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The 2007 British Grand Prix, otherwise known as the 2007 Formula 1 Santander British Grand Prix, was the ninth round of the 2007 FIA Formula One World Championship, staged at the Silverstone Circuit in Northamptonshire, UK, on 8 July 2007.[1][2] The race would see Kimi Räikkönen defeat the two McLaren-Mercedes, as events off circuit overshadowed the weekend.[2]

Ahead of the race it had emerged that Ferrari had opened legal proceedings against Nigel Stepney, an engineer working for the Scuderia, and a then-unidentified McLaren employee.[3] The Italian team had already gained a search warrant amid allegations of theft of technical secrets, with McLaren having held an internal investigation that found no use of Ferrari technical secrets.[3] Regardless, the FIA would launch their own investigation, which would look specifically at F1 related technical data from both teams.[4]

Fortunately there would be no impact on the race weekend itself, as Lewis Hamilton swept to pole position during qualifying for McLaren.[2] Räikkönen was the Brit's closest challenger in second for Ferrari, while their teammates Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa shared the second row.[2]

The start of the race saw Hamilton defend his hard fought pole aggressively into Copse, sweeping to the inside of the circuit to block the oncoming Räikkönen.[2] The Finn therefore had to settle for second with Alonso moving into third, as Massa had stalled on the grid and caused the first attempted start to be abandoned.[2]

Indeed, Massa would be the centre of attention during the early stages as Hamilton, Räikkönen and Alonso broke clear at the head of the field.[2] The Brazilian racer duly charged through the field, overtaking three cars a lap to move into the top ten by the start of lap five.[2]

With that the race settled down, with Hamilton initially able to build a two second lead, only for Räikkönen to reel him in again as the first round of pitstops approached.[2] The Finn's pace advantage towards the end of the stint was such that he even attacked the Brit into Brooklands, although Hamilton managed to place his McLaren perfectly to block the Ferrari.[2]

Hamilton swept into the pits a couple of laps later, only to make arguably his first mistake of the season, jumping the lollipop while his car was being refuelled.[2] While the #2 McLaren had only moved a couple of feet the damage to his lead was done, for Räikkönen delivered a fastest lap and then made a perfect stop to jump the McLaren.[2]

Alonso inherited the lead until lap twenty, and with a short-fuel stop was able to jump both Räikkönen and Hamilton to claim the lead.[2] The Spaniard quickly set about building a lead over the Finn and his teammate, but a constant stream of traffic meant that he was unable to escape too far up ahead.[2]

Indeed, Alonso was lucky to avoid a more serious incident during the lappery, as moments after he lapped Scott Speed the American racer was taken out of the race by a lunging Alexander Wurz at Vale.[2] Alonso would stay out for a handful more laps before he dived in for his early second stop, handing the lead back to Räikkönen.[2]

When the Finn stopped six laps later the race was over, for the Finn swept out of the pits with a healthy lead over the Spaniard, while Hamilton had slumped to a lonely third.[2] That left the remaining interest in the race on Massa, who had fought his way past the Renaults and Nick Heidfeld, and hence was left to hunt Robert Kubica in the closing stages for fourth.[2]

Yet, there were no late changes to the order, as Räikkönen cruised through the final laps to secure his third win of the campaign ahead of Alonso.[2] Hamilton was a frustrated third ahead of Kubica and Massa, with Heidfeld trailing those two, while Heikki Kovalainen beat teammate Giancarlo Fisichella to seventh.[2]

Background[]

Victory for Kimi Räikkönen had moved the Finn closer to the fight for second in France, with both himself and teammate Felipe Massa having closed in on Fernando Alonso. Out front, meanwhile, an eighth consecutive podium finish had allowed rookie racer Lewis Hamilton to extend his Championship lead, the Brit leaving France on 64 points, and with fourteen points in hand over his teammate. Elsewhere, Nick Heidfeld had consolidated fifth ahead of Robert Kubica, as Jenson Button added his name to the score sheet.

