Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso can safely get back to the fight for the world championship after the Mclaren team found that it will face no penalty for its part in the spy row due to “insufficient evidence.” Ferrari are refusing to let the matter rest.

Hamilton spoke of the incident:

“Whilst it’s only my first season in Formula 1 with the team, I already know and appreciate the commitment and dedication of the people there,” he added. “As a result I am pleased with today’s decision and can’t wait for the rest of the season.”

Back on the track, a harsh Nurburgring weekend ended his unprecedented run of podium finishes and saw his championship lead reduced from twelve points to just two.

However Murphy’s law seemed to be in play that weekend; starting in his lowest grid position after a huge qualifying shunt, the rain poured down after Hamilton lost the ground he had gained with a puncture early on in the race.

Hamilton kept his head the whole time, waiting calmly for a crane when he later aquaplaned off the track. Hamilton kept focused enough to gain back some ground even after new tyres saw him momentarily come off the track again and on the whole, his ability to keep calm under pressure really underlined his true championship potential.

At the test at Jerez on Wednesday, Hamilton was back on form as he completed 90 laps in his McLaren-Mercedes MP4-22. By far the quickest and in boiling temperatures his best lap time was 1:19.670.

At the test, Hamilton focused on preparations for next week’s Hungarian GP, primarily doing set-up and aero work in conditions similar to those anticipated in Budapest. We all look forward to Hamilton getting back on form in his next GP.

Drivers

Pos Driver AUS MAL BHR ESP MON CAN USA FRA GBR EUR Pts 1 Lewis Hamilton 3 2 2 2 2 1 1 3 3 9 70 2 Fernando Alonso 2 1 5 3 1 7 2 7 2 1 68 3 Felipe Massa 6 5 1 1 3 DSQ 3 2 5 2 59 4 Kimi Räikkönen 1 3 3 Ret 8 5 4 1 1 Ret 52 5 Nick Heidfeld 4 4 4 Ret 6 2 Ret 5 6 6 36 6 Robert Kubica Ret 18 6 4 5 Ret INJ 4 4 7 24 7 Giancarlo Fisichella 5 6 8 9 4 DSQ 9 6 8 10 17 8 Heikki Kovalainen 10 8 9 7 13* 4 5 15 7 8 15 9 Alexander Wurz Ret 9 11 Ret 7 3 10 14 13 4 13 10 Mark Webber 13 10 Ret Ret Ret 9 7 12 Ret 3 8 11 David Coulthard Ret Ret Ret 5 14 Ret Ret 13 11 5 8 12 Jarno Trulli 9 7 7 Ret 15 Ret 6 Ret Ret 13 7 13 Nico Rosberg 7 Ret 10 6 12 10 16* 9 12 Ret 5 14 Takuma Sato 12 13 Ret 8 17 6 Ret 16 14 Ret 4 15 Ralf Schumacher 8 15 12 Ret 16 8 Ret 10 Ret Ret 2 16 Jenson Button 15 12 Ret 12 11 Ret 12 8 10 Ret 1 17 Sebastian Vettel 8 1 18 Rubens Barrichello 11 11 13 10 10 12 Ret 11 9 11 0 19 Scott Speed Ret 14 Ret Ret 9 Ret 13 Ret Ret Ret 0 20 Anthony Davidson 16 16 16* 11 18 11 11 Ret Ret 12 0 21 Adrian Sutil 17 Ret 15 13 Ret Ret 14 17 Ret Ret 0 22 Christijan Albers Ret Ret 14 14 19* Ret 15 Ret 15 0 23 Vitantonio Liuzzi 14 17 Ret Ret Ret Ret 17* Ret 16* Ret 0 24 Markus Winkelhock Ret 0

* Driver did not finish but was classified, having completed more than 90% of race distance.

From Wikipedia

This brand new TV ad from Mercedes featuring Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso and Mika Hakkinen got its debut this weekend during the European Grand Prix.

