In Saturday's round of the F3 Euroseries at the EuroSpeedway Lausitz, Lewis Hamilton clinched his twelfth win in the 2005 season.
The Briton who already succeeded in securing the 2005 drivers' title, passed the previous leader, Giedo van der Garde on lap eleven to subsequently control the field and win the race in superior style.
"This has been my arguably best race in the season so far," said Hamilton after his win. "It was big fun. The battle with
Sebastian Vettel was really great and I think that it was also a great race for the spectators."
At the end of the 20-lap race, van der Garde took the runner-up position, with rookie Sebastian Vettel finishing third.
Due to the wet conditions, the race was started behind the Safety-Car, hence, there was no battle for positions and pole-sitter Giedo van der Garde led the field in lap one, followed by Sebastian Vettel and
Lewis Hamilton, second and third respectively on the grid. Four eight rounds, Hamilton battled it out with the German, but then he succeeded in passing him.
Three laps later, he also passed Giedo van der Garde, thus taking the lead. In the closing stages, Vettel was involved in a thrilling battle with
Adrian Sutil for third place, but at the end of the day, the rookie got the upper hand over the champion's team-mate.
"In the opening stages, things went nice and my tyres were really good. Later, their performance started to degrade and that's why Hamilton could pass me without any problems," explains van der Garde of his race. "Yet, we are clearly on the way up. I wouldn't mind if things continued this way."
