On a wet weekend in England, Heikki Kovalainen managed the first pole position of his career and succeeded in putting his McLaren team-mate Lewis Hamilton in the shade, back in fourth spot on the grid.

Lewis Hamilton greeted by his team at Silverstone

That was Saturday’s Qualifying. The British Grand Prix itself was a very different picture.

Former World Champion, Jackie Stewart watched Hamilton complete the drive of his life to claim a race rendered treacherous by torrential rain.

He later said, “What we saw was a masterful drive. He really behaved himself beautifully. The outstanding talent this young man has was fully demonstrated, because you couldn’t get conditions any more difficult than that.”

This was Hamilton’s third win of the season, and puts the British ace into a share of the championship lead with chief rivals, current Champion, Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa. The two Ferrari drivers were among many to spin on a track often awash with water.

The 90,000 crowd gave Hamilton an overwhelming ovation, well aware that this victory puts him in serious contention for this year’s title. He just needs to avoid the kind of rush of blood to the head we’ve seen too often this season, and his tendency to “overdrive” on occasions.

Felipe Massa easily beat Lewis Hamilton into second place to win the Turkish Grand Prix today for the third successive year in his Ferrari.

Kimi Raikkonen, the reigning world champion, was third.

Hamilton appears to have overcome his run of bad luck, even if not quite regaining that magic winning touch. He remains in contention for the title even so.

Result

1. Felipe Massa (BRA/Ferrari) 1min 26:49.451sec (average: 213,809 km/h)

2. Lewis Hamilton (GBR/McLaren) at 3.779sec

3. Kimi Raikkonen (FIN/Ferrari) 4.271

4. Robert Kubica (POL/BMW Sauber) 21.945

5. Nick Heidfeld (GER/BMW Sauber) 38.741

6. Fernando Alonso (ESP/Renault) 53.724

7. Mark Webber (AUS/Red Bull) 1:04.229

8. Nico Rosberg (GER/Williams) 1:11.406

Kimi Raikkonen duly won the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona after an emphatic weekend of driving.

His team-mate Felipe Massa in the other Ferrari made it a one-two.

Lewis Hamilton, out of sorts this season, showed both class and courage to rise from fifth on the grid to third place in a fractious race.

He avoided another clash with arch-rival Fernando Alonso by patiently waiting for him to make a pit-stop in his under-achieving Renault.

Full results are:
1, K Raikkonen (Fin, Ferrari) 1hr 38min 19.051sec; 2, F Massa (Br, Ferrari) 1:38:22.251; 3, L Hamilton (GB, McLaren Mercedes) 1:38:23.151; 4, R Kubica (Pol, BMW Sauber) 1:38:24.651; 5, M Webber (Aus, Red Bull Renault) 1:38:54.951; 6, J Button (GB, Honda) 1:39:12.051; 7, K Nakajima (Japan, Williams Toyota) 1:39:17.251; 8, J Trulli (It, Toyota) 1:39:18.451; 9, N Heidfeld (Ger, BMW Sauber) 1:39:22.051; 10, G Fisichella (It, Force India Ferrari); 11, T Glock (Ger, Toyota); 12, D Coulthard(GB, Red Bull Renault); 13, T Sato (Japan, Super Aguri Honda) all one lap behind.

Championship positions
Drivers: 1, Raikkonen 29pts; 2, Hamilton 20; 3, Kubica 19; 4, Massa 18; 5, Heidfeld 16; 6, Kovalainen 14; 7, Trulli 9; 8, Webber 8; 9, Rosberg 7; 10, Alonso 6; 11, Nakajima 5; 12, Button 3; 13, Bourdais 2.

Constructors: 1, Ferrari 47pts; 2, BMW Sauber 35; 3, McLaren Mercedes 34; 4, Williams Toyota 12; 5, Toyota 9; 6, Red Bull Renault 8; 7, Renault 6; 8, Honda 3; 9