F1: Hamilton wins British GP at Silverstone

McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton won his home Grand Prix today in a race hampered by the English summer conditions.

Although not raining torrentially, conditions were certainly challenging for all drivers, and bad pit decisions for both Raikkonen and Alonso which saw them both pit with no tyre change gave each driver extra work to keep up the pace. The Ferrari’s didn’t have a good weekend at all, with Felipe Massa spinning his car on five separate occasions. And David Coulthard, who has just announced his retirement, made an early exit after going off on the first lap after colliding with Sebastian Vettel, who also retired.

Other drivers who failed to finish include Robert Kubicca, who is in the running for the Championship after BMW’s improved performance this season; and Jenson Button, who showed again that if he concentrated more on his Grand Prix driving and less on activities such as triathlon that clearly distract him.

Lewis made a bold move from the start, where he started in forth place. Leaping ahead of both Raikkonen and Webber before the first bend, he came straight being teammate Heikki Kovalainen. After sitting behind him in the spray he eventually passed him too, and from that point on lead the race, finishing ahead of Nick Heidfeld by more than a minute.

Driver Championship after British Grand Prix