2007 British Grand Prix

The 2007 British Grand Prix, otherwise known as the 2007 Formula 1 Santander British Grand Prix, was the ninth round of the FIA Formula One World Championship, staged at the Silverstone Circuit in Northamptonshire, UK, on 8 July 2007.'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) The race would see Kimi Räikkönen defeat the two , as events off circuit overshadowed the weekend.
Ahead of the race it had emerged that had opened legal proceedings against Nigel Stepney, an engineer working for the Scuderia, and a then-unidentified McLaren employee.[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 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. Regardless, the FIA would launch their own investigation, which would look specifically at F1 related technical data from both teams.[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
Fortunately there would be no impact on the race weekend itself, as Lewis Hamilton swept to pole position during qualifying for McLaren. Räikkönen was the Brit's closest challenger in second for Ferrari, while their teammates Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa shared the second row.
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. 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.
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. 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.
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. 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.
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. 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.
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. 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.
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. Alonso would stay out for a handful more laps before he dived in for his early second stop, handing the lead back to Räikkönen.
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. That left the remaining interest in the race on Massa, who had fought his way past the s and Nick Heidfeld, and hence was left to hunt Robert Kubica in the closing stages for fourth.
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. Hamilton was a frustrated third ahead of Kubica and Massa, with Heidfeld trailing those two, while Heikki Kovalainen beat teammate Giancarlo Fisichella to seventh.
==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 , with their one-two ending 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, were in a lonely third ahead of , while 's first points of the campaign meant it was just and who had yet to score in .
===Entry list===
The full entry list for the is outlined below:
No. 	Driver 	Entrant 	Constructor 	Chassis 	Engine 	Model 	Tyre
1 	Fernando Alonso 	Vodafone McLaren Mercedes 	 	MP4-22 	 	FO 108T 2.4 V8 	
2 	Lewis Hamilton 	Vodafone McLaren Mercedes 	 	MP4-22 	 	FO 108T 2.4 V8 	
3 	Giancarlo Fisichella 	ING Renault F1 Team 	 	R27 	 	RS27 2.4 V8 	
4 	Heikki Kovalainen 	ING Renault F1 Team 	 	R27 	 	RS27 2.4 V8 	
5 	Felipe Massa 	Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro 	 	F2007 	 	056 2007 2.4 V8 	
6 	Kimi Räikkönen 	Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro 	 	F2007 	 	056 2007 2.4 V8 	
7 	Jenson Button 	Honda Racing F1 Team 	 	RA107 	 	RA807E 2.4 V8 	
8 	Rubens Barrichello 	Honda Racing F1 Team 	 	RA107 	 	RA807E 2.4 V8 	
9 	Nick Heidfeld 	BMW Sauber F1 Team 	 	F1.07 	 	P86/7 2.4 V8 	
10 	Robert Kubica 	BMW Sauber F1 Team 	 	F1.07 	 	P86/7 2.4 V8 	
11 	Ralf Schumacher 	Panasonic Toyota Racing 	 	TF107 	 	RVX-07 2.4 V8 	
12 	Jarno Trulli 	Panasonic Toyota Racing 	 	TF107 	 	RVX-07 2.4 V8 	
14 	David Coulthard 	Red Bull Racing 	 	RB3 	 	RS27 2.4 V8 	
15 	Mark Webber 	Red Bull Racing 	 	RB3 	 	RS27 2.4 V8 	
16 	Nico Rosberg 	AT&T Williams 	 	FW29 	 	RVX-07 2.4 V8 	
17 	Alexander Wurz 	AT&T Williams 	 	FW29 	 	RVX-07 2.4 V8 	
18 	Vitantonio Liuzzi 	Scuderia Toro Rosso 	 	STR2 	 	056 2006 2.4 V8 	
19 	Scott Speed 	Scuderia Toro Rosso 	 	STR2 	 	056 2006 2.4 V8 	
20 	Adrian Sutil 	Etihad Alder Spyker F1 Team 	 	F8-VII 	 	056 2006 2.4 V8 	
21 	Christijan Albers 	Etihad Alder Spyker F1 Team 	 	F8-VII 	 	056 2006 2.4 V8 	
22 	Takuma Sato 	Super Aguri F1 Team 	 	SA07 	 	RA807E 2.4 V8 	
23 	Anthony Davidson 	Super Aguri F1 Team 	 	SA07 	 	RA807E 2.4 V8 	