The TV commercial plays on the rivalry between Hamilton and Alonso that has been the subject of much debate and speculation this season. However if this ad is to be believed, its all in good spirts. Watch the brilliantly funny Mercedes commercial below.

What a race! The European Grand Prix had to be “red flagged” and stopped after lap 4 when 6 drivers including Lewis Hamilton came off the track during the early stages of the race. This was on top of the fact that Lewis suffered a left rear puncture after the two BMW’s collided and one clipped him on lap 1.

Lewis then kept his engine running whilst he was on the gravel and then was lifted off by a crane and allowed to rejoin the race. This meant that he started the race a lap down - but according to the rules he was allowed to catch up on and re-lap himself while the safety car was on the track. Instead he decided to pit and put his dry tires on - a move which cost him dearly as he struggled to keep he grip on the still-wet circuit and he ended up around 90 seconds down by lap 25.

Dring the latter half of the race though Lewis continued to gain ground, constantly improving his lap times, lap after lap. However, at the end of the day he just couldn’t make up the lost ground and it seems that driving on the dry tyres too early in the race was the major factor contributing to his final race position.

So for the first time in his Formula One career Lewis didn’t earn a podium position. Despite some brilliant overtaking it just wasn’t enough at the end of the day. Lewis still walks away with 2 points for the number 9 slot though but we’ll have to wait 2 weeks until the Hungarian Grand Prix to see if Lewis can regain a podium position once again.

Lewis was given the all clear this morning after a final health check to race in the European Grand Prix this afternoon. His team Mclaren Mercedes released this statement:

Vodafone McLaren Mercedes are pleased to confirm that Lewis Hamilton has been cleared to race in today’s European Grand Prix by the FIA medical delegate Dr Hartstein and chief medical officer of the event, Dr Klaus U Zerbian.

Lewis will be starting 10th, his lowest starting position of his F1 career. Good luck Lewis!

Following on from his crash today Lewis Hamilton has provisionally been cleared to race tomorrow in the European GP in Germany. This statement was released earlier this evening:

Vodafone McLaren Mercedes are very happy to confirm that Lewis Hamilton is completely uninjured following his accident during today’s qualifying at the Nurburgring,” said a team statement.

Following a thorough examination at the on-track medical centre, he was flown to the Koblenz Bundeswehr Hospital where he underwent a full precautionary CT scan which proved to be entirely normal.

Lewis has no bruises and is highly motivated to race tomorrow.

As is normal, a final sign-off by the FIA Medical Delegate Gary Hartstein will take place tomorrow morning – which the team believes will be positive.

As you can see from the video of the crash below, Lewis was extremely lucky to come out of it with no broken bones. Lets hope he is given the green light to race tomorrow morning.

There was high drama today as Lewis Hamilton crashed during the qualifying round of the European Grand Prix at the Nurburgring in Germany.

It happened as Lewis had just completed a very fast sector 1 time and was coming into the 160mph Schumacher S bend. The front right hand wheel seemed to lock, then the tyre blew, sending Lewis into the tyre wall diagonally at high speed. The race was suspended for around 15 minutes.

There was concern over Lewis’s health after he seemed to be in difficulty after getting out of the car and was sent to the medical centre on a stretcher after receiving medical attention at the crash site for several minutes. It was soon confirmed though that Lewis didn’t lose consciousness and suffered no broken bones, he will however be kept in for observation for at least two hours.

Shortly after the incident McLaren boss Ron Dennis said the accident was due to the failure of the right hand wheel gun, resulting in the wheel not being secured properly to the car.

Lewis Hamilton certainly wowed the crowds at Silverstone last weekend after gaining pole position with a lap time of 1:19.997 on his final attempt, then maintaining his current record by finishing again on the podium.

Now with a 14 point cushion at the top of the championship, big business has it’s eye on Hamilton as the next big thing in the league of global brand giants.

Hamilton’s performances have been so outstanding from his carting days, Bernie Eccleston has said that he would have found Lewis Hamilton a seat on the F1 grid this year had McLaren not signed him.

