Lewis Hamilton winner of the British Grand Prix

6 months ago 07th Jul 09:55

The McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton admitted he had struggled to deal with the pressure leading up to the race.

Lewis Hamilton had failed to score points in the last two races after making mistakes.

The pressure increased after what he described as "a terrible job" in qualifying, when he was fourth fastest and 0-8 seconds slower than team-mate Heikki Kovalainen, but he drove superbly in a race in which the conditions were changing throughout.

By contrast, all his title rivals were caught out - Ferrari drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa and BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica all spun, and only Raikkonen scored any points, for fourth place.

The result means Hamilton is now tied on points with Raikkonen and Massa at the head of the championship, although technically the Englishman is leading on results countback.

Hamilton has been criticised for attending Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday party celebrations in the week before the race, rather than concentrating on his preparations.