Hamilton dominates at soaked Silverstone

F1 Grand Prix, GP Great Britain, Silverstone Circuit

Lewis Hamilton quickly took the lead of the Grand Prix and quite simply never let it go again. He was never really under threat at most of the competitors struggled with finding grip in the changing conditions.

This year's British Grand Prix is likely to be another exciting one this year as the track is very wet at the beginning of the race. Although it is not raining, the spray is considerable, even during the lower speeds of the warm-up lap. All drivers start on normal wet weather tyres.

As mentioned earlier, due to technical problems, Nico Rosbeg sarts from the pitlane.

At the start, Lewis Hamilton immediately charges forward and challenges his teammate but stays behind in second place. Mark Webber fell back to 4th place immediately. It did however get worse as 3 corners further down he spun and had to let pass everyone.

Piquet initially made a good start and passed his teammate but had to let him pass by again after 2 laps. By that time, Coulthard and Vettel are out as they got stuck in the gravel trap. Felipe Massa meanwhile also spun twice and is now running at the rear end of the field.

In lap 4, Hamilton passes his teammate. Kimi Raikkonen is still close while Fernando Alonso has passed Heidfeld and is also closing in on the Finn. 2 laps later, Hamilton and Alonso are the fastest men of track. Webber is making up some lost ground and moves up to 15th. He is currently driving impressively, passing 3 cars in a single lap.

8 laps in the race, Jarno Trulli has moved up to 7th place, ahead of Kubica. Both Honda's are 10th and 11th while Sutil is 12th.

Lap 10 marks a spin by Kovalainen and sees Kimi Raikkonen pass by. He regains his pace just seconds ahead of Fernando Alonso. Adrian Sutil then suddenly loses the rear end of his car under braking and gets stuck in the gravel.

By lap 15, the ideal running line is clearly drying up and the times are tumbling. The dryer the track gets, the faster the Ferrari of Raikkonen comes closer to Hamilton. In lap 18 he is at 2.2 seconds.

Heikki Kovalanen is then the first to enter the pitlane in lap 19, while Alonso follows suit a single lap later. Both are refitted with the normal rain tyres. In lap 21, both leaders are in the pitlane at the same time, but only Hamilton is fitted with new tyres. Massa is on the same strategy and it could well work out if the track continues to dry.

The weather is however very changing and at some places on the track it is raining again. Ferrari's tyre change isn't working out at all as Raikkonen is losing ground to the leader with more than 2 seconds a lap.

Alonso is also struggling, although he did get new tyres. Before his stop he was still very much faster than his teammate who just passed him in lap 26. Alonso is in the pitlane to refuel and is likely to go to the end of the race.

A lap later, Kovalainen passes Raikkonen and at the same time both men are passed by Nick Heidfeld. The latter is a massive 4 seconds faster than Hamilton in lap 28. Kubica is at the moment also incredibly fast and passes Raikkonen and Piquet.

Raikkonen then finally enters the pitlane for new wet tyres with grooves, compared to his 30-lap old worn off tyres. He is refuelled to go to the end of the race too.

33 laps in the race, McLaren have performed the perfect strategy for Hamilton so far as he is 24 seconds ahead of second placed Heidfeld. Kubica is third and much faster than fourth places Kovalainen. Behind them are Piquet, Trulli, Barrichello, Glock and Alonso.

The rain then finally stops in lap 23 after a very heavy shower. By lap 36, Kubica, Hamilton, Piquet, Raikkonen and Massa have cut some grass as water fills the track. Hamilton then enters the pitlane and is again fitted with intermediates, just like Heidfeld.

Both Ferrari's are still struggling hard and continuously go off the track. Mak Webber was also lucky to get out of the gravel, while Piquet's 5th place went up in smoke as he is in the gravel.

Both Honda's are meanwhile quick on extreme wet tyres. As is Rosberg, but he miscalculates that Glock is much slower than him and just runs in behind him, breaking his front wing. Glock on the other hand is able to continue without problems.

With 18 laps to go, Barrichello is 3rd and already just behind Heidfeld. He is on average 4 seconds faster than any other driver on intermediates. Half a lap later he has easily taken second place.

14 laps from the end, Barrichello is in the pits for his final stop and gets normal wets again. He rejoins the track in 3rd place, and we cannot judge differently from saying that all drivers that did not choose for extremes have been wrong.

Even 12 laps from the end the track is that slippery that Massa and Webber spin off, although they can rejoin without damage.

7 laps from the end, Alonso is having a hard time on very old tyres and is passed by Raikkonen after being able to hold him off for close to 10 laps. Moments later Kovalainen is also challenging to pass the Renault. Behind the two, Nakajima and then Trulli are also closing in quickly.

2 laps to go and Alonso loses yet another place. There is really nothing more to do as the McLaren is at least 3 seconds a lap faster in the current conditions. Nakajima is now the next candidate. Alonso did however manage to hold on to his position.