Cruel disappointment for Hamilton

McLaren will have to get back up after suffering a heavy setback this weekend at Silverstone. Lewis Hamilton was unable to improve on his eighth place on the grid while his teammate Jenson Button struggled into the top ten. The two drivers from the Woking team were keen to shine in front of the British spectators who had to endure bad weather and numerous traffic jams to access the circuit. However, the 2008 world champion was unable to do anything to get to the front and lost time by completing a particularly short second stint (seven laps) with soft tires which proved ineffective on the MP4-27.

“It wasn’t a very good race for us, I would have liked to offer more to the spectators today”, admits Lewis Hamilton who is caught by Sebastian Vettel in the Championship. “We tried everything we could, but I just didn't have enough speed. My tires were still in good condition at the end of the first stint (extended until lap 21) and I was able to catch Fernando (Alonso). I find it hard to understand how I could have found myself in the lead and then dropped to eighth place. I put all my heart into this event, pushing hard until the end. I remain in the fight for the Championship (37 points behind the leader Fernando Alonso) and I could continue to fight for the title if we manage to improve. I wanted to thank the spectators who came to see us by offering them a donut. I would have liked to give them more. »

Discover the analysis of the British Grand Prix carried out by our special correspondents in the next issue of AUTOhebdo, available from Tuesday in digital version for iPad, PC and Mac, and from Wednesday on newsstands.