Silverstone 2006: Hamilton shines.

Lewis Hamilton was once again in a class of his own as he demonstrated his Formula One credentials in front of those fans more interested in watching some typically close GP2 Series action than a turgid England football match.

Although he started from second on the grid, alongside fellow Briton Adam Carroll, Hamilton was in front by the first corner and never headed thereafter, as he racked up his fourth win of a season that is rapidly becoming his.

As he had in the entirely different surroundings of Monaco a fortnight ago, the McLaren protege gave his competition a master class in controlling a race, managing three safety car periods and his own mandatory pit-stop to claim race one victory ahead of a resurgent Timo Glock and poleman Carroll, who lost out to Hamilton on the run into Copse, and then to Glock during the pit-stop window.

The Ulsterman's race got off to a poor start when he had a small onboard fire as he drove to the grid, later traced to a faulty spark plug that caused a brief flare-up, but no lasting damage. As the engine cleaned up and as the lights went out, Carroll appeared to have made a very quick getaway, but Hamilton's was better, and the two British drivers battled only until the end of the main straight.

Behind them Nelson Piquet Jr, feeling unwell all weekend from a combination of 'flu and hayfever, was slow off the line and found himself passed by both Alex Premat and the fast-starting Glock, now with iSport after starting his year with BCN. The German was clearly fired-up and, having despatched Piquet around the outside of Copse, accounted for his French rival just two turns later to run third early on.

The real action, however, was further down the grid, as Franck Perera was tapped into a spin at Copse. Opinions differed as to whether DAMS team-mate Ferdinando Monfardini or an optimistic Ernesto Viso was to blame, but Perera was out on the spot, along with Jose Maria Lopez, who spun in sympathy and failed to restart.

The stranded cars prompted the first safety car visit, with the order at the front showing Hamilton leading from Carroll, Premat, Glock - who had reversed their positions - Piquet and Andreas Zuber.

The race went live one lap later, and Hamilton was immediately on a charge, setting the fastest lap and pulling out a one second lead over Carroll, who was dropping back towards the pack and slowing up the drivers immediately behind him, especially Glock. The Irishman was nothing if not resolute, however, and put up an impregnable defence that not only allowed him to retain second, but also saw Hamilton escape untroubled.

Tyres were always going to be an issue on the fast, but technical, British circuit, and the unexpected temperatures made them more critical, so it was no surprise to see the frontrunners hold off their stops for as long as possible. Strategies were always going to intrude, however, and Premat and Piquet came in together on lap ten before leaving in the same order.

Glock and the pacier Lucas di Grassi were in one lap later, with the latter narrowly avoiding an errant wheel from the German's car, while Carroll was in next time around. The Racing Engineering man's pursuers had been able to use the one lap difference to their advantage, however, and Carroll reappeared on track between Glock and Piquet, with Premat ahead of them all.

ART's good pit work was called into play once again on lap 13, and once again they were up to the challenge, as Hamilton was turned around so quickly that he was able to re-emerge in third position, easily ahead of his team-mate, now fifth on the road but second overall when those yet to stop were removed from the equation. It wasn't all good reviews for the French team though as, one lap later, Premat was back in the pits to serve a drive-through penalty for speeding on his original stop. In a stroke, ART's hopes of another one-two finish had evaporated, even if Premat was not about to give up lightly on a circuit he openly admits to enjoying.

Giorgio Pantano was now leading, easily ahead of Felix Porteiro, both running the opposite of the usual early stop strategy employed by those further down the grid. The Italian was still able to run as fast as anyone else on track when his team called him in on lap 17, the last of the frontrunners re-emerging seventh and clearly looking on for points.

Hamilton, Glock, Carroll and Piquet returned to the head of the field when all the stops - bar that of the extremely late Jason Tahinci - had been completed, but the gaps between them were changing little lap to lap. Behind them, however, Gianmaria Bruni had been struggling with his gearbox from the very first lap, and he now had a train of cars on his tail, headed by Trident team-mate Zuber, who was looking particularly racy as he attempted to put the Italian between himself and Pantano.

Behind him, the FMS International man was clearly enjoying his second set of tyres as much as his first, and was climbing all over the rear of the Trident pair. However, although managed to clear the clearly ailing Bruni as the Italian went wide at Club, Pantano was unable to put a pass on Zuber before Monfardini lost his car big style at Abbey.

The Italian had been dicing with Pantano, but also had the recovering Premat for company, with the ART driver attempting a move on the entry to Abbey. Aiming to keep the Frenchman at bay, Monfardini gunned it on exit, but only served to spin the rear of his DAMS Dallara around, spearing luridly to the right, across Premat's nose as the Frenchman sought to take avoiding action, and into the barriers, bouncing back into the middle of the road.

