GP – Race: A whole nation proud of Hamilton!

Lewis Hamilton got back in the saddle for the world champion title after a remarkable home victory in challenging conditions at the 2008 British Grand Prix.

The McLaren driver, with various whims of the sky, finished the race with more than a minute ahead of the second place.

This is Nick Heidfeld, who achieved his third podium of the year ahead of a sensational Rubens Barrichello, who opted for a rewarding strategy mid-race by switching to ‘extreme rain’ tires. It’s the first podium for Honda in three seasons.

Kimi Räikkönen is only fourth for Ferrari, behind the pole man of the weekend, Heikki Kovalainen, who was greatly disturbed by the rain just like Felipe Massa, who is last after many spins.

Hamilton immediately took the lead thanks to a great start, sweeping past Räikkönen and Mark Webber who were ahead of him on the starting grid. It was then his teammate Kovalainen who gave way after a very slight contact.

Webber, meanwhile, dropped to 4th place behind Räikkönen, and worse was to follow when the Red Bull spun at the exit of Becketts.

The Australian is far from being the only person to have paraded on the track. Massa at the exit of Abbey and David Coulthard who took Sebastian Vettel to Priory. Both drivers had to retire.

Kovalainen lost his second place to Räikkönen shortly after, following another spin at Abbey.

Although Hamilton had a five-second lead over Räikkönen, as the track began to dry, the Ferrari proved more competitive and the world champion started gaining up to one second per lap on the Englishman.

The McLaren and Ferrari were in unison until the end of the 21st lap. But the first round of refueling would change everything: While Räikkönen equipped himself with intermediate tires in the hope that the track would soon become completely dry, Hamilton opted for a completely different set of tires…

Indeed, the rain intensified, and the Finnish intermediates had no grip on the increasingly wet track. Räikkönen was losing up to eight seconds per lap.

From that moment on, it was Heidfeld’s BMW that benefited.

First of all, the German overtook Timo Glock from the outside at Luffield and then stepped on the accelerator again to get rid of Fernando Alonso.

His next victims were then Räikkönen and Kovalainen to find himself in second position.

Honda therefore equipped its drivers with extreme tires. This proved to be extremely effective with Barrichello gaining up to 17 seconds per lap when conditions were extremely difficult.

Button had to retire after going off the track but Barrichello hung on until the end.

With the rain stopping shortly after, all the drivers equipped themselves with intermediates during their last stop.

At the front of the race, Hamilton continued to extend his lead by lapping all the drivers except Heidfeld and Barrichello.

Despite great difficulties, Räikkönen fought with Kovalainen and then Alonso for fourth place.

Alonso was very tenacious but could not withstand the attacks from Räikkönen and Kovalainen, who finished 5th. The Iberian is therefore 6th.

After numerous off-track excursions, Kazuki Nakajima scores points for Williams with a seventh place, just ahead of Jarno Trulli. His teammate Timo Glock could have finished in the points but ended up 12th after the heavy downpour.

Nico Rosberg could have achieved the same performance as Barrichello on extreme tires if he hadn’t lost his front wing in a collision with Glock. The young German is ninth, while Webber could do no better than 10th place.

Massa is 13th behind Sébastien Bourdais (Toro Rosso) and Glock.

Robert Kubica spun at mid-race at Abbey while points were promised to him.

Nelson Piquet remained stuck in the same place. He was fourth at that moment, but aquaplaning decided otherwise. The two Force India ended up in the gravel.

The result creates a remarkable tie at the top of the championship, with Hamilton, Massa, and Räikkönen now sharing first place halfway through the season.