Jul 6, 2008, 16:13 GMT
Silverstone, England - Britain's Lewis Hamilton drove a brilliant race in unpredictable conditions to dominate the British Grand Prix at Silverstone on Sunday.
Winner British Lewis Hamilton (L) of McLaren Mercedes celebrates on the podium after the British Grand Prix at the Silverstone race track in Northamptonshire, Great Britain, 06 July 2008. The McLaren-Mercedes driver took the chequered flag more than 65 seconds ahead of Nick Heidfeld (R) of Germany in a BMW-Sauber. Rubens Barrichello in a Honda was third. EPA/JENS BUETTNER
Hamilton silenced the critics after two races without a point to triumph by more than a minute over Nick Heidfeld of Germany in a BMW-Sauber in a rain-affected race in which main rival Ferrari floundered badly.
Rubens Barrichello grabbed a surprise third place for Honda, while Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen rescued fourth position ahead of Hamilton's team-mate Heikki Kovalainen, who had started from pole.
The result leaves Hamilton level on 48 points in the drivers' championship with Raikkonen and Ferrari team-mate Felipe Massa who had a dreadful error-strewn race to finish 13th and last of the drivers still on the track.
BMW-Sauber's Robert Kubica of Poland, who failed to finish, is two points further back on 46, while Heidfeld moves to 36.
'It is definitely by far the best victory I have ever had,' Hamilton said.
'It was one of the toughest races I have ever done and when I was driving I was thinking, 'If I win this it will definitely be one of the best races I have ever had.'
'I was just praying, praying, 'keep it on the track, just finish' - you can imagine the emotions. The team did a fantastic job.'
Hamilton had been under pressure at his home Grand Prix after mistakes in the last two races and another error in qualifying which had left him only fourth on the grid.
However the 23-year-old got off to a tremendous start, very nearly jumping straight into the lead, which he then took from Kovalainen after four laps, and then benefited from a near-perfect tyre-change strategy, while Ferrari got it all wrong.
Hamilton took the chequered flag a massive 68.5 seconds up on Heidfeld, finishing the 60 laps of 5.141 kilometres in a provisional time of 1 hour 39 minutes 9.440 seconds.
'Thank you so much guys. I know it's been a tough weekend but we pulled it together when it mattered. Oh my god, we did it,' Hamilton said over the team radio after crossing the line.
Hamilton got ahead of Raikkonen and Australian Mark Webber on the first corner and almost passed Kovalainen, who was starting for the first time from pole.
The wheels of the two McLarens touched, but the Finn stayed in front, only to concede to Hamilton four laps later.
Red Bull driver Webber meanwhile threw away his qualifying advantage by spinning, while Massa twice lost control of his Ferrari in the early laps to fall right back.
Britain's David Coulthard in a Red Bull, in his last British Grand Prix, was an early casualty when he span into the gravel along with Germany's Sebastian Vettel in a Toro Rosso.
Hamilton built up a four-second lead over world champion Raikkonen who benefited from a spin by Kovalainen to move second, but the Finn gradually whittled away the lead.
Both came into the pits at the same time after 20 laps, with McLaren changing Hamilton's tyres to intermediate wet-weather, while Ferrari gambled it would stay dry and decided against a tyre change for the Finn.
The decision proved decisive when rain fell almost immediately afterwards, allowing Hamilton to gain more than five seconds a lap. Raikkonen lasted 10 laps in which he fell back to fourth, until he was compelled to go back into the pits to correct the mistake.
Conditions worsened with 24 laps remaining when a heavy shower caused aquaplaning trouble for all drivers.
Hamilton, Raikkonen twice, Kubica, Webber and Massa all span but managed to stay in the race, but it was a day to forget for Massa who went on to spin a total of six times.
Hamilton came in for a change of intermediate wet tyres, as did Heidfeld and Kubica, but the Pole lasted only two more laps before shooting off the track into the gravel.
With the weather clearing, Hamilton was able to increase his lead over Heidfeld to more than 40 seconds. The slowing German had to make way for Barrichello who was enjoying a team decision to switch to extreme wet-weather tyres. Heidfeld, however, regained second spot when the Brazilian had to make a fuel change.
By then Hamilton was in a league of his own, increasing his lead to more than a minute and overlapping Alonso and Raikkonen in a further sign of his dominance.
Heidfeld held on to second some 14 seconds ahead of Barrichello whose third place was his first podium finish since 2005.
'It's fantastic. I never lost the believe I have in me,' the Brazilian said.
'Obviously it was a lucky day with the weather ... I was passing people on the inside, the outside. It was just magic.'
Also in the points were Renault's Fernando Alonso of Spain who finished sixth, Italy's Jarno Trulli in a Toyota seventh and Kazuki Nakajima of Japan in a Williams eighth.
Ferrari continue to lead the constructors' championship, moving to 96 points, with BMW-Sauber on 82 and McLaren-Mercedes on 72.
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