While Lewis Hamilton and McLaren teammate Fernando Alonso yesterday battled for pole position for today’s Italian Grand Prix, Italian police said they had served writs on five McLaren employees, including team boss Ron Dennis.

In the real event, McLaren fended off Ferrari on the track, with Alonso taking pole ahead of Hamilton.

Off track, Ron Dennis has vowed to clear his team of any wrongdoing at a hearing of the World Motor Sports Council in Paris on Thursday. Now they may have to defend themselves in the Italian courts as well.

Formula One seems to be morphing from grand prix to grand farce.

Lewis Hamilton looked like coming home in third place in a Turkish Grand Prix where his car could not keep pace with the flying Ferraris. That hope disappeared when a tyre blew with 15 laps to go.

In the event Felipe Massa, who drove to a second consecutive victory at this track, was second and Kimi Raikkonen, also in a Ferrari, third.

Hamilton said, “I had no warning, I went off and almost hit the barrier. The wheel just locked up and I was very lucky to get the car stopped. I tried to keep going, but the tyre got worse and worse. I reached Turn 12 and the car wouldn’t steer. I got to the pitlane and almost hit the wall. It was a real fight and I was relieved to get it back.”

Typically he kept his head and returned to the race after a pit stop. He was later overtaken by team-mate Fernando Alonso, but remains ahead in the Drivers’ World Championship.

Top Ten in Turkish Grand Prix
1, F Massa (Br, Ferrari) 1min 26:42.161sec
2, K Raikkonen (Fin, Ferrari) at 2.275sec behind
3, F Alonso (Sp, McLaren Mercedes) 26.181
4, N Heidfeld (Ger, BMW Sauber) 39.674
5, L Hamilton (GB, McLaren Mercedes) 45.085
6, H Kovalainen (Fin, Renault) 46.169
7, N Rosberg (Ger, Williams Toyota) 55.778
8, R Kubica (Pol, BMW Sauber) 56.707
9, G Fisichella (It, Renault) 59.491
10, D Coulthard (GB, Red Bull Renault) 1min 11.009sec.

After all the shenanigans in the pits during qualifying, which saw teammate Fernando Alonso relegated to sixth on the grid, Lewis Hamilton eased his way to victory in Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix.

We understand that Alonso has been told by team chief Ron Dennis that he’s free to leave McLaren at the end of the season.

Hamilton has now opened an eight point lead in the Drivers’ Championship ahead of the Spaniard.

In the race itself, which he led from start to finish, Hamilton, just 22, showed a steadiness of nerve from the moment the lights went out all the way to the chequered flag.

Through the 70 lap race, he had Kimi Raikkonen’s Ferrari in his mirrors waiting for a slip that would allow him to pass. It didn’t come. Less than a second apart for most of the race, it was a real test of concentration and belief for Hamilton, which he passed with flying colours. At the finish, the margin was just 0.7seconds.

Six races left, and Hamilton still looks good for the title in his opening F1 season.

The European Grand Prix at the Nurburgring circuit in Germany was simply a lottery, characterized by farcical episodes and disrupted by bad conditions.

Lewis Hamilton was recovering from a bad attack of ‘flu and crashed out at 150mph in qualifying. He was then left recovering from both, plus the anxiety of an inquiry on Thursday which could rob him of points in the Drivers’ Championship for no apparent fault of his own. His run of good fortune seems spent at last, and rapidly turning into its opposite.

Rain drenched the circuit before the first lap, and after just 13 minutes it was halted by a red flag.

Lewis Hamilton started from tenth on the grid following a crash in qualifying on Saturday. He moved rapidly up to fourth after the first few corners. This was helped by a sizzling overtaking manoeuvre on the approach to the first corner, which was aided by a collision between the two BMW Saubers of Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld.

But it was downhill from there as the young ace appeared to have a mechanical problem with his car and he started to drop back through the field.

Kimi Raikkonen, who had started on pole made a clean getaway. But rain caused a frantic rush to change tyres before the safety car was introduced.

In monsoon conditions, officials decided to restart the race.

The race result was as follows :

1 F Alonso Spa McLaren
2 F Massa Bra Ferrari
3 M Webber Aus Red Bull
4 A Wurz Aut Williams
5 D Coulthard GB Red Bull
6 N Heidfeld Ger BMW Sauber
7 R Kubica Pol BMW Sauber
8 H Kovalainen Fin Renault
9 L Hamilton GB McLaren
10 G Fisichella Ita Renault

It was the first time in ten races that Hamilton had finished off the podium.