Hamilton proud at best Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton admitted to feeling pride in his performance after hailing the British Grand Prix the best of his time in Formula One.

There was no repeat of Hamilton’s sensational 2008 victory when he triumphed by 68.5 seconds, but under the circumstances, finishing second to runaway Red Bull driver Mark Webber was no mean feat.

With McLaren team-mate Jenson Button fourth after starting a woeful 14th, the majority of a 115,000 Silverstone crowd were at least given something to cheer about.

For the team, after all of their problems in yesterday’s run up to qualifying when they opted to dispense with their major upgrade of the exhaust blown diffuser, it was also just reward.

McLaren’s engineers worked until 3am on Saturday morning to return the cars to the set-up used in Valencia for the European Grand Prix in which Hamilton and Button finished second and third.

Despite the cars still lacking the pace of the Red Bulls, Hamilton and Button are still one and two in the standings, separated by 12 points, whilst in the manufacturers’ McLaren are 29 clear of their nearest rivals from Milton Keynes.

“What a weekend,” exclaimed Hamilton.

“I don’t believe any other grand prix puts on as great a show. What were they thinking about when they thought about taking this grand prix away?

“It’s been amazing this weekend, probably the best weekend I think I’ve seen them put together in terms of the crowd, how they’ve set up everything, grandstands, and the events around for all the fans.

“I think the organisers have done a pretty remarkable job, so for me, it’s a real pleasure and honour to represent my country here.

“When you have a race like this you step forward. Okay, we didn’t win, but I did everything I could and I feel proud of the result we got.”

Although Hamilton admitted to being keen to keep the update on the car, he knows second was the best he could have achieved.

“It is a reflection off all the hard work the team put in,” added Hamilton.

“The car was nice to drive. It wasn’t as fast as the guy ahead of me, but we did the best job we could with the package we had.

“We’ve just worked hard all weekend, worked down to the bone and got absolutely everything we could from ourselves as a team.”

With Button in relatively close attendance after failing to reach the top-10 shoot-out in qualifying for only the second time this season, Hamilton was also delighted for the reigning champion.

“Jenson did a fantastic job, so that’s great points for the team,” said Hamilton.

“The fans have been phenomenal all weekend, so I am glad for myself and Jenson who did so well to get back up there.

“Hopefully it is not a real disappointment for the Brits. I think we still put on a good show, and like I said the championship is not decided this weekend.”