Behind them, Red Bull’s dream Saturday was fast turning into a nightmare Sunday, as having already dropped back to fourth place, Webber then spun on the Hangar Straight, falling down to 18th in the process. Team-mate
David Coulthard, meanwhile, brought a premature end to his final British Grand Prix, as the experienced Scot and
Scuderia Toro Rosso ace
Sebastian Vettel – ironically, the man most believe will take the 37-year-old’s place at RBR next year – indulged in some synchronised spinning in the stadium section, both ending their races beached firmly in the gravel trap on the opening lap.
Webber was joined at the rear of the field by world championship leader
Felipe Massa – who spun an extraordinary three times over the course of the first few laps – and Williams’
Kazuki Nakajima, another early spinner, whilst significantly further up the order Renault’s
Fernando Alonso got back past rookie team-mate
Nelsinho Piquet, who had overtaken him at the start, for fifth place.
Though Kovalainen’s advantage at the end of lap one had been 1.3 seconds, Hamilton was pushing extremely hard behind, with the pair of them and third-placed Raikkonen streaking away from the chasing pack. That was led by
Nick Heidfeld – who would soon be displaced by a charging Alonso – Piquet, an impressively fast-starting
Jarno Trulli up seven spots in his
Toyota and BMW-Sauber star
Robert Kubica.
With the gap being reduced to just four tenths of a second at the front, though, Hamilton was not to be denied, delighting the partisan crowd by diving courageously past Kovalainen up the inside into Stowe Corner on lap five after almost finding a way by along the start-finish straight a couple of tours earlier. By the end of that lap alone, the 23-year-old had already pulled 1.8 seconds clear, and he would increase that advantage to an astonishing 4.2 seconds a lap later still.