In the Constructors Championship it had finally been a strong afternoon for Ferrari, with their one-two ending McLaren-Mercedes streak of race victories. However, the Scuderia remained 25 points behind the leaders leaving Magny-Cours, with the two manufacturers sharing four wins apiece after the opening eight races. Behind, BMW Sauber were in a lonely third ahead of Renault, while Honda's first points of the campaign meant it was just Toro Rosso-Ferrari and Spyker-Ferrari who had yet to score in 2007.

Entry list[]

The full entry list for the 2007 British Grand Prix is outlined below:

No. Driver Entrant Constructor Chassis Engine Model Tyre
1 Spain Fernando Alonso United Kingdom Vodafone McLaren Mercedes McLaren MP4-22 Mercedes FO 108T 2.4 V8 B
2 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton United Kingdom Vodafone McLaren Mercedes McLaren MP4-22 Mercedes FO 108T 2.4 V8 B
3 Italy Giancarlo Fisichella France ING Renault F1 Team Renault R27 Renault RS27 2.4 V8 B
4 Finland Heikki Kovalainen France ING Renault F1 Team Renault R27 Renault RS27 2.4 V8 B
5 Brazil Felipe Massa Italy Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro Ferrari F2007 Ferrari 056 2007 2.4 V8 B
6 Finland Kimi Räikkönen Italy Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro Ferrari F2007 Ferrari 056 2007 2.4 V8 B
7 United Kingdom Jenson Button Japan Honda Racing F1 Team Honda RA107 Honda RA807E 2.4 V8 B
8 Brazil Rubens Barrichello Japan Honda Racing F1 Team Honda RA107 Honda RA807E 2.4 V8 B
9 Germany Nick Heidfeld Germany BMW Sauber F1 Team BMW Sauber F1.07 BMW P86/7 2.4 V8 B
10 Poland Robert Kubica Germany BMW Sauber F1 Team BMW Sauber F1.07 BMW P86/7 2.4 V8 B
11 Germany Ralf Schumacher Japan Panasonic Toyota Racing Toyota TF107 Toyota RVX-07 2.4 V8 B
12 Italy Jarno Trulli Japan Panasonic Toyota Racing Toyota TF107 Toyota RVX-07 2.4 V8 B
14 United Kingdom David Coulthard Austria Red Bull Racing Red Bull RB3 Renault RS27 2.4 V8 B
15 Australia Mark Webber Austria Red Bull Racing Red Bull RB3 Renault RS27 2.4 V8 B
16 Germany Nico Rosberg United Kingdom AT&T Williams Williams FW29 Toyota RVX-07 2.4 V8 B
17 Austria Alexander Wurz United Kingdom AT&T Williams Williams FW29 Toyota RVX-07 2.4 V8 B
18 Italy Vitantonio Liuzzi Italy Scuderia Toro Rosso Toro Rosso STR2 Ferrari 056 2006 2.4 V8 B
19 United States Scott Speed Italy Scuderia Toro Rosso Toro Rosso STR2 Ferrari 056 2006 2.4 V8 B
20 Germany Adrian Sutil Netherlands Etihad Alder Spyker F1 Team Spyker F8-VII Ferrari 056 2006 2.4 V8 B
21 Netherlands Christijan Albers Netherlands Etihad Alder Spyker F1 Team Spyker F8-VII Ferrari 056 2006 2.4 V8 B
22 Japan Takuma Sato Japan Super Aguri F1 Team Super Aguri SA07 Honda RA807E 2.4 V8 B
23 United Kingdom Anthony Davidson Japan Super Aguri F1 Team Super Aguri SA07 Honda RA807E 2.4 V8 B
Test Drivers for Practice Sessions Only
34* Austria Christian Klien Japan Honda Racing F1 Team Honda RA107 Honda RA807E 2.4 V8 B
Source:[5]
  • * Klien replaced Button's in Friday’s second others free practice as his back began to resent. Button's back ached in the crash of the first corner of the United States Grand Prix and as a precaution, the team decided to give she a rest in practice.

