Has a rookie ever won the British Grand Prix?
Lewis Hamilton’s record-breaking season continues following his second-place podium finish at the Spanish GP (13 May 2007), where the driver from Hertfordshire became the youngest leader of the Formula One World Championship.
22-year-old British driver Hamilton claimed this record from the New Zealander Bruce McLaren, the founder of McLaren cars, who originally achieved the honour after winning the Argentine Grand Prix in 1960. Sunday’s Grand Prix in Barcelona also marked four straight Formula One podium finishes to add to Hamilton’s impressive record portfolio.
The next challenge for Hamilton will take him to the Monaco Grand Prix. The McLaren driver currently boasts a one hundred percent record on the Monaco street circuit, where he has already won twice in junior championship categories, the Formula 3 Euro Series in 2005 and the GP2 Series last season. However, there is one record that all British motorsport fans will be hoping Hamilton can achieve to mark a new first in British motorsport history.
If Hamilton wins this year’s Formula 1™ Santander British Grand Prix on 8 July, he will become the first British rookie driver to win his home Grand Prix, a record that not even British motorsport icons such as Graham Hill, James Hunt, Sir Jackie Stewart, Sir Stirling Moss, Nigel Mansell and Damon Hill could manage to achieve. Hamilton’s record breaking start to this year’s FORMULA 1™ World Championship has already accelerated interest in this year’s British Grand Prix (6 – 8 July) - one of the biggest occasions on the British sporting calendar.
Richard Phillips, Managing Director of Silverstone Circuits Limited said,
“British motorsport as a whole is revelling in Lewis Hamilton’s phenomenal start to the Formula One Championship. Whenever you get a successful British driver in Formula One it has a positive knock-on effect for the whole industry. Hamilton’s recording breaking start is sparking a massive increase in sales for this year’s British Grand Prix, so we’re advising fans to book tickets early to avoid disappointment.”
Tickets for the 2007 FORMULA 1™ Santander British Grand Prix are available from £99 (£50 for Children). For further information, or to purchase tickets, visit silverstone.co.uk, or call 08704 588 300. Silverstone has also introduced Family Tickets for the Friday and Saturday of the 2007 British Grand Prix.
A family of four (two adults and two children) can now enjoy Friday practice for as little as £79, while a Family Ticket for qualifying on Saturday offers incredible value, priced at £139. Families are able to bring up to two extra children for an additional cost of £10 per child on the Friday and £20 per child on the Saturday.