It was a big hit, and what remained of the Italian's car was left stranded in the middle of the track with a marshal frantically signalling at the pack as they filed past. There was no option but to bring out the second safety car, as Monfardini was extricated and taken to the medical centre for a check-up that, thankfully, pronounced him shaken but otherwise unhurt.

At the front, Hamilton would have been frustrated at seeing his lead evaporate once again through no fault of his own, but put it behind him and waited for another chance to extend his advantage once more. When the race went green for the third time on lap 25, the Briton wasted no time in pulling away from Glock and Carroll to reassert his position.

Pantano, meanwhile, was back on the attack just as quickly, and would have easily moved up a spot but for Bruni's gearbox finally giving up the ghost, the Trident car cruising to a halt at Bridge, just past the spot where Monfardini had come to rest. Bruni tried to push his car out of harm's way by himself, but was unable to do so before the safety car was on track once more.

Four laps passed at controlled pace, but the restart brought the familiar sight of Hamilton easily pulling away from the chasing pack. Pantano, though, was attacking Zuber once again and, this time, it worked out for the Italian as Zuber, clearly leaking fluid from the rear of his car, went off at Priory and retired after a bumpy ride through the gravel, elevating Pantano to fifth - but now with Premat right on his tail.

The Frenchman had been presented with the classic GP2 dilemma of pushing further into the points or settling for eight and pole position on Sunday, but was left with little option to take the former as those ahead of him dropped out. With the chequered flag looming, however, there was little the ART man could do about Pantano and the pair crossed the line separated by four seconds.

The race turned into a benefit for anyone bearing a surname initialled with a 'P', as Piquet, Pantano and Premat were followed home by Clivio Piccione and Felix Porteiro, the latter up to eight from 24th on the grid, and denying Campos Racing team-mate Adrian Valles a point by just under a second. Sergio Hernandez claimed tenth, despite a spin late on, while debutant Mike Conway defied stalling on his first GP2 start to keep his nose clean thereafter and take eleventh spot - just one away from his goal of a top ten.

That put the Briton, subbing for the injured Olivier Pla at DPR, ahead of Fairuz Fauzy, Tahinci and Javier Villa - another late spinner - as well as getting further than several big names who failed to see the chequered flag.

While Lopez and Perera dropped out at the first turn, Xandi Negrao made it back to the pits before finding that he was going nowhere fast - his second opening lap retirement in as many rounds. Michael Ammermuller appeared to be in the running for points, but lasted only to lap seven before also retiring in front of his garage. Viso's part in the opening lap incident appeared to be confirmed by a lengthy stop on lap two, in time to qualify as his mandatory visit but dropping him out of contention for points. The Venezuelan returned in an attempt to claim the bonus for fastest lap, but called it a day on lap 18 while running at the back of the pack.

Hiroki Yoshimoto, Neel Jani and Luca Filippi all joined a growing casualty list, but none is quite as frightening a fashion as Lucas di Grassi. The Brazilian appears to have run over any black cat he may have encountered since pre-season testing, and saw a potential points finish disappear along with his rear wing, which crumpled and detached itself from the rear of his Durango entry just as he approached the flat-out Copse corner. Fortunately, there was enough run-off to prevent the car from hitting the barriers, but di Grassi was left with nothing to show for a much improved performance

Hamilton's run to the flag was accompanied, not just by the roars of a crowd now familiar with his heroics thanks to the national media, but also by an extra point for fastest lap, secured just one tour from home and enough to take him fully 16 points clear of nearest rival Piquet.

"It was a superb victory," Hamilton said, "Again, it was emotional, like Monaco, but I think this tops Monaco.

"England won the football today, and for a British driver to win as well, for me to win as well, here at Silverstone, it's a really special feeling."

Glock was equally content to claim second spot.

"It's a different life," he smiled, "It's great to have my first start with iSport and be on the podium. I knew, before the race, that we had a good car, and it is great to finish second behind Lewis."

Carroll, meanwhile, was less excited by his third place, admitting that there was still work to do at Racing Engineering.

"It was good to get another podium, but a little frustrating to start first and finish third," he sighed, "However, it was a good race, and to come away with more points is always good. Now though, we have to go to the test at Paul Ricard and try and improve."

Hamilton will start eight on the grid for Sunday's sprint but, judging by the sort of the pace he showed first time out on Silverstone's grand prix circuit, the rest ought to be worried.

Very worried.