Oliver WhiteLewis Hamilton took the reins of the McLaren for the final day of testing at Silverstone today, the Briton going comfortably fastest ahead of Timo Glock in the Toyota. Glock did well to finish in second, the German had a coming-together with David Coulthard on Hangar Straight. However, finishing in second completes a very good test for the Cologne-based team and they are in a buoyant mood prior to the British Grand Prix next weekend.
Glock explained that he accidentally turned in on Coulthard because he didn’t see him, and after an apology everything was well again between the pair. Following the Toyota driver was Kimi Raikkonen, the Ferrari driver only managing third on the timing sheets but going 0.5s faster than Fernando Alonso, the Spaniard taking over from Nelson Piquet Jr in the R28. Nick Heidfeld wrapped up the three test for BMW, the Swiss-German squad clearing away their garage earlier than the others, apparently happy with the progress made and saving a few valuable miles for later in the season.
Two Renault engines suffered problems during the day and each incident caused a red flag. The first issue centred around Alonso who stopped on track at 10am in a plume of smoke. The second Renault failure came from David Coulthard’s Red Bull Racing, the Scot suffering a problem later in in the afternoon. Coulthard did not have a good day behind the wheel, the incident with Glock and the engine problem limiting his running to just 31 laps.
Silverstone Test: Day Three Times
| 1. | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren | 1m19.170s | 88 Laps |
| 2. | Timo Glock | Toyota | 1m19.815s | 79 Laps |
| 3. | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1m20.321s | 60 Laps |
| 4. | Fernando Alonso | Renault | 1m20.862s | 78 Laps |
| 5. | Nick Heidfeld | BMW | 1m21.011s | 93 Laps |
| 6. | Kazuki Nakajima | Williams | 1m21.059s | 70 Laps |
| 7. | Adrian Sutil | Force India | 1m21.331s | 71 Laps |
| 8. | Rubens Barrichello | Honda | 1m21.344s | 94 Laps |
| 9. | Sebastien Bourdais | Scuderia Toro Rosso | 1m21.432s | 76 Laps |
| 10. | David Coulthard | Red Bull Racing | 1m22.232s | 31 Laps |
Now let’s see what Hamilton will do in Silverstone. Last year he got the pole but strategy was completely wrong and he only managed 3rd.
Interesting Vi84… What was wrong in the strategy (2 stops 16 + 38)? What would have you suggested instead? What makes you believe another strategy would have led Lewis to a win? Or are you just stating that providing he had the “right” strategy was enough for Lewis to win this race?