20/07/2008
NEWS STORY
Lewis Hamilton has won the tenth round of the FIA Formula One World Championship from pole position after using a hard - hard - medium tyre strategy in an exciting and tension-filled German Grand Prix at Hockenheim.
Hamilton won the race at the same location where the 100th race win on Bridgestone Potenza tyres was achieved in 2006. He crossed the finish line 5.5 seconds ahead of ING Renault F1 Team driver Nelson Piquet, who made a single pit stop to change from Bridgestone's hard to medium compound tyre on way to his first Formula One podium finish. He was the only driver to make a single stop.
Felipe Massa finished in third position, using a hard – medium – hard tyre strategy, illustrating the diversity of tyre strategies possible in this race. Nick Heidfeld finished in fourth, ahead of Heikki Kovalainen. Sixth place went to Kimi Raikkonen, seventh was taken by Robert Kubica and the final point was taken by Sebastian Vettel.
Today's race had looked like it would be an easy race for Hamilton, who comfortably displayed superior pace. However, a safety car brought out by the high speed exit of Timo Glock meant that the field was bunched up, and Hamilton's advantage was extinguished. Following his final pit stop, Hamilton blasted past his opposition, using the medium compound Potenza tyre to his advantage. Piquet's second place came from taking full advantage of the safety car to complement his one stop strategy. Today's fastest race lap, a 1min 15.987secs, was set by Heidfeld, using the medium compound on lap 52.
Leaving Hockenheim, Hamilton now leads the drivers' championship with 58 points from Massa on 54. Raikkonen was in third place on 51. Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro lead the constructors' championship with 105 points, ahead of the BMW Sauber F1 Team on 89. Vodafone McLaren Mercedes are in third place with 86.
Formula One teams will be testing next week at Jerez on July 22-25, using the medium compound dry grooved Potenza tyres as well as two compounds of 2009 specification slick tyres. The next race is the Hungarian Grand Prix, at Budapest, on August 1-3 where Bridgestone's soft and super soft compound Potenza tyres will be used.
Hirohide Hamashima - Director of Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development: As predicted, today's race was very exciting in terms of tyre strategy, especially after the appearance of the safety car. Lewis Hamilton's McLaren Mercedes had a good pace advantage and he made the most of this to score his eighth grand prix win. Congratulations to Nelson Piquet for his performance, he demonstrated good maturity and also the durability and consistency of our tyres by only making one stop to take second. We saw many different strategies throughout the field and this was a vital ingredient to a thrilling race.