Hamilton's tactics investigated

2008-09-07 16:56

Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium - Lewis Hamilton won the Belgian Grand Prix in a rain-splashed finale on Sunday to extend his lead in the championship standings after race leader Kimi Raikkonen spun off during the penultimate lap.

Hamilton again proved he was the top wet-weather driver, holding his cool in the last few laps when a sudden shower turned the Grand Prix into chaos and held off Ferrari's Felipe Massa by 14.4 seconds. BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld was third.

Hamilton now holds an eight-point edge over Massa, 80 to 72, going into the last five races.

Stewards were looking at some of the manoeuvring of Hamilton late in the race to see whether all racing rules were respected.

"It was fair and square," said Hamilton. "This is motor racing."

Raikkonen, who overtook the pole-sitting Hamilton early and led most of the way, is far back with 57 points, turning the rest of the championship into a two-way race between Hamilton and Massa.

It long looked like Raikkonen would win his fourth straight Belgian GP but the low-flung leaden clouds over the wooded circuit suddenly released a huge shower in the last three of 44 laps. With most cars having switched to dry tires at the final pit stop, that was enough to decide the race.

"I was praying: rain, rain, rain," Hamilton said. "I wanted the rain to come," realising it was his best shot at victory.

The two riders almost crashed into each other, but after some spectacular manoeuvres Hamilton appeared from the Source hairpin in front. The British driver soon lost the lead again, however, when he had to veer off the track to avoid a slower car in front of him. But Raikkonen, in turn, spun on the slippery surface to put Hamilton back in front. Raikkonen was then forced to take risks, resulting in a crash into the side railings.

Wide in the hairpin

"It was incredibly tough," Hamilton said.

Heidfeld had switched to wet-weather tires, letting him make up much ground with a late surge.

Hamilton enjoyed the advantage of his pole position for just one lap. While he got to the opening Source hairpin first, Raikkonen was already making a move behind him.

Having started in fourth, he went way wide in the hairpin but immediately challenged teammate Massa on the first long straight and got into the slipstream of the championship leader with a daring move. One lap later, he used the same long straight to let his Ferrari engine do the talking, and when Hamilton's McLaren could not respond, the Finn was in front on his favourite circuit.

Hamilton's teammate Heikki Kovailanen, meanwhile, slipped from third to 11th in the start. His comeback was effectively stopped when he drove into Mark Webber on lap 10 and was penalised with a drive through the pit lane, putting him back in 15th place.

Hamilton hung in tight but ended up in some traffic after his first pit stop, which dropped him 5.6 seconds back of the surging Raikkonen.

At halfway, Raikkonen led by 5.5 seconds over Hamilton and 11.2 over Massa. Alonso, in fourth place, was already 32 seconds back.

Hamilton started closing in after the second pit stop, and with 15 laps left the Briton could see the red Ferrari less than two seconds in front of him. Massa was six seconds behind, setting up a thrilling finale.

Hamilton came to within a second with four laps to go, but made an error in the chicane close to the finish line to drop him back to two seconds behind.

Then came the rain and deliverance for Hamilton.

- AP