The packed grandstands heaved a sigh of anti-climax on Saturday as Lewis Hamilton, the overwhelming crowd favourite, failed even to qualify in the top three for the British grand prix.
Having been also outpaced by his McLaren teammate Heikki Kovalainen in the three pre-qualifying practice sessions at Silverstone, 23-year-old Hamilton was eight tenths adrift and just fourth on the grid.
Kovalainen, who will start from his first pole position possibly on a wet grid on Sunday, will be joined on the front row by the notably on-form Mark Webber, of Red Bull, who put in his best qualifying effort in two years.
The Independent newspaper reacted immediately with the observation that Kovalainen, a 26-year-old Finn, had put Hamilton “in the shade”.
On Hamilton’s first ‘Q3’ effort, he ran wide and into the gravel, prompting his engineer to plead with him to “not overdrive! Do not overdrive!” he repeated.
“That warning went unheeded,” a writer for The Daily Telegraph said.
Hamilton commented: “The last lap I felt was good but I think I did too hard an out lap and used up my tyres. But the fuel load and everything (for the race) is cool and the car felt good.”
British GP, qualification
1 H. Kovalainen McLaren 1:21.049
2 M. Webber Red Bull 1:21.554
3 K. Räikkönen Ferrari 1:21.706
4 L. Hamilton McLaren 1:21.835
5 N. Heidfeld BMW 1:21.873
6 F. Alonso Renault 1:22.029
7 N. Piquet jr. Renault 1:22.491
8 S. Vettel Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:23.251
9 F. Massa Ferrari 1:23.305
10 R. Kubica BMW geen tijd
11 D. Coulthard Red Bull 1:20.174
12 T. Glock Toyota 1:20.274
13 S. Bourdais Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:20.531
14 J. Trulli Toyota 1:20.601
15 K. Nakajima Williams 1:21.112
16 R. Barrichello Honda 1:21.512
17 J. Button Honda 1:21.631
18 N. Rosberg Williams 1:21.668
19 A. Sutil Force India F1 1:21.786
20 G. Fisichella Force India F1 1:21.885
