F1 flashback: Lewis Hamilton wins his first ever British GP in extreme rain

A hallmark of the greatness of any Formula 1 driver is their ability to win – or drive masterfully – in the rain. The legendary Ayrton Senna was an expert of putting his foot down in rainy conditions. Michael Schumacher earned the nickname ‘The Rainmaster’ for his mastery of wet conditions. And at the 2008 British Grand Prix, the man who would go on to ape both these men – Lewis Hamilton – proved his mettle in a testing wet race. Hamilton was coming off a rookie year where he challenged for and nearly won the championship. And this race proved that wasn’t a one-off effort on his part.

With 13 years having passed since the day, let us look back at the 2008 British GP.

The background

The race in England was the ninth of the season and Hamilton was, at that point, in some trouble. He was fourth in the championship despite getting two race wins – one at Australia and one in Monaco.

However, he followed those races with two back-to-back finishes outside the points. He even lashed out at the press coverage he was getting due to copping penalties in races.

“There’s nothing you can do that can distract me. You can keep on giving me penalties, whatever you want. I’ll keep battling, and trying to come back with a result.”

Clearly, he took those words to heart during the race. But the start of the weekend was not too kind to the young Brit. He didn’t make too much noise in practice and it was worse in qualifying.

His McLaren-Mercedes teammate Heikki Kovalainen took pole position ahead of Mark Webber’s Red Bull and Kimi Raikkonen’s Ferrari. Hamilton was in fourth.

It’s safe to say that if Hamilton wanted a win, he would need to put in the drive of his life. He indeed ended up doing just that.

Lewis Hamilton wins in the rain

The morning of the race saw plenty of rain but the weather was clear before the race began. However, track temperatures being low saw most drivers start on intermediate wet tyres.

That the race would be a tricky one was evidenced from the start. Kovalainen, Webber and Raikkonen all started slowly as they struggled for grip. That allowed Hamilton, who made a good start, a chance to pounce.

He seized his chance, storming past both Raikkonen and Webber to make it a McLaren 1-2 at the head of the grid. Hamilton almost passed his teammate but Kovalainen retook the lead due to having a better race line.

Hamilton would eventually take the lead in the fifth lap though, much to the delight of the partisan home crowd. He built up a lead over his teammate but the Finn would spin and allow Raikkonen up front.

Now the fight was on. Hamilton was quicker in the rain but on a drying track, the defending world champion was quicker. Hamilton got ahead of him in the pits though, despite his stop being a little longer.

That first pit stop also, in a way, decided the race. Ferrari believed conditions would get better and so sent Raikkonen out on slicks. McLaren, however, put another set of intermediate wets on Hamilton.

McLaren turned out to be right, as rain fell almost immediately and Hamilton found speed, lapping up to 8 seconds quicker than Raikkonen, who struggled for grip.

Reactions

The race would eventually be won by Lewis Hamilton, who was finding pace no one else could. Rain in F1 is something of an equaliser – it often makes the best-made cars useless, and puts the race back in the hands of the drivers.

Hamilton continued to lead and took the chequered flag over a minute ahead of second-placed Nick Heidfeld. Rubens Barrichello finished third for BAR Honda.

Another notable fact was that everyone below third had been lapped once by Hamilton. Ferrari’s Felipe Massa, who suffered five spins in the race, finished 13th – 2 laps behind Hamilton.

Afterwards, Hamilton admitted he was nervous towards the end of the race.

“When I came round the last time, I saw the crowd standing up and I prayed: ‘Just finish, just finish.’ It was a very emotional moment to win my home grand prix and I want to dedicate this victory to my family.”