F1: HAMILTON SNATCHES SPA VICTORY
Posted 7th September, 2008 in Mercedes | 1 Comment
McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton went eight points clear as Raikkonen put his Ferrari into a wall at Blanchimont corner on the penultimate lap at a wet Spa-Francorchamps today. Felipe Massa took second place, with BMW Sauber’s Nick Heidfeld’s taking the final podium position. Full results below.
“It was an experience and a half,” Hamilton said. “I was praying for rain. I wanted it to come because I knew how to deal with it.
“The heavens opened and I saw Kimi begin to back off and to brake a bit earlier.
“I was going reasonably wide at Turn 12 but Rosberg spun and went off where I was coming back on. I went over the grass. It was incredibly tough.
“Kimi pushed me wide. I was a little bit ahead. I was outside on Turn One, I had no room and he basically pushed me so I went on the escape route.
“So I let him past, then got in his tow and he was ducking and diving left and right but I managed to get past him and I was pretty much gone from there.” Full results below.
1. Lewis Hamilton (Britain) McLaren 1hr 22mins 44.933secs
2. Felipe Massa (Brazil) Ferrari +00:14.461
3. Nick Heidfeld (Germany) BMW Sauber 00:23.844
4. Fernando Alonso (Spain) Renault 00:28.939
5. Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Toro Rosso - Ferrari 00:29.037
6. Robert Kubica (Poland) BMW Sauber 00:29.498
7. Sebastien Bourdais (France) Toro Rosso - Ferrari 00:31.196
8. Timo Glock (Germany) Toyota 00:56.506
9. Mark Webber (Australia) RedBull - Renault 00:57.237
10. Heikki Kovalainen (Finland) McLaren 1 lap
11. David Coulthard (Britain) RedBull - Renault 1 lap
12. Nico Rosberg (Germany) Williams - Toyota 1 lap
13. Adrian Sutil (Germany) Force India - Ferrari 1 lap
14. Kazuki Nakajima (Japan) Williams - Toyota 1 lap
15. Jenson Button (Britain) Honda 1 lap
16. Jarno Trulli (Italy) Toyota 1 lap
17. Giancarlo Fisichella (Italy) Force India - Ferrari 1 lap
18r.Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Ferrari 2 laps
r. Rubens Barrichello (Brazil) Honda 25 laps
r. Nelson Piquet (Brazil) Renault 31 laps
(rank: r = retired, nc = not classified)
Fastest Lap: Kimi Raikkonen, 1:47.930, lap 24.
*Edited to add:
Hamilton’s lead was cut to just 2 points after he was demoted to third place. The McLaren driver was forced to cut straight through the chicane at Spa-Francorchamps overtaking the Ferrari’s Raikkonen. Hamilton immediately slowed to allow the Finn back in front, knowing that he would receive a penalty if he did not.
[Source: Sky Sports]
1. 7th September, 2008 at 21:06 by sam sad
McLaren will always be penalised. Ferrari never get punished. Perhaps they know secrets about Bernie?