Lewis Hamilton showed Formula 1 exactly what he was made of as he truly announced himself on the world stage with an incredible win at the 2008 British Grand Prix.
The Briton had already made waves in the sport, competing with McLaren team-mate Fernando Alonso for the title in his very first season. Both were pipped to the 2007 title on the final day by Kimi Raikkonen, but the following year would be Hamilton's – with the help of some final day dramatics in Brazil.
Before that race at Interlagos, though, his true coming-of-age occurred on a sopping wet day at Silverstone. Torrential rain set the stage for something special, and Hamilton obliged as he overcame a slightly disappointing qualifying result to cut through to the front in no time at all, before completely dominating the race.
He moved from fourth to second at the very first corner, and almost took the lead from team-mate Heikki Kovalainen. The Finn held on to his place initially, but it only took four more laps for the two McLarens to swap positions – and he was only able to watch on as Hamilton mastered the wet track to speed off into the distance.
Behind him, everyone else was struggling with the conditions with many drivers finding it difficult to even keep their cars pointing in the right direction. Title contender Felipe Massa endured a rotten afternoon, spinning no fewer than five times on the way to a pointless 13th-placed finish.
Nick Heidfeld was driving well and moved up into second place, but that was still a long way back from the Brit – he was more than 23 seconds ahead by half-distance. He was running so well that his McLaren team got on the radio to urge him to manage his pace, before the reply came that Hamilton was comfortable.
The rain got heavier, which caused problems for the home favourite as his visor steamed up and he was unable to see anything in his mirrors. It was at this point that he was overtaken for the only time during the race – Rubens Barrichello moved past, but only to unlap himself, as the lead was never within reach for anyone but Hamilton.
By the time he crossed the finish line, there was more than a minute between him and Heidfeld in second place. Barrichello was the only other racer who was not lapped by Hamilton by the time the race ended, with the young Brit having comprehensively destroyed the rest of the field in difficult conditions.
