2010 Formula 1 British Grand Prix to start next weekend, Lewis Hamilton eyeing another podium finish
As Formula One comes to Silverstone next weekend, the teams get ready to close in on the championship title with McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton dominating the number one spot on the championship table, just 6 points ahead of teammate Jenson Button. The race will be held on the 11th of July, following three practice sessions (on the 9th and 10th of July) and one qualifying session.
However, fans and especially Ferrari cannot help but continuously think about Lewis Hamilton’s controversial second place podium finish at the European GP.
Sebastian Vettel was the winner of the race that took place in Valencia, and thus he has ensured the fact that Red Bull Racing is still in the hunt for the World Championship. This victory will do a lot for Vettel’s ego and confidence after not having won a race since Malaysia, and then that ugly crash in Turkey.
As Vettel travels to Britain for the British GP at the famous Silverstone, he stands only 12 points behind championship leader Hamilton and an equal amount of points ahead of teammate Webber, who due to his flipper could not secure any points in Valencia.
Now, we come back to Hamilton’s controversial performance in Valencia, which enabled him to retain the second spot despite a penalty.
So what exactly did Hamilton do that has the entire F1 fraternity talking? He was found taking advantage of the safety car period and then, despite his overtaking, he only got a drive-through penalty and thus managed to keep his chequered flag 2nd position in the race.
Ferrari is complaining that the stewards were late to react to Hamilton, and because of his stunt, their driver, Fernando Alonso, who during the safety car period was right behind Hamilton, finished the race eighth and that even Michael Schumacher fell from third to end at the 15th place.
However, with the British GP fast approaching, it would well be advised that both Alonso and Ferrari now look ahead to the season instead of griping about the past.
However, Valencia is not the only time this season that we have seen Ferrari and Alonso complain.
In the Canadian Grand Prix, they were seen criticizing F1 over slower cars and how they cost Ferrari a shot at victory, and after the Valencia incident, Alonso has even gone to the extent of saying that Formula One is conspiring against him.
However, in this entire scenario the only team that seems to be happy is Sauber, as their driver Kamui Kobayashi was seen as the fans’ driver of the day in Valencia after he jumped upon the safety car period and managed to get to the third position, which he almost successfully held after finally finishing at the 7th spot.
Kamui Kobayashi combined his driving with both pace and aggression as he managed 50 laps with his first set of tyres, as compared to the rest of the drivers who had gone into pits long before, thus giving him that automatic advantage.
But the highlight of his race was that he had the courage to take on Ferrari.
With just two laps left in the race, Kobayashi moved in on Fernando Alonso and then overtook Toro Rosso’s Sebastien Buemi.
This is, however, not the first time that the world has seen the Japanese driver pull such stunts, as it was this attitude that got the fans behind him as well as the teams.
But now as we stand, one can safely say that the European GP was quite a thriller, especially after fans expecting a dull race were subject to witnessing a flying bull (Webbers accident with Lotus), and then Vettel’s win after a small tiff with Hamilton.
So now all that drama travels with the teams to the famous Silverstone track, as Hamilton is itching to extend his lead and the Bulls are eyeing a comeback to the top of the table.
Thus, whatever the result of the next outing may be, fans can be sure to expect a battle of nerves as come this July 9th weekend, F1 returns to Britain at the famous Silverstone, a track which has been carved as one of the leading motorsport venues for the past 60 years.
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