Great Britain 2008
SATURDAY QUALIFYING GAVE US A SMALL TASTE OF WHAT MAY HAPPEN IN THE RACE ON SUNDAY - THERE WAS JUST A SHORT SHOWER THAT CAUSED A FEW PROBLEMS THEN BUT, WITH A GREATER CHANCE OF RAIN ON SUNDAY, IT SEEMED LIKELY THAT HAVOC MAY REIGN IN THE RACE AND SO IT DID!
I DON'T THINK THERE WAS A DRIVER WHO DID NOT EITHER SPIN OR GO OFF THE TRACK AND, INDEED, SOME DRIVERS MANAGED TO DO BOTH AND ONE OR TWO, SUCH AS FELIPE MASSA, DID BOTH MANY TIMES! LEWIS HAMILTON COULD ONLY MANAGE 4TH IN QUALIFYING WITH HIS TEAM-MATE, HEIKKI KOVALAINEN, ON POLE - HIS FIRST IN F1. THE SURPRISE OF QUALIFYING WAS MARK WEBBER WHO TOOK 2ND WITH KIMI RAIKKONEN 3RD.
HAMILTON WAS BRILLIANT OFF THE START LINE AND CHALLENGED HEIKKI FOR THE LEAD AT THE FIRST CORNER BUT THE FINN RESOLUTELY KEPT HIS FOOT DOWN AND FENDED HIM OFF BUT IT WASN'T LONG BEFORE LEWIS WAS THROUGH. WEBBER'S QUALIFYING GLORY TURNED TO DISASTER AFTER ONLY A FEW CORNERS - HE SPUN, FACED THE WAY HE HAD COME AND WAS LUCKY NOT TO BE HIT AS THE DRIVERS BEHIND EMERGED FROM THE SPRAY.
HAMILTON INITIALLY BUILT UP A REASONABLE LEAD BUT KIMI HUNTED HIM DOWN AND, BY THE TIME THEY CAME IN TOGETHER AT THE FIRST PIT-STOP, HE WAS ON HIS TAIL. THERE THEN FOLLOWED A VERY BIZARRE DECISION BY FERRARI - THEY DID NOT CHANGE THE FINN'S INTERMEDIATE TYRES LEAVING HIM TO SKATE AROUND LOSING TIME IN THE RAIN THAT HAD BEEN WELL FLAGGED UP BEFORE THE PIT-STOP.
LEWIS NEVER LOOKED BACK AFTER THAT AND EVENTUALLY WON BY OVER A MINUTE, WHILST PUTTING IN LAP TIMES THAT WERE ANYTHING UP TO 10 SECONDS QUICKER THAN ANY OTHER DRIVER WITH SIMILAR FUEL LOADS AND TYRES. EVEN ROSS BRAWN (NOW HONDA - FORMERLY OF FERRARI) WAS AMAZED!
NICK HEIDFELD HAD A VERY GOOD RACE AND FINISHED 2ND WITH AN ECSTATIC RUBENS BARRICHELLO IN 3RD FOR HONDA (HIS FIRST PODIUM SINCE 2005). THERE IS NOW A 3-WAY TIE FOR THE LEAD IN THE DRIVERS' STANDINGS BETWEEN LEWIS, FELIPE MASSA (WHO DIDN'T SCORE TODAY) AND KIMI WITH ROBERT KUBICA ONLY TWO POINTS BEHIND IN 4TH.
STARTING GRID
| | | |
| 1.
|
Heikki Kovalainen
|
| 2.
|
Mark Webber
|
| 3.
|
Kimi Raikkonen
|
| 4.
|
Lewis Hamilton
|
| 5.
|
Nick Heidfeld
|
| 6.
|
Fernando Alonso
|
| 7.
|
Nelson Piquet
|
| 8.
|
Sebastian Vettel
|
| 9.
|
Felipe Massa
|
| 10.
|
Robert Kubica
|
| 11.
|
David Coulthard
|
| 12.
|
Timo Glock
|
| 13.
|
Sebastien Bourdais
|
| 14.
|
Jarno Trulli
|
| 15.
|
Kazuki Nakajima
|
| 16.
|
Rubens Barrichello
|
| 17.
|
Jenson Button
|
| 18.
|
Aidrian Sutil
|
| 19.
|
Giancarlo Fisichella
|
| 20.
|
Nico Rosberg (Pit lane)
|
RESULT
| |
| 1.
|
Lewis Hamilton
|
| 2.
|
Nick Heidfeld
|
| 3.
|
Rubens Barrichello
|
| 4.
|
Kimi Raikkonen
|
| 5.
|
Heikki Kovalainen
|
| 6.
|
Fernando Alonso
|
| 7.
|
Jarno Trulli
|
| 8.
|
Kazuki Nakajima
|
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
Drivers :
| |
| Lewis Hamilton
|
48
|
| =Felipe Massa
|
48
|
| =Kimi Raikkonen
|
48
|
| Robert Kubica
|
46
|
| Nick Heidfeld
|
36
|
| Heikki Kovalainen
|
24
|
| Jarno Trulli
|
20
|
| Mark Webber
|
18
|
Constructors :
|
| Ferrari
|
96
|
| BMW
|
82
|
| McLaren
|
72
|
| Toyota
|
25
|
| Red Bull Racing
|
24
|
| Williams
|
16
|
| Renault
|
15
|
| Honda
|
14
|
| Scuderia Toro Rosso
|
7
|
| Force India
|
0
|
| Super Aguri
|
0
|
Race Results posted by
David Little
7th July 2008
The HTML code for this page has been validated by the World Wide Web Consortium.