British F1 Grand Prix: Hamilton Surges To Win Home GP

Lewis Hamilton answered his critics and got his title campaign back on track with a superb British Grand Prix win. The McLaren driver mastered tricky conditions, and his team made the right tactical calls, as all his main title rivals had a day to forget. Hamilton is now tied on points at the top of the championship with Ferrari drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa, who finished fourth and 13th. Nick Heidfeld took second for BMW ahead of Rubens Barrichello's Honda.

Hamilton's victory was possibly the best race of his short career, and it was a much-needed fillip after he had failed to score points in the previous two races. The Englishman had been under pressure heading to Silverstone, and looked to be feeling it when he made mistakes on his qualifying laps to end up only fourth on the grid. But the rain gave him a chance to showcase his superlative natural talent, and he grabbed it with both hands making him the first Englishman to win the British Grand Prix since Jonny Herbert in 1995. Hamilton made a superb start from the second row almost passing team-mate Heikki Kovalainen on the first corner but he bid his time in second place to take the lead on lap five.

He quickly pulled out an advantage, but was soon back under pressure from Raikkonen, who passed Kovalainen when the McLaren spun on lap 10 and began to eat into Hamilton's lead. The decisive moment of the race came on lap 21, when Hamilton and Raikkonen came in for their first fuel and tyre stops. McLaren changed Hamilton's intermediate wet-weather tyres for fresh ones, while Ferrari - gambling it would stay dry - left Raikkonen's used set on.