As Lewis Hamilton went out for his final qualifying run at Silverstone, the message over the radio was firm: ‘Don’t over-drive!’
On his previous run he had done just that, and had run off the road, and into a spin. The lurid tail-out style was wonderful to watch, but Lewis looked like a driver on the edge, and although his last lap was better, it was good only for fourth on the grid. His McLaren-Mercedes team mate Heikki Kovalainen, meantime, eclipsed everyone, and took the first pole position of his Formula 1 career.
Therefore, the omens for Hamilton’s British Grand Prix were not the best. Since winning at Monaco he had scored not a championship point, and on top of that there were suggestions that a relentless PR schedule, plus an active social schedule, were having an adverse effect on his driving. While other drivers slapped Kovalainen on the back after qualifying, Lewis started vacantly into space, as if in a trance.
