Masterclass And Mishap

Hamilton provided another masterful drive whilst his rivals spent time dancing in the puddles.

Take nothing away from Lewis, it was fantastic drive. There was a bit of luck involved with the Ferrari strategy, but in the second half of the race, his pace was relentless. He is quickly developing the knack of been a rain-master on track. The result takes him tied top of the tables with both Ferrari drivers.

Behind him, the Ferrari strategy was nothing short of abysmal. With Raikkonen catching Lewis hand over fist, all they had to do was match him to stay in contention. I don’t know what their weather report said, but it was obviously was dodgy. The decision not to take tires ruined the Finn’s race, backed up with the decision not to bring him in when he was losing time hand over fist.
Massa was the driver of old. Every time we saw him he was going around in circles. It was a pathetic weekend for Ferrari. Not since the Schumacher era have they made a good strategic call. A head should roll for this, because the last two years the choice of race strategy has been as plain as dried bread. Not good enough.

Heidfeld got one up on team-mate Kubica. Quick Nick got his qualifying right and produced his traditional strong race. He kept his head whilst the rest around him lost theirs to pick up his second podium of the year. Rubens Barrichello benefitted from the Ross Brawn book of tactical genius to come home third. It could have been so much more if the fuel rig worked. On the extreme wets, Barrichello was light years ahead of anyone else.

Raikkonen made the best of a bad day with fourth. Kovalainen will be disappointed with fifth, on a day where to be fair, he was all over the place. Alonso provided a gutsy drive to come home in sixth, followed by Trulli and Nakajima.

Driver of the Day: Lewis Hamilton. Rubens get’s an honourable mention but it was Lewis who drove fantastic today. After the Ferrari’s decided to screw themselves over, he could have taken it easy. Instead he pushed on and despite an off track excursion, obliterated the field.