Practice Overview[]

Qualifying[]

Q1[]

Q2[]

Q3[]

Qualifying Results[]

The full qualifying results for the 2007 British Grand Prix are outlined below:

Pos. No. Driver Team Q1 Q2 Q3 Grid
Pos. Time Pos. Time Pos. Time
1 2 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 4 1:19.885 3 1:19.400 1 1:19.997 1
2 6 Finland Kimi Räikkönen Italy Ferrari 2 1:19.753 2 1:19.252 2 1:20.099 2
3 1 Spain Fernando Alonso United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 1 1:19.330 1 1:19.152 3 1:20.147 3
4 5 Brazil Felipe Massa Italy Ferrari 3 1:19.790 4 1:19.421 4 1:20.265 4
5 10 Poland Robert Kubica Germany BMW Sauber 5 1:20.294 7 1:20.054 5 1:20.401 5
6 11 Germany Ralf Schumacher Japan Toyota 6 1:20.513 5 1:19.680 6 1:20.516 6
7 4 Finland Heikki Kovalainen France Renault 8 1:20.570 8 1:20.077 7 1:20.721 7
8 3 Italy Giancarlo Fisichella France Renault 12 1:20.842 6 1:20.042 8 1:20.775 8
9 9 Germany Nick Heidfeld Germany BMW Sauber 7 1:20.534 10 1:20.178 9 1:20.894 9
10 12 Italy Jarno Trulli Japan Toyota 13 1:21.150 9 1:20.133 10 1:21.240 10
11 15 Australia Mark Webber Austria Red Bull-Renault 9 1:20.583 11 1:20.235 11
12 14 United Kingdom David Coulthard Austria Red Bull-Renault 14 1:21.154 12 1:20.329 12
13 17 Austria Alexander Wurz United Kingdom Williams-Toyota 10 1:20.830 13 1:20.350 13
14 8 Brazil Rubens Barrichello Japan Honda 16 1:21.169 14 1:20.364 14
15 19 United States Scott Speed Italy Toro Rosso-Ferrari 11 1:20.834 15 1:20.515 15
16 18 Italy Vitantonio Liuzzi Italy Toro Rosso-Ferrari 15 1:21.160 16 1:20.823 16
17 16 Germany Nico Rosberg United Kingdom Williams-Toyota 17 1:21.219 17
18 7 United Kingdom Jenson Button Japan Honda 18 1:21.335 18
19 23 United Kingdom Anthony Davidson Japan Super Aguri-Honda 19 1:21.448 19
20 20 Germany Adrian Sutil Netherlands Spyker-Ferrari 20 1:22.019 20
21 22 Japan Takuma Sato Japan Super Aguri-Honda 21 1:22.045 21
22 21 Netherlands Christijan Albers Netherlands Spyker-Ferrari 22 1:22.586 22
Source:[6]
  • T Indicates a driver used their test/spare car to set their best time in that session.
  • Bold indicates the fastest driver's time in each session.

Grid[]

Pos. Pos.
Driver Driver
______________
Row 1 1 ______________
Lewis Hamilton 2
______________ Kimi Räikkönen
Row 2 3 ______________
Fernando Alonso 4
______________ Felipe Massa*
Row 3 5 ______________
Robert Kubica 6
______________ Ralf Schumacher
Row 4 7 ______________
Heikki Kovalainen 8
______________ Giancarlo Fisichella
Row 5 9 ______________
Nick Heidfeld 10
______________ Jarno Trulli
Row 6 11 ______________
Mark Webber 12
______________ David Coulthard
Row 7 13 ______________
Alexander Wurz 14
______________ Rubens Barrichello
Row 8 15 ______________
Scott Speed 16
______________ Vitantonio Liuzzi
Row 9 17 ______________
Nico Rosberg 18
______________ Jenson Button
Row 10 19 ______________
Anthony Davidson 20
______________ Adrian Sutil
Row 11 21 ______________
Takuma Sato* 22
______________ Christijan Albers
  • * Massa and Sato started the race from the pitlane.[6]

Race[]

Report[]

Results[]

The full results for the 2007 British Grand Prix are outlined below:

