Autoblog

Click above for high-res gallery from the 2008 German Grand Prix

A stormy 2008 British Grand Prix had left a three-way tie for the drivers' championship in Formula 1, with Hamilton. Raikkonen and Massa all in a deadlock at 48 points. That made the German Grand Prix this past weekend, the tenth race on the F1 calendar, that much more important. Raikkonen said it was a "must win" race for him, and Massa and Hamilton no doubt felt the same way. In qualifying Hamilton kept up the momentum from the previous race by capturing pole position, followed closely by Massa, Kovalainen, and Trulli. Follow the jump for a race report and results.

WARNING: Spoilers after the jump.

SPOILER ALERT

Click for a hi-res gallery from the 2008 British GP

Storms swept through Silverstone this year for the British Grand Prix. First came the announcement of David Coulthard's retirement from Formula 1, which was followed by the announcement that, starting in 2010, the race would leave its historic home at Silverstone and move to Donington Park.

The decision by Formula One Management and the FIA followed years of calls for the ageing Silverstone track -- owned and operated by the British Drivers Racing Club -- to renovate and get itself up to the modern standards set by F1's newer tracks. However, after failing to secure government funding or sufficient private investment, the decision was made to move the event to Donington. So as the storms set in to close two major chapters of British motor racing history, the rain poured down on the penultimate running of the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. Follow the jump to read how it turned out.

[Images: Getty/AFP]

It is unlikely that most of us would pay for $400,000 for a personalized license plate. It is also unlikely that most of us are McLaren F1 driver Lewis Hamilton. The plate, "LEW 1S," was purchased by a real estate tycoon named Bob Lewis for under $100,000. When Lewis Hamilton decided he had to have it for his Mercedes SUV, he threw down more than four times that much to whisk it away from Bob. We have nothing against spending whatever you want on whatever you want. However, the plate purchase seems an interesting choice, since one of Hamilton's supposed reasons for leaving England for Switzerland, where he now lives, was to live a quieter, more anonymous life. Thanks for the tip, Eric!

[Source: One Stop Strategy]

"Dad, I've totalled the (insert name of first car here)." Chances are that even if you haven't had to use that phrase, you know someone who has. But in an unusual twist, Anthony Hamilton may be making the sheepish call to his son this morning.

Lewis Hamilton's dad has put someone's Carrera GT through a hedge just a couple of hundred meters from the family home in the village of Tewin, just north of London. He's not saying who the Porsche belongs to, but it appears to have German license plates, which unfortunately makes it unlikely that the car belongs to new Swiss immigrant Lewis. That would have made the story so much sweeter.

Follow the jump to The Daily Mail's version of events, but we take the tabloid's assertation that Mr. Hamilton "somehow lost control on a straight road," with a pinch of salt. The road is a sweeping right hander and was greasy at the time of the accident. Given the proximity to the Hamilton home and the GT's reputation for snap over steer, it's pretty easy to imagine what happened. Thanks for the tip Robert!

[Source: The Daily Mail]

Lewis Hamilton caught a plane headed west after dominating in Monaco, and when you're a rising F1 star in Los Angeles, you're certainly not going to hit up Avis to rent a Ford Focus – you want your vents to be functional. So Claus Ettensberger, owner of the So. Cal. tuning shop CEC, was kind enough to provide Hamilton with a fully-kitted Techart Porsche 997 911 during his stay in L.A. Granted, anything is kind of a demotion from his McLaren Formula One car, but we could think of worse ways for Hamilton to get around while mixing it up with L.A's elite.

Thanks for the tip Steve.

[Source: Autofiends]

Click above for high-res gallery of the 2008 Turkish Grand Prix

The real story coming out of this weekend's Turkish Grand Prix should be the fact that Ferrari won again and Lewis Hamilton is driving better than any other driver in F1, but a stray dog that was struck and killed on track during a GP2 Series by Bruno Senna - nephew of Ayrton, yes that Ayrton - has dominated much of the F1 headlines. There's video of it after the jump for those with hardy stomachs.

