It s the penultimate Grand Prix at Silverstone and it looks set to be an interesting race. The track is wet and there are dark clouds hovering over the circuit. It s an unusual front row with Heikki Kovalainen and Mark Webber. Despite many believing that Silverstone would be kind to Ferrari, the team look to be struggling with Raikkonen qualifying in third alongside the second McLaren of Hamilton, and Massa all the way down the field in ninth. Rosberg, having had some suspension problems, starts down the field in 18th place.
Everyone gets away smoothly on the parade lap. Everyone appears to be on intermediate tyres. Rosberg will be starting from the pits after his mechanics spent the night working on his suspension. The track is damp but there isn t too much standing water if the rain holds off, the track could dry fairly quickly.
Lap 1 Hamilton and Raikkonen get a good start. Hamilton challenges for the lead but Kovalainen holds his team-mate off. Raikkonen gets a good start to leap-frog Webber to take third place. Webber spins on the Hangar Straight and ends up sitting backwards on the track. Luckily everyone misses him and he is able to rejoin at the back of the pack. Nakajima goes in too deep at Bridge, followed by Felipe Massa. Both are able to continue.
Coulthard and Vettel end up in the gravel and are unable to continue. Vettel is unhappy that the marshals won t push him back onto the track. Massa is running in 17th place. The top six are Kovalainen, Hamilton, Raikkonen, Heidfeld and Piquet.
Lap 2 Hamilton is challenging Kovalainen for the lead but backs out of the overtake on the start-finish straight. Alonso, who is apparently on full wets, makes a move on Piquet to take P5. Barrichello has made up six places and is now P10. Sutil is also doing well, up to P11 from P18.
Lap 3 Massa looks to be struggling as he spins again just before the start-finish straight. He is able to continue in last place.
Lap 4 Hamilton overtakes Kovalainen on the entry to Stowe. However Alonso is currently the fastest man on the circuit.
Lap 6 Webber is working his way through the field and is now in P15. Hamilton is now the fastest man on track with a 1:34.258.
Lap 8 Alonso passes Piquet and Heidfeld to take P4. Hamilton is starting to edge away from team-mate Kovalainen with a three second lead. Raikkonen is just under two seconds behind the McLarens.
Lap 9 Williams tell Nakajima to adjust his brake balance forward. Webber passes Sutil to take P12. He is now 10 seconds behind Button who is in P11.
Lap 10 A pirouette at the Abbey Chicane for Heikki Kovalainen allowing Raikkonen to take P2. Alonso is now all over the back end of the second McLaren. Piquets engineers inform him they are expecting more rain in the next five minutes.
Lap 11 Sutil loses it under braking on the entrance to the Abbey Chicane, spins, goes through the gravel, getting airbourne at one point, before stopping just short of the barriers. He is now out of the race. Kimi Raikkonen puts in the quickest lap of the race with a 1:33.635. He is now 5 seconds behind race leader Hamilton.
Lap 12 Barrichello is passed by Webber for P11.
Lap 16 Hamilton and Raikkonen are trading quickest laps. The Finn is now just four seconds behind the race leader. Massa finally passes Rosberg for P16.
Lap 17 Massa passes Fisichella for P15. Raikkonen is now just 3.3 seconds behind Hamilton. The top 6 are currently Hamilton, Raikkonen, Kovalainen, Alonso, Heidfeld, Piquet. Pit stops are expecting to start soon and will probably coincide with the start of the rain.
Lap 19 Raikkonen is starting to press on his last lap was a second quicker than Hamilton s. Webber is the first many to put from P10. It has started to rain, but it is only expected to be a short, light drizzle. Kovalainen pits from P3 and puts on a fresh set of intermediates. He rejoins in P6 just ahead of the BMW of Kubica.
Lap 20 Raikkonen is all over the back of Hamilton with the gap now under a second. Alonso pits from P3 taking on fuel but not changing his tyres. He rejoins just behind Trulli in P8.
Lap 21 Hamilton and Raikkonen both pit together. Hamilton gets a change of tyres, Raikkonen stays on the same tyres. They rejoin in P2 and P3. Massa pits.
Lap 22 Heidfeld pits from the lead and takes on a new set of intermediates. Piquet also pits from P4. Heidfeld rejoins in P10, just behind Glock.
Lap 23 The rain is starting to fall more heavily. Heidfeld drivers around the outside of Glock and then the inside of Alonso to take P5. Hamilton is starting to pull away from Raikkonen the gap is now up to 4.6 seconds. Nakajima spins.
Lap 24 Raikkonen puts in an astoundingly slow lap. Hamilton s lap is now up to 10 seconds.
Lap 25 Raikkonen s lap times continue to be 4 seconds a lap slower than the pair of McLarens. Piquet overtakes his team-mate for P6. Raikkonen is now over 20 seconds behind Hamilton, and Raikkonen has Kovalainen all over the rear of his car.
Lap 27 Alonso has pitted again. The Spaniard didn t take on new tyres last time round and looks like he has decided he does need a new set. Kovalainen overtakes Raikkonen for P2, before Heidfeld slips past the both of them for P2. As Hamilton comes to overtake Fisichella, Fisichella goes wide and spins. His race is now also over.