Pos. No. Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 6 Finland Kimi Räikkönen Italy Ferrari 59 1:21:43.074 2 10
2 1 Spain Fernando Alonso United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 59 +2.459s 3 8
3 2 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 59 +39.373s 1 6
4 10 Poland Robert Kubica Germany BMW Sauber 59 +53.319s 5 5
5 5 Brazil Felipe Massa Italy Ferrari 59 +54.063s 4 4
6 9 Germany Nick Heidfeld Germany BMW Sauber 59 +56.336s 9 3
7 4 Finland Heikki Kovalainen France Renault 58 +1 Lap 7 2
8 3 Italy Giancarlo Fisichella France Renault 58 +1 Lap 8 1
9 8 Brazil Rubens Barrichello Japan Honda 58 +1 Lap 14
10 7 United Kingdom Jenson Button Japan Honda 58 +1 Lap 18
11 14 United Kingdom David Coulthard Austria Red Bull-Renault 58 +1 Lap 12
12 16 Germany Nico Rosberg United Kingdom Williams-Toyota 58 +1 Lap 17
13 17 Austria Alexander Wurz United Kingdom Williams-Toyota 58 +1 Lap 13
14 22 Japan Takuma Sato Japan Super Aguri-Honda 57 +2 Laps PL
15 21 Netherlands Christijan Albers Netherlands Spyker-Ferrari 57 +2 Laps 22
16* 18 Italy Vitantonio Liuzzi Italy Toro Rosso-Ferrari 53 Gearbox 16
Ret 12 Italy Jarno Trulli Japan Toyota 43 Handling 10
Ret 23 United Kingdom Anthony Davidson Japan Super Aguri-Honda 35 Handling 19
Ret 19 United States Scott Speed Italy Toro Rosso-Ferrari 29 Collision 15
Ret 11 Germany Ralf Schumacher Japan Toyota 22 Wheel 6
Ret 20 Germany Adrian Sutil Netherlands Spyker-Ferrari 16 Engine 20
Ret 15 Australia Mark Webber Austria Red Bull-Renault 8 Hydraulics 11
Source:[7]
  • T Indicates a driver used their test/spare car.
  • * Liuzzi was still classified despite retiring as he had completed 90% of the race distance.[7]

Milestones[]

Standings[]

A second consecutive victory for a resurgent Kimi Räikkönen had moved the Finn up to third in the Championship leaving the UK, and left him just six behind Fernando Alonso in second. Lewis Hamilton, meanwhile, had seen his lead reduced to twelve at the head of the field, with nineteen points covering the top four at the halfway point in the season. Elsewhere, Nick Heidfeld had lost ground to teammate Robert Kubica as the Polish racer challenged him for fifth, with seventeen drivers on the scoresheet after nine races.

In the Constructors Championship it had been an even day for the two main protagonists, with McLaren-Mercedes maintaining their advantage over Ferrari. Heading into the second half of the season the Anglo-German alliance were 25 points ahead of the Scuderia, although Ferrari held the advantage in terms of race wins by five to four. Behind, BMW Sauber ended the first half of the season in a secure third ahead of Renault, with Toro Rosso-Ferrari and Spyker-Ferrari the only teams yet to score.

World Championship for Drivers
Pos. Driver Pts. +/-
1 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton 70
2 Spain Fernando Alonso 58
3 Finland Kimi Räikkönen 52 ▲1
4 Brazil Felipe Massa 51 ▼1
5 Germany Nick Heidfeld 33
6 Poland Robert Kubica 22
7 Italy Giancarlo Fisichella 17
8 Finland Heikki Kovalainen 14
9 Austria Alexander Wurz 8
10 Italy Jarno Trulli 7
11 Germany Nico Rosberg 5
12 United Kingdom David Coulthard 4
13 Japan Takuma Sato 4
14 Australia Mark Webber 2
15 Germany Ralf Schumacher 2
16 United Kingdom Jenson Button 1
17 Germany Sebastian Vettel 1
World Championship for Constructors*
Pos. Team Pts. +/-
1 United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 128
2 Italy Ferrari 103
3 Germany BMW Sauber 56
4 France Renault 31
5 United Kingdom Williams-Toyota 13
6 Japan Toyota 9
7 Austria Red Bull-Renault 6
8 Japan Super Aguri-Honda 4
9 Japan Honda 1

Only points scoring drivers and constructors are shown.