Now Hamilton has been made the face of Vodafone as its “Global brand ambassador” his earnings on and off track could be set to reach over £50Million a year second only to Tiger Woods as the highest paid sportsman in the world.

All of this success comes at a time when his team could be excluded from the rest of this year’s series after the controversial document leak that found a 780-page technical dossier belonging to Ferrari in Mclarens hands.

Chief designer Mike Coughlan was suspended from duty prior the British GP after he was suspected of possessing the document and Mclaren deny any further knowledge of the incident.  However, on July 26th there will be a meeting of the World Motor Sport Council to decide the outcome of the incident, if found guilty the potential range of sanctions towards Mclaren ranges from reprimands and fines to the suppression of results and exclusion from this year’s series).

Hamilton however can only keep doing what he does best, and has no real concern over the hearing. He has been spotted in Berlin recently taking a lap around the Mercedes Benz fashion week with German model, singer and actress Eva Padberg before taking on the Nürburgring this weekend.

Spotted with fellow F1 Driver David Coulthard and his fiancee at the Hugo Boss runway event, Hamilton has been relaxed and seen to enjoy mingling with the Hollywood A List.
“I’m looking forward to going back to the Nurburgring,” he says. “I had a great weekend there last season - the first time I’d scored a double in GP2 - and I enjoy the track.”

The occasion marked the first time Formula One had been to Belgium for almost two years and since then the track has been revised with a new final chicane, pit entry and start-finish straight to bring it up to the required standard.

Hamilton completed 83 laps in total and, despite overnight rain, conditions were sunny and dry for most of the day - a stark contrast to the gloomy weather forecast.

His quickest time was a one minute 46.613 seconds, four tenths up on Robert Kubica, who was ‘best of the rest’ for BMW Sauber.

Hamilton spent the first part of the day conducting a series of aerodynamic tests to establish the effect of a range of downforce settings for the Nurburgring - venue for next Sunday’s German Grand Prix - and Spa.

The balance of the day was spent concentrating on long runs using each of the tyre choices available for the circuit. Hamilton will hand over his MP4-22 to team-mate Fernando Alonso on Wednesday.

Kubica also managed 80-odd laps and although this was his first time at Spa it did not take him long to familiarise himself with the track.

The Pole worked mainly on the set-up in preparation for Spetember’s Belgian Grand Prix, trying different mechanical and aerodynamic settings.

In addition, he tested new mechanical components which apparently revealed some ‘promising results’. He had a trouble-free day and will continue driving on Wednesday and Thursday.

Next up was Ferrari’s Felipe Massa, with the Brazilian working on set-up and the development of new components.

Toyota’s Ralf Schumacher and Renault test driver, Nelson Piquet Jr came in fourth and fifth, split by less than a tenth of a second.

Full Article at Sky Sports

Though McLaren have promised Lewis Hamilton a faster car for the German Grand Prix at the end of next week, the 22 year-old Englishman has also vowed to raise his own game after finishing “only” third in last weekend’s British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

Hamilton had started from pole position and on the two previous occasions he had been fastest in qualifying - in Canada and America in June - he had gone on to win. But this time handling problems on his McLaren kept him to a finish on the lowest step of the podium, behind winner Kimi Raikkonen and team-mate Fernando Alonso. It was the ninth consecutive podium of his nine-race career, and great champions such as Juan Manuel Fangio, Jackie Stewart, Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna never managed such a feat. Previously the only Briton to have done so was the Scottish legend Jim Clark in his title-winning 1963 season, but even he did not do it in his first nine grands prix. Nevertheless, Hamilton said he was not satisfied.

“I never thought of giving up and just kept pushing, because you never know what might happen,” he said. “They could come together or run into backmarkers… The team tell you to wind the engine down but you still keep pushing yourself to compensate for that.

“I think I need to step up my game, which I intend to do, and the team need to push as always, but to push even more. I am still learning, there is still time to find in myself. Knowing the tracks should be easier, but I have been here [Silverstone] before and I struggled all weekend in terms of pace.”

Continued at the Belfast Telegraph..

By David Tremayne