Bridgestone motorsport wrap for 21st July 2008
Hamilton does it the hard way at Hockenheim
The McLaren team took a punt on pit-stop strategy at the German Grand Prix at the weekend - and it almost backfired for Lewis Hamilton, who had to save his best until the dying laps at Hockenheim.
The British driver was holding a comfortable lead when an accident involving Toyota's Timo Glock caused the field to bunch up behind the safety car.
While most teams called their drivers in for pit stops, McLaren told Hamilton to stay out. When he did eventually pit for fresh Bridgestone tyres, he rejoined behind teammate Heikki Kovalainen and two Brazilians - the surprising Renault of Nelson Piquet and Ferrari's Felipe Massa - with only a dozen laps remaining.
Kovalainen let Hamilton past, and that's when the young Briton showed his blistering speed, using the medium-compound Bridgestone Potenzas to their best effect as he passed both Massa and Piquet on his way to his second win in succession.
"In the final stint, I had to work for the 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," Hamilton said.
"It didn't quite work out - but I knew we had the pace in the car to keep pushing."
The race was something of a disaster for defending world champion Kimi Raikkonen who was never in the hunt in his Ferrari, finishing a distant sixth. That result puts him on 51 points for the championship, seven behind leader Hamilton and three behind teammate Massa.
"As predicted, today's race was very exciting in terms of tyre strategy, especially after the appearance of the safety car," said Hirohide Hamashima, Director of Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development.
"Lewis Hamilton's McLaren Mercedes had a good pace advantage and he made the most of this to score his eighth grand prix win. Congratulations to Nelson Piquet for his performance, he demonstrated good maturity and also the durability and consistency of our tyres by only making one stop to take second. We saw many different strategies throughout the field and this was a vital ingredient to a thrilling race."
The teams now travel to Hungary for round eleven of the championship in Budapest.
German Grand Prix results:
1 Lewis Hamilton (GB) McLaren-Mercedes one hour 31 minutes 20.874 seconds
2 Nelson Piquet Jr (Brz) Renault at 5.586 seconds
3 Felipe Massa (Brz) Ferrari at 9.339
4 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber at 9.825
5 Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren-Mercedes at 12.411
6 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari at 14.483
7 Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber at 22.603
8 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Toro Rosso-Ferrari at 33.282
Bridgestone 1 - 2 - 3 in US MotoGP
The simmering tension between MotoGP's main protagonists Valentino Rossi and Casey Stoner was evident after an action-packed race at Laguna Seca in California.
The two Bridgestone riders fought a fierce battle for the lead until Stoner was forced into the gravel with eight laps to go. The Australian still managed to finish a credible second.
"I completely made the mistake, it was all my own (going off the track)," Stoner told BBC Sport.
Rossi now holds a 25-point championship lead as the teams take a break before heading for the Czech Republic MotoGP at Brno on 17 August.
US MotoGP result:
1 V Rossi (Italy) Yamaha 44mins 04.311secs
2 C Stoner (Aus) Ducati 44:17.312
3 C Vermeulen (Aus) Suzuki 44:30.920
4 A Dovizioso (Ita) Honda 44:39.212
5 N Hayden (U.S.) Honda 44:39.974
6 R de Puniet (France) Honda 44:41.979