Lap 28 Hamilton has a really slow lap. Heidfeld is catching Hamilton although the gap is over 24 seconds.
Lap 30 Raikkonen pits from P6. He rejoins in P11.
Lap 31 – Massa pits. Kubica has gotten past Piquet for P4. The current top 6 are Hamilton, Heidfeld, Kovalainen, Kubica, Piquet and Barrichello. Massa rejoins in last in P16 and his being lapped.
Lap 33 Glock is unhappy at Massa who doesn t get out of the way quickly enough when Glock goes to lap him.
Lap 34 Kubica is challenging Kovalainen for P3. Kubica manages to overtake him at Stowe. The rain is falling very hard now. Kovalainen pits for the second time. He gets a new set of tyres. He rejoins in P9 just ahead of Button. Button s team-mate Barrichello is up into fifth place.
Lap 35 – Kubica takes a short excursion across a run-off strip. Glock has a small spin but is able to continue although he has lost some places. Barrichello pits, as does Button. Button has to queue behind his team-mate. Unfortunately there was a small problem with Barrichello s car and he had a long stop which has cost both drivers.
Lap 36 Piquet has spun off and beaches in the gravel. His race is over. Hamilton and Kubica both make small errors and run off the track. The track is very slippery with track times 14 seconds down on the fastest lap of the race. Massa also spins in a straight line. He keeps it out of the barriers and keeps going, just avoiding a hare which runs out in front of the spinning car.
Lap 37 Barrichello unlaps himself easily from Hamilton the Brazilian is on full wets which appear to be the tyres to be on.
Lap 38 Raikkonen also spins. Hamilton comes in for his second stop. The McLaren team are electing to send him out on intermediates again, despite the track being sopping wet. McLaren are obviously expecting the rain to ease.
Lap 39 Heidfeld pits and also takes on intermediates. Kubica pits from P3. Raikkonen pits on the entry to the pit-straight but is able to continue. Webber has a small spin too, but is also able to recover. The current top six are: Hamilton, Heidfeld, Trulli, Alonso, Barrichello, Kovalainen.
Lap 40 Barrichello (P5) is lapping 30 seconds a lap quicker than race leader Hamilton Hamilton is on intermediates and Barrichello is on full wets. Barrichello is slicing his way through the field. Kubica has a big spin at Bridge and beaches the car in the gravel. Rosberg taps the back of the Toyota of Glock and loses his front wing. It looks like part of the front wing is lodged underneath the car.
Lap 41 Button goes off the track and beaches his car. His race is over. Glock spins again but is able to continue on.
Lap 42 Apparently there was a problem with the fuel rig at Barrichello s last stop and it is believed he needs to stop again. He is currently running in P3 and is reeling Heidfeld in.
Lap 44 Barrichello has overtaken Heidfeld. Glock pits from P11. The skies are bright and it doesn t look like there will be any more rain during the race. There is still plenty of standing water out on-track.
Lap 46 Raikkonen is catching Kovalainen, who is close up behind Trulli and Alonso. It is understood that Trulli still needs to pit. Barrichello pits from P2. Barrichello swaps from wets to intermediates. He rejoins in P3. Kovalainen makes a pass on Alonso. Bourdais spins at Abbey but is able to continue.
Lap 48 Massa spins on the start of the start-finish straight again as Trulli pits. Mark Webber also has a spin at the same places as Massa but is able to continue. Raikkonen is now in P6. Trulli rejoins in P8.
Lap 50 Massa is now two laps down. Kovalainen spins allowing Alonso and Raikkonen through. He continues on in P6. Massa spins again. Massa pits for the third time.
Lap 51 – Raikkonen is challenging Alonso for P4. There are 13 runners remaining in the race.
Lap 52 Hamilton laps Raikkonen.
Lap 53 Alonso goes deep into Woodcote and Raikkonen tries to overtake. Alonso holds the Finn off. Raikkonen lines the Renault up into Becketts but again Alonso holds him off. Raikkonen finally takes the place in the next corner. Kovalainen has now closed up to the back of the Renault and also fancies a go.
Lap 55 Kovalainen is still attacking Alonso. Nakajima and Trulli are closing in on the pair.
Lap 57 It s now a four-way battle for P5 as Nakajima and Trulli have caught up to the back of Kovalainen. Nakajima is told over his radio to ensure that he doesn t lose his position to Trulli.
Lap 58 Kovalainen takes the place from Alonso.
Lap 59 Nakajima is putting pressure on Alonso. Nakajima looks to have a problem on the last lap and is passed by Trulli.
Hamilton takes the win over a minute ahead of Heidfeld. Barrichello has a fantastic result, finishing in third.
Raikkonen, Kovalainen and Alonso round out the Top 6, ahead of Trulli, Nakajima, Rosberg, Webber, Bourdais, Glock and Massa.
It’s now a three-way tie at the top of the drivers’ championship with Hamilton, Massa and Raikkonen all on 48 points. Ferrari lead the constructors’ championship with 96 points, ahead of BMW with 82.
