HAMILTON FINDS SILVER LINING AT SOAKING SILVERSTONE GRAND PRIX

Lewis Hamilton drove his McLaren-Mercedes to a startilingly dominant victory on a soaking grand prix circuit at Silverstone, Northamptonshire, England. Weather at today's race, the British Grand Prix, varied between pouring rain, heavy winds, bright sun, and dark clouds but the track was never dry enough to produce any stability. Rarely a lap went by without an off or spin.

The other Mercedes-powered car of Heikki Kovalainen had qualified well - at pole position, in fact - but Heikki struggled from the first corner and ended up dropping to fifth. 

Ferrari's Felipe Massa, consistently very good this year, finished thirteenth, making a Ferrari the last car to finish the race. That's a rarity, albeit an understandable one considering the seven cars that didn't finish at all. Ferrari couldn't even push top driver Kimi Raikkonen to a podium finish, with their Finn one lap back in fourth. 

You figure it right: if Kimi Raikkonen is fourth, one lap back, Hamilton's Mercedes V8 was firing on all cylinders. Even the second-place finisher, BMW's Nick Heidfeld, was 68.5 seconds abaft. In the other BMW, Robert Kubica spun into the kitty litter after just 39 laps.

Speaking of Ferrari's struggles on the day, painful it must be to see their old #2, Rubens Barichello, fly past Kimi to a podium result in his Honda. Jenson Button's Honda was flying high in the wet but crashed out on the 38th lap. 

At a couple points, Fernando Alonso was appearing to have a decent day in his Renault. Tire choices messed up he and Kimi Raikkonen and, in Alonso's case, resulted in sixth place and three points. Teammate Nelsinho Piquet was coping with the wet track admirably but found the soaking dirt after 35 laps. Renault engines in the Red Bull cars of Mark Webber and David Coulthard produced a tenth place result and an off, for Webber and Coulthard respectively. A little pity for Coulthard - he didn't complete one lap of this, his final British GP.

Sebastien Bourdais and Sebastian Vettel also use Ferrari engines in their Toro Rosso cars. Old CART driver Bourdais drove to eleventh, Vettel didn't finish the GP. At Force India, the final two cars to use Ferrari V8s, Giancarlo Fisichella's and Adrian Sutil's, were not able to complete the race. Sutil's car grabbed some curbs during his accident that made for some of the better YouTube moments of the day.

Factory Toyota drivers Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock raced to seventh and twelfth, respectively. Kazuki Nakajima and Nico Rosberg (who started from the pits) drive Williams cars that use Toyota engines. Consistently cautious driving resulted in OK results of 8th for Kaz and 9th for Rosberg.

Formula 1's Grosser Preis Santander Von Deutschland 2008 takes place on the 20th of July at Hockenheim. Mercedes powerful V8s produce amazing straightline pace which will be something to behold as Hamilton exits turn 4 and soon hits 285+km/h. Yowza.