Test Drivers for Practice Sessions Only 	Test Drivers for Practice Sessions Only 	Test Drivers for Practice Sessions Only 	Test Drivers for Practice Sessions Only 	Test Drivers for Practice Sessions Only 	Test Drivers for Practice Sessions Only 	Test Drivers for Practice Sessions Only 	Test Drivers for Practice Sessions Only
34* 	Christian Klien 	Honda Racing F1 Team 	 	RA107 	 	RA807E 2.4 V8 	
Source:'Britain 2007: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2014), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2007/grande-bretagne/engages.aspx, (Accessed 17/02/2020)	Source:'Britain 2007: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2014), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2007/grande-bretagne/engages.aspx, (Accessed 17/02/2020)	Source:'Britain 2007: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2014), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2007/grande-bretagne/engages.aspx, (Accessed 17/02/2020)	Source:'Britain 2007: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2014), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2007/grande-bretagne/engages.aspx, (Accessed 17/02/2020)	Source:'Britain 2007: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2014), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2007/grande-bretagne/engages.aspx, (Accessed 17/02/2020)	Source:'Britain 2007: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2014), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2007/grande-bretagne/engages.aspx, (Accessed 17/02/2020)	Source:'Britain 2007: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2014), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2007/grande-bretagne/engages.aspx, (Accessed 17/02/2020)	Source:'Britain 2007: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2014), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2007/grande-bretagne/engages.aspx, (Accessed 17/02/2020)
** 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 are outlined below:
Pos. 	No. 	Driver 	Team 	 	Q1 	Q1 	 	Q2 	Q2 	 	Q3 	Q3 	Grid
Pos. 	No. 	Driver 	Team 	 	Pos. 	Time 	 	Pos. 	Time 	 	Pos. 	Time 	Grid
1 	2 	Lewis Hamilton 	 	 	4 	1:19.885 	 	3 	1:19.400 	 	1 	1:19.997 	1
2 	6 	Kimi Räikkönen 	 	 	2 	1:19.753 	 	2 	1:19.252 	 	2 	1:20.099 	2
3 	1 	Fernando Alonso 	 	 	1 	1:19.330 	 	1 	1:19.152 	 	3 	1:20.147 	3
4 	5 	Felipe Massa 	 	 	3 	1:19.790 	 	4 	1:19.421 	 	4 	1:20.265 	4
5 	10 	Robert Kubica 	 	 	5 	1:20.294 	 	7 	1:20.054 	 	5 	1:20.401 	5
6 	11 	Ralf Schumacher 	 	 	6 	1:20.513 	 	5 	1:19.680 	 	6 	1:20.516 	6
7 	4 	Heikki Kovalainen 	 	 	8 	1:20.570 	 	8 	1:20.077 	 	7 	1:20.721 	7
8 	3 	Giancarlo Fisichella 	 	 	12 	1:20.842 	 	6 	1:20.042 	 	8 	1:20.775 	8
9 	9 	Nick Heidfeld 	 	 	7 	1:20.534 	 	10 	1:20.178 	 	9 	1:20.894 	9
10 	12 	Jarno Trulli 	 	 	13 	1:21.150 	 	9 	1:20.133 	 	10 	1:21.240 	10
11 	15 	Mark Webber 	 	 	9 	1:20.583 	 	11 	1:20.235 	 	 	 	11
12 	14 	David Coulthard 	 	 	14 	1:21.154 	 	12 	1:20.329 	 	 	 	12
13 	17 	Alexander Wurz 	 	 	10 	1:20.830 	 	13 	1:20.350 	 	 	 	13
14 	8 	Rubens Barrichello 	 	 	16 	1:21.169 	 	14 	1:20.364 	 	 	 	14
15 	19 	Scott Speed 	 	 	11 	1:20.834 	 	15 	1:20.515 	 	 	 	15
16 	18 	Vitantonio Liuzzi 	 	 	15 	1:21.160 	 	16 	1:20.823 	 	 	 	16
17 	16 	Nico Rosberg 	 	 	17 	1:21.219 	 	 	 	 	 	 	17
18 	7 	Jenson Button 	 	 	18 	1:21.335 	 	 	 	 	 	 	18
19 	23 	Anthony Davidson 	 	 	19 	1:21.448 	 	 	 	 	 	 	19
20 	20 	Adrian Sutil 	 	 	20 	1:22.019 	 	 	 	 	 	 	20
21 	22 	Takuma Sato 	 	 	21 	1:22.045 	 	 	 	 	 	 	21
22 	21 	Christijan Albers 	 	 	22 	1:22.586 	 	 	 	 	 	 	22
Source:'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)	Source:'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)	Source:'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)	Source:'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)	Source:'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)	Source:'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)	Source:'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)	Source:'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)	Source:'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)	Source:'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)	Source:'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)	Source:'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)	Source:'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)	Source:'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)
