Hamilton hits back at critics with Silverstone victory
Sunday, 06 Jul 2008 21:39
Lewis Hamilton wins his third grand prix of the season, and seventh of his career.
Lewis Hamilton has reignited his title challenge after storming to victory in the British grand prix at Silverstone.
After failing to score points in his last two races, the McLaren driver returned to form to finish ahead of BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld.
Honda's Rubens Barrichello was third while world champion Kimi Raikkonen took fourth for Ferrari.
Hamilton is now tied on points at the top of the championship with Ferrari duo Raikkonen and Felipe Massa, who finished 13th at Silverstone after spinning off five times.
Starting from fourth on the grid, the Briton capitalised on the wet conditions to move into the lead ahead of team-mate Heikki Kovalainen on lap five.
Finn Raikkonen launched an assault on Hamilton's lead with both drivers pitting on lap 21. Crucially, McLaren changed Hamilton's intermediate wet-weather tyres for fresh ones, while Ferrari stuck with Raikkonen's used tyres.
Within a lap the rain came down again, with Hamilton building up a massive lead over Raikkonen, who struggled with the lack of grip.
By lap 26 Hamilton was 21.8 seconds ahead of Raikkonen, who spun off twice before edging Kovalainen and Renault's Fernando Alonso to take fourth.
Hamilton, 23, moved nearly a minute ahead of Heidfeld and punched the air in delight after taking the chequered flag after 70 laps.
It was a forgettable day for the other British drivers with Honda's Jenson Button and Red Bull's David Coulthard both retiring.
Round ten of the F1 championship is in Germany for the Hockenheim grand prix on July 20th.