichello deserves a lot of credit for his drive today.
See you later.
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3 months ago
In 2nd place is Michael Griffin, about 2 minutes behind Alex Levy, only difference is that MG was hindered by being trackside instead of sat in a lovely warm house like AL ... Well done mate, hope your not too wet, ha ha ha ... Ohhhh I am lovely and dry and warm ! I know what I would prefer though ; )
from 3 months ago
not too wet, but wet anyhow. still, worth it mate.
from 3 months ago
haha crossing the chequered flag lapping Michael two minutes clear lol. too fast for you matey, well done for representing us at Silverstone!!!!
from 3 months ago
His fingers where seized up from the damp conditions, a bit like Massa's nuts yesterday, ha ha ha !
from 3 months ago
well, I did have to literally sprint down the pit lane to the media room. Spent a large part of the race in the mclaren garage. bloomin massive mate.
3 months ago
ohhhh man what a performance . hey guys check my silverstone thing again , i think you will find i had mr hamilton to head a mclaren 1-2 , i know i agreed heikki yesterday but my winner prediction was bang on .ha ha .
what a move into copse by lewis , i was sat for the whole duration finger nails between teeth , man im even guna put myself at risk here, at the risk of sounding a bit girly i actually had tears in my eyes when he hugged his brother . and when he crossed the line .
michael tell lewis i said congrats when you interview him , i know you will be probably have other things on your mind tho . yeeeeeeeeeeees !!!!
from 3 months ago
if lewis didn't win by the margin he did, driver of the day would easily have gone to rubens. what a bloody drive.
3 months ago
nice comment on massa thinking he was a dj , his car wasnt right at all .
from 3 months ago
i actually said to one of the ferrari mechancis, do you think he'll be playing spinning around by kylie minogue later?
ooooh they did not like that lol.
from 3 months ago
oh and thanks for the POTD.
3 months ago
Yep Massa was playing records after records, his greatest mix of the season by all account one set of vinyls he kept spinning all the way till the end of the race unlike Melbourne and Malaysia lol!!! Glad you had the guts to take it to the Ferrari mechanics the way you did... looking forward to your pics of the weekend... Good work
from 3 months ago
yeah, started the race in the ferrari garage, soon as i said that i just thought, go mate, before the fia kill u on behalf on ferrari lol.
i'll get as many pics as i can up, but the camera is shite, just warn u all of that.
3 months ago
no worries . and yeah i think rubens was amazing today, to hear him sit there like a young man in the press conference saying he just loves f1 and will never get tired of it , i think he will go down as one of the greats that never won a title . its a shame as he is a top bloke .
gutted for webber too , how unlucky was that . oh by the way im on f1 on the ps3 and ive took 4, 1-2's in a row . 72 points from 4 races for the team . mclaren of course . ha ha . im too good at the game .
from 3 months ago
haha, 4, 1-2's in a row. whenever i am on course for a 1-2 the other drivers crashes. scumbags lol.
rubens was very happy, meant so much, especially after the season he had last year. didn't i say webber would finish in third? eeep, hope i didn't jinx him.
3 months ago
ha ha , i was on for a 5th 1-2 in a row and i sliced my tyre on massa's rear diffuser , damn that little brazillian . ive also beaten schumachers record at monaco and magny cours and i mean smashed his record , he done a 1min 15 . summat in monaco , i got 1m 14 .789 . and in france the same near enough again , almost second quicker .
nah you didnt jinx webber , it was probably martin brundle distracting him on the grid . im happy for rubens , last year and this year were stop gaps , and ross brawn got the strategy bang on .
from 3 months ago
ross brawn has to be one of the best strategists ever. just had a brainwave. bernie is the donny investor. what kind of tit, apart from a grey one, would invest 100 million in a dump like donny. bernie would. no wonder he is so sure it will work.
3 months ago
since shuey and brawn left ferrari its blown the whole field wide open , i do feel with brawn at the helm honda will be back in contention within the next 3 years .
ive had enough of bernie he is a class banker with a capital W !!!!!
good to hear from murray walker on the grid again , and he was absolutly right when he slated the media over lewis's treatment . hes a nice lad he doesnt deserve all this . there is some tit on the facebook page for mclaren who is quite clearly a ferrari fan but he says i love the sport in general , yet today he was tryin to argue with me that its lewis' own fault that he didnt win the title in 07 . its a small minority of "fake ferrari fans " that are just glory hunters . i mean he is english so why isnt he supporting an english team ??? glory hunter thats why . the real ferrari fans who dont say nothing on the situation im fine with . or the ones who at least put forward valid points .
dunno where that rant came from mate soz ha ha .
3 months ago
What a race michael, i'm wet and tired, but WOW! My first Grand Prix and after that experience its not the last for sure!
Rubens had a great drive, and Honda did some great strategic moves. But Hamilton just breezed it, well over a minute gap between 1st and 2nd.
Where were you sat Michael, i was on the paddock straight A, got a great view of the grid and podium, and got some nice footage.
from 3 months ago
i was on the empty pit walls near the end of the straight, then went to ferrari garage, said the dj bit about massa and then realised i was no longer wanted lol went to mclaren then.
my tenth gp, 3rd at silverstone. best ever though, by a mile.
3 months ago
I think maybe a split decision on driver of the day. Rubens was awesome and maybe, yeah, he had the sense (helloooo every other driver!) to change to wets. But Lewis' pace on those inters was just astronomical! How the hell did he manage it!? He went out there and took that race for himself.
Not to go on but anyone else sort of really disappointed with Kovy? He had it all there and he spent all afternoon saying "after you" to Raikkonen. Come Heikki, you really should have done better! Top article though! Cheers!
from 3 months ago
cheers for the POTD, it was almost split for me, but i did go for lewis in the end. kovy did disappoint me a bit, but still he led for a while but he didn't have the raw pace.
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