Formula One news

'I was absolutely on the limit' - Hamilton

Reigning Champion Lewis Hamilton enjoyed his British Grand Prix on Sunday, despite enduring a lowly race at the tail end of the field for the majority of the afternoon. Hamilton, who qualified only nineteenth on the grid on Saturday, eventually dropped sixteenth following a climb to the midfield, with a spin at Vale not helping proceedings.

After winning his home race by over a minute in 2008, Hamilton's 2009 British Grand Prix was an ideal example of what a difference a year can make. "I gave it my all today," he said after the race. "Despite fighting for the lower positions, I was absolutely on the limit for the whole race. We knew it would be difficult, and I enjoyed my battle with Fernando (Alonso), but we didn't have the pace today to get into the points."

Silverstone was the fourth consecutive non-scoring race for Lewis Hamilton

The result may have been disappointing one but didn't stop Lewis performing a donut for the crowd at Club corner on the slowing down lap. "The best thing about this weekend has been the fans," he continued. "They really gave me some consolation by cheering me on throughout the race. I would love to have given them a result to make them happy and my country proud, but we still have a lot of work ahead of us before that will be realistic."

Heikki Kovalainen had a messy day in the second McLaren, meantime, with a bad start dropping him to the back being followed by a race-ending collision with Sébastien Bourdais' Toro Rosso at Vale. "Of course it's disappointing not to finish the team's home race," said the Finn. "Until my retirement, the car had been working fine and the strategy was working for me too, we were on target, then Bourdais just ran into the back of me and damaged the left-rear corner. I had to stop because the damage had made the car undriveable. We decided to retire for safety reasons."

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