But back to the racing. After having dominated the prior week's Spanish Grand Prix by finishing one-two, Ferrari once again crowded the podium stand with two top-three finishers, though not in order this time. Felipe Massa, whose performance the last three races has marked an impressive turnaround, captured the checkered flag - his second of the season and third in a row in Turkey - by driving a very clean race. He was, however, passed by McLaren's Lewis Hamilton mid-race, who had an impressive race all around. Some say Hamilton drove the race of his career at this weekend's Turkish Grand Prix, but his team's strategy of a three-pit race ultimately did him in, as Massa's two-pit strategy gave him enough lead time to hold off Hamilton. Third place was earned by Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen, who will take the points to pad his slim points lead over teammate Massa and Hamilton.


[Source: F1-Live]

Formula 1 will hit the BBC air waves in 2009 after a long run on ITV. The move will require new figureheads to sit at the desk, and London's Times has said that Top Gear's Richard Hammond is the top man for the job. Economics at least partially drove ITV's decision to withdraw from F1 coverage. The coverage is expensive, so making money is challenging, even with newly rising star Lewis Hamilton making F1 more interesting for UK viewers.

Hammond's presence might help broaden the appeal beyond just racing fans, as would guest appearances by Jeremy Clarkson and James May, Hammond's cohorts on Top Gear. Letting Clarkson and May prowl the paddock could offer priceless moments of color commentary that would set YouTube alight. The BBC also plans to update the look, feel and pace of its coverage, and fans will be able to get at the presentation more easily with races going out across broadband digital outlets in addition to the standard radio and television. Thanks for the tip, Eric!

[Source: Times Online, Photo by Getty Images/Getty]

It was a dark day for Formula One racing on Saturday when verbal attacks launched at McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton forced track officials to eject fans from the Barcelona circuit and close the gates. The abusive fans of Fernando Alonso, reportedly believing their hero had been treated unfairly by McLaren last year, took their frustration to xenophobic depths by shouting racist slurs at Hamilton. (We won't go into details, but the exact language can be found at the links below.)

In addition to ejecting the abusive fans from the premises, track officials responded by putting up additional barriers around the McLaren garage and placing extra security guards in the grandstands. The FIA, however, unsatisfied with the reaction of officials at the Circuit de Catalunya, threatened unspecified sanctions if the incident were repeated. While we certainly agree that this sort of behavior cannot be tolerated, we're not sure that the track officials or the Spanish motorsports associations are the ones to blame.

[Sources: Autosport and F1-Live, Photo by Jasper Juinen/Getty]

Lewis Hamilton is having a great 23rd birthday. Not only has he resigned with McLaren for a reported $138 million, but Mercedes-Benz presented him with a brand new car to drive next season, the MP4-23. McLaren's new F1 car was literally finished last night and then trucked over a 1,000 kilometers to the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart, Germany. There it was unveiled by none other than Daimler chief Dieter Zetsche (we last saw him getting the hell out of Dodge). Along with other execs and media, Mercedes invited 700 workers from its Stuttgart plant to attend the festivities, as well. The car should be back on a trailer and headed to the Circuito de Jerez in Southern Spain as we speak, where Hamilton and his new teammate, Heikki Kovalainen, will give it a proper shakedown. As work began on this car began all the way back in November of 2006, it's no surprise that development of its replacement is already underway.

[Source: Mercedes-Benz]

Reports are coming in that Lewis Hamilton, the phenom F1 driver that nearly won the drivers' championship last season, has resigned with team McLaren for a reported $138 million USD over the next five years. The deal keeps the now 23-year-old at McLaren through 2012, though he's said he would stay put for his entire career if they wanted him to (and paid him to). On average, Hamilton will earn $27 million per year through 2012, which is a big raise compared to the $700,000 base pay plus bonuses he earned last year, his rookie season. Looks like all that money used to pay F1 star Fernando Alonso last season will be going to Hamilton now, despite the fact he couldn't beat the Stig around the Top Gear test track.

[Source: Motor Authority]