Splash! Hamilton dominates the British Grand Prix
Lewis Hamilton did the best thing he could do to answer his critics by putting in a stunning performance to win yesterday's rain soaked British Grand Prix at Silverstone. The Englishman pushed on through the spray to take his second win of the season and put the bad memories of Canada and France to rest. 'Quick' Nick Heidfeld made something of a comeback to take second in the BMW and Rubens Barrichello put in a fine drive to get third on the podium.
Elsewhere, Ferrari were having a dog of a day, with Massa spinning five times during the course of the race. With his copybook well and truly blotted, the Brazilian trailed home 13th and last. Raikkonen managed to salvage what was left by coming home fourth, but it was an important strategy decision that really mauled the Ferrari's chances. By lap 18, the Finn had cut Hamilton's lead to just 2.3 seconds but the different decisions made by the Ferrari during the pit-stop (surprise, surprise) really ruined Raikkonen's chances. McLaren put fresh intermediate tyres on Hamiltons car, however Ferrari chose to keep Raikkonen's original tyres. Then it rained again and Raikkonen's worn tyres couldn't do the job as well as Hamilton's. The Ferrari dropped down the order as Raikkonen lost touch with Hamilton and fell prey to Heidfeld at Luffield.
Ross Brawn must have been smiling on the pit wall as his old team floundered and Barrichello, on extreme wet tyres worked his way up the order to third. The Honda tech chief took no chances in the awful weather and his decision paid dividends. Ferrari on the other hand, must be taking turns hitting themselves with a very big stick.
So now we have a three-way tie at the top, with Hamilton, Raikkonen and Massa all having scored 48 points each so far. Kubica (who found the sandtrap yesterday) is just two points off the top as well. The next round is Hockenheim in Germany and with a championship and the erratic form of the top drivers, who knows what will happen next?
Other news
David Coulthard has announced his retirement, however he probably won't want to remember too much of his last British GP, careering off the track with Vettel in tow. What he will want to remember are his thirteen Grand Prix wins, particularly his vitories at Silverstone in 1999 and 2000. Whilst I've not always been a fan, the man is a true racer, a proven winner and speaks a lot of sense. He reckons that he won't be hanging up his helmet just yet, so who knows where he'll go next? How about a crack at Le Mans? I'm sure any sports car team would welcome his talent and experience. Anyway, all the best David!
Formula 1: Canadian Grand Prix Preview
And so we come to the only North American round of the championship. The American Grand Prix at Indy is no more (the track was rubbish, only the banking was worth watching), leaving us with just the Canadian round in Montreal. The US is not short of excellent race tracks (Road America, Watkins Glen, Laguna Seca to name a few), but because none of them were designed by Hermann Tilke and are not situated in a dirty rich Middle-Eastern principality, means that they will probably wouldn't be considered at this moment in time. So for better or worse, I think we can wave goodbye to the American Grand Prix for the time being.
On to Montreal and Sunday's race. McLaren will be looking to build upon their success last time out in Monaco with Hamilton finding himself in the lead of the championship by three points. Raikkonen is probably none too pleased about his off-colour performance two weeks ago and should be fired up to do better this weekend. The two teams are both very evenly matched at the moment so things could go either way. Also, keep an eye out for the BMW team as they continue to become ever more competitive, with Kubica leading the way as Heidfeld continues to have tyre problems.
The Gilles Villeneuve track is surrounded by concrete walls that are in close proximity to the track and there have been some big smashes over the years, none more so than Robert Kubica's crash last year. As unsettling as the thought of that incident was last year, Kubica will probably have wiped that from his mind in order to get on with this years race (such mental discipline is something the top line drivers all seem to have). However, do expect someone to lose a wheel or a wing on those unforgiving walls.
Massa beats off the opposition
Phillipe Massa put in a dominant display during yesterdays Turkish Grand Prix, coming first in front of Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari team mate Kimi Raikkonen. It is the third time Massa has triumphed at Istanbul Park in the last three years. However, it was not all plain sailing as he had to content with a sustained challenge from Lewis Hamilton, who was on a three stop strategy to cope with the tyre demands of the anti-clockwise circuit.
The lighter McLaren allowed him to overtake Massa in the middle part of the race, however Massa was still able to reclaim the lead and take the chequered flag. As the race progressed, Hamilton came under pressure from Raikkonen and only narrowly beat him to second place. Further down the field, the BMW team carried on their quiet march into the big league with a solid fourth and fifth for Kubica and Heidfeld respectively.
By clinching victory, Massa underlined just how good he is on his day. The problem for him is to sustain that performance over the course of a season, something that he has previously not been able to do. It is not unlikely that after yesterdays performance, he'll be wedged in the barriers on the Monaco harbour side at the next race....