References[]

Images and Videos:

References:

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 '9. Britain 2007', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2014), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2007/grande-bretagne.aspx, (Accessed 17/02/2020)
  2. 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 2.17 2.18 2.19 'Britain 2007: Kimi silences stunned Silverstone.', crash.net, (Crash Media Group, 08/07/2007), https://www.crash.net/f1/race-report/59199/1/britain-2007-kimi-silences-stunned-silverstone, (Accessed 17/02/2020)
  3. 3.0 3.1 [Archived] 'Ferrari name Stepney and McLaren engineer in theft allegations', formula1.com, (Formula One Administration Ltd., 04/07/2007), https://web.archive.org/web/20070707083654/http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2007/7/6397.html, (Accessed 17/02/2020) - Original
  4. [Archived] 'McLaren: no Ferrari elements in team or car', formula1.com, (Formula One Administration Ltd., 04/07/2007), https://web.archive.org/web/20070707083805/http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2007/7/6400.html, (Accessed 17/02/2020) - Original
  5. 'Britain 2007: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2014), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2007/grande-bretagne/engages.aspx, (Accessed 17/02/2020)
  6. 6.0 6.1 '2007 FORMULA 1™ Santander British Grand Prix - QUALIFYING', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Limited, 2006), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2007/races/816/great-britain/qualifying.html, (Accessed 17/02/2020)
  7. 7.0 7.1 'Britain 2007: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2007/grande-bretagne/classement.aspx, (Accessed 17/02/2020)
  8. [Archived] '2007 British GP', chicanef1.com, (Chicane F1, 2014), https://web.archive.org/web/20190410171107/http://chicanef1.com/racetit.pl?year=2007&gp=British%20GP&r=1, (Accessed 17/02/2020) - Original
V T E United Kingdom British Grand Prix
Circuits Brooklands (1926 - 1927), Silverstone (1948 - Present), Aintree (1955 - 1962), Brands Hatch (1963 - 1986)
SilverstoneArena2010
Races 19501951195219531954195519561957195819591960196119621963196419651966196719681969197019711972197319741975197619771978197919801981198219831984198519861987198819891990199119921993199419951996199719981999200020012002200320042005200620072008200920102011201220132014201520162017201820192020202120222023
Non-Championship Races 1926192719481949
V T E 2007 Formula One Season
Teams McLaren • Renault • Ferrari • Honda • BMW Sauber • Toyota • Red Bull • Williams • Toro Rosso • Spyker • Super Aguri
Engines BMW • Ferrari • Honda • Mercedes • Renault • Toyota
Drivers Alphabetically Albers • Alonso • Barrichello • Button • Coulthard • Davidson • Fisichella • Hamilton • Heidfeld • Kovalainen • Kubica • Liuzzi • Massa • Nakajima • Räikkönen • Rosberg • Sato • R. Schumacher • Speed • Sutil • Trulli • Vettel • Webber • Winkelhock • Wurz • Yamamoto
Drivers by Number Alonso • 2 Hamilton • 3 Fisichella • 4 Kovalainen • 5 Massa • 6 Räikkönen • 7 Button • 8 Barrichello • 9 Heidfeld • 10 Kubica • 10 Vettel • 11 R. Schumacher • 12 Trulli • 14 Coulthard • 15 Webber • 16 Rosberg • 17 Wurz • 17 Nakajima • 18 Liuzzi • 19 Speed • 19 Vettel • 20 Sutil • 21 Albers • 21 Winkelhock • 21 Yamamoto • 22 Sato • 23 Davidson
Other Drivers Badoer • De la Rosa • Doornbos • Fauzy • Gené • Glock • Karthikeyan • Klien • Kobayashi • Loeb • Montagny • Paffett • Piquet • Rossiter • M. Schumacher • Van der Garde • Zonta
Cars Ferrari F2007 • BMW Sauber F1.07 • Renault R27 • Williams FW29 • Red Bull RB3 • Toyota TF107 • Toro Rosso STR2 • Honda RA107 • Super Aguri SA07 • Spyker F8-VII • McLaren MP4-22
Tyres Bridgestone
Races Australia • Malaysia • Bahrain • Spain • Monaco • Canada • United States • France • Britain • Europe • Hungary • Turkey • Italy • Belgium • Japan • China • Brazil
See also 2006 Formula One Season • 2008 Formula One Season • Category
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