*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===
** Massa and Sato started the race from the pitlane.
==Race==
===Report===
===Results===
The full results for the are outlined below:
Pos. 	No. 	Driver 	Constructor 	Laps 	Time/Retired 	Grid 	Points
1 	6 	Kimi Räikkönen 	 	59 	1:21:43.074 	2 	10
2 	1 	Fernando Alonso 	 	59 	+2.459s 	3 	8
3 	2 	Lewis Hamilton 	 	59 	+39.373s 	1 	6
4 	10 	Robert Kubica 	 	59 	+53.319s 	5 	5
5 	5 	Felipe Massa 	 	59 	+54.063s 	4 	4
6 	9 	Nick Heidfeld 	 	59 	+56.336s 	9 	3
7 	4 	Heikki Kovalainen 	 	58 	+1 Lap 	7 	2
8 	3 	Giancarlo Fisichella 	 	58 	+1 Lap 	8 	1
9 	8 	Rubens Barrichello 	 	58 	+1 Lap 	14 	
10 	7 	Jenson Button 	 	58 	+1 Lap 	18 	
11 	14 	David Coulthard 	 	58 	+1 Lap 	12 	
12 	16 	Nico Rosberg 	 	58 	+1 Lap 	17 	
13 	17 	Alexander Wurz 	 	58 	+1 Lap 	13 	
14 	22 	Takuma Sato 	 	57 	+2 Laps 	PL 	
15 	21 	Christijan Albers 	 	57 	+2 Laps 	22 	
16* 	18 	Vitantonio Liuzzi 	 	53 	Gearbox 	16 	
Ret 	12 	Jarno Trulli 	 	43 	Handling 	10 	
Ret 	23 	Anthony Davidson 	 	35 	Handling 	19 	
Ret 	19 	Scott Speed 	 	29 	Collision 	15 	
Ret 	11 	Ralf Schumacher 	 	22 	Wheel 	6 	
Ret 	20 	Adrian Sutil 	 	16 	Engine 	20 	
Ret 	15 	Mark Webber 	 	8 	Hydraulics 	11 	
Source:'Britain 2007: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2007/grande-bretagne/classement.aspx, (Accessed 17/02/2020)	Source:'Britain 2007: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2007/grande-bretagne/classement.aspx, (Accessed 17/02/2020)	Source:'Britain 2007: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2007/grande-bretagne/classement.aspx, (Accessed 17/02/2020)	Source:'Britain 2007: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2007/grande-bretagne/classement.aspx, (Accessed 17/02/2020)	Source:'Britain 2007: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2007/grande-bretagne/classement.aspx, (Accessed 17/02/2020)	Source:'Britain 2007: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2007/grande-bretagne/classement.aspx, (Accessed 17/02/2020)	Source:'Britain 2007: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2007/grande-bretagne/classement.aspx, (Accessed 17/02/2020)	Source:'Britain 2007: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2007/grande-bretagne/classement.aspx, (Accessed 17/02/2020)
*T Indicates a driver used their test/spare car.
** Liuzzi was still classified despite retiring as he had completed 90% of the race distance.
==Milestones==
* 750th Grand Prix appearance for as a constructor.'9. Britain 2007', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2014), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2007/grande-bretagne.aspx, (Accessed 17/02/2020)
* 750th entry for a car using #4 as its race number.[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
* Kimi Räikkönen scored his twelfth career victory.
* Ferrari scored their 197th win as a constructor and engine supplier.
==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 maintaining their advantage over . 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, ended the first half of the season in a secure third ahead of , with and the only teams yet to score.
World Championship for Drivers	World Championship for Drivers	World Championship for Drivers	World Championship for Drivers
Pos. 	Driver 	Pts. 	+/-
1 	Lewis Hamilton 	70 	
2 	Fernando Alonso 	58 	
3 	Kimi Räikkönen 	52 	1
4 	Felipe Massa 	51 	1
5 	Nick Heidfeld 	33 	
6 	Robert Kubica 	22 	
7 	Giancarlo Fisichella 	17 	
8 	Heikki Kovalainen 	14 	
9 	Alexander Wurz 	8 	
10 	Jarno Trulli 	7 	
11 	Nico Rosberg 	5 	
12 	David Coulthard 	4 	
13 	Takuma Sato 	4 	
14 	Mark Webber 	2 	
15 	Ralf Schumacher 	2 	
16 	Jenson Button 	1 	
17 	Sebastian Vettel 	1 	
World Championship for Constructors*	World Championship for Constructors*	World Championship for Constructors*	World Championship for Constructors*
Pos. 	Team 	Pts. 	+/-
1 	 	128 	
2 	 	103 	
3 	 	56 	
4 	 	31 	
5 	 	13 	
6 	 	9 	
7 	 	6 	
8 	 	4 	
9 	 	1 	
Only points scoring drivers and constructors are shown.
** Includes points scored by before their exclusion prior to the 2007 Belgian Grand Prix.
==References==
Images and Videos:
*
References:
Category:Grand Prix articles
Category:2007 Grands Prix
Category:British Grand Prix
Category:Formula One races in the United Kingdom