Formula One news
McLaren celebrates Hockenheim victory
20 July 2008 / Results / PhotosThe second home Grand Prix victory in a fortnight and the second consecutive race win for Lewis Hamilton and McLaren. Hamilton's win in the German Grand Prix was the team's first at Hockenheim in a decade, marking 10 years since Mika Häkkinen won in a McLaren-Mercedes MP4-13 in 1998. Heikki Kovalainen, whose race was disrupted by the Safety Car, finished fifth.
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"I nailed it this afternoon: when the team told me I had to build a 23-second gap in just seven laps, I knew I had to drive over the limit - and I did," Hamilton said. "But I knew we had the best car this weekend and felt comfortable pushing hard to make up the gap. In the final stint, I had to work for today's win - when the Safety Car came out, I questioned whether I should pit but I trusted the team to make the best decision on strategy. It didn't quite work out - but I knew we had the pace in the car to keep pushing and want to say a big thank-you to Heikki, who realised I was quicker. I was able to slipstream past Felipe and then thought my work was done; then I had to do it all again to get past Nelson. But I made a couple of textbook moves to get past them both. Everybody in this team has worked so hard to make this victory happen. We mustn't grow complacent but must feel assured that our efforts are being rewarded. We couldn't have asked for more today."
Kovalainen commented, "A very difficult race for me. I had a good start and almost managed to pass Felipe but, unfortunately, my speed was not good enough, and I couldn't make the tyres work to their best. The Safety Car period didn't help me either, and I lost positions during my pitstop. Then I lost time behind Kubica. However, I managed to overtake him again two laps later and, from then on, it was a rather uneventful race. Fifth position was not what I had hoped to achieve here, but I am now looking forward to the Hungarian Grand Prix, where I will try my hardest to fight for a podium finish."
Team boss Ron Dennis added, "Today's victory topped-off another magnificent weekend for the team. I stress the word 'team' because our win was very much a team effort. The deployment of the Safety Car presented us with a difficult decision: should we or should we not bring Lewis in for a pitstop? We decided that, since he still had quite a lot of fuel on board, we would leave him out until lap 50. We'd expected the track to be cleared of debris a little faster than it was, which would have allowed the Safety Car to come in a bit earlier. As a result, Lewis was unable to rejoin the race in the lead. He responded majestically, however, and scored another fabulous win. Heikki was troubled by oversteer in his first stint, which we attempted to correct at his first pit stop, but he still struggled a little in his next stint. That being the case, he wasn't able to match Lewis's pace today. But it's the mark of both his professionalism and his sportsmanship that, aware of his situation relative to Lewis's, he made it relatively straightforward for Lewis to pass him. As I've said before, Heikki's time will come. In difficult circumstances he raced tremendously well today - his overtaking manoeuvre on Robert Kubica was just sensational - and once again he showed a winner's grit and determination. It's a joy to have two drivers who are not only super-competitive but also super-cooperative."
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