BEIJING, July 7 -- Lewis Hamilton led from lap four in his McLaren to win his first British Grand Prix and take the lead in the world drivers championship. In an eventful race of spins and near-misses at rain-soaked Silverstone yesterday, Hamilton lapped all but two of the field and finished over a minute ahead of Nick Heidfeld in a BMW Sauber. Honda's Rubens Barrichello was third for his first podium in four years and Honda's first of the season.
McLaren Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain laughs during the third practice session for Sunday's British F1 Grand Prix at the Silverstone race track in central England July 5, 2008.
Hamilton's third victory of the season gives him a total of 48 points, level with Ferrari's Felipe Massa and fourth-place finisher Kimi Raikkonen in the drivers championship. "It is by far the best victory I've ever had," Hamilton said after waving to the 90,000 fans who gave him a standing ovation after his runaway 68.5-second victory.
"The conditions were bad and as I was driving I thought, 'If I win this, it will be the best race I've ever done'. On my last lap, I could see the crowd starting to rise to their feet, and I was just praying, praying, praying I could get the car round."
Massa, who spun at least five times in the race, finished last of the 13 finishers and failed to pick up a point. Hamilton takes the lead because of their head-to-head finishes in other races. Although he and Massa each have three wins, a second, a third and a fifth, Hamilton has a better finish in races where they weren't among the points. Raikkonen, the defending world champion who won this race last year, has only two victories this season.
In an eventful beginning to the 60-lap race in soggy conditions, Hamilton, who started fourth on the grid, burst past both Mark Webber's Red Bull and Raikkonen's Ferrari straight from the start.
Hamilton also tried to overtake pole-starter and McLaren teammate Heikki Kovalainen on the inside of the first bend but the Finn responded and the two McLarens almost touched as Kovalainen held the British driver off.
Also on lap one, Massa, Webber and Kazuki Nakajima went into a spin but rejoined the race. David Coulthard, in his last British GP before retirement at the end of the season, and Sebastian Vettel both slid into the same gravel area at the sharp lefthand Priory bend and were out of the race.
Seven of the 20 starters failed to finish. Kovalainen had a disappointing race after starting on pole for the first time and came home fifth ahead of Renault's double world champion Fernando Alonso.
Italian Jarno Trulli was seventh for Toyota with Kazuki Nakajima taking the final point for Williams.
Two points clear in the drivers standings at the start of the race, Massa failed to recover from his early spin and slipped to the back of the field, more than a minute behind the leader after only 13 laps. The Brazilian finally overtook Nico Rosberg on lap 17 and then Giancarlo Fisichella up into 15th but more trouble later in the race meant he was lapped twice by the leader and finished at the back.
At the front, Hamilton overtook Kovalainen on lap four with a brave maneuver going into the fast Stow righthander, powering ahead and then timing his braking just right to keep the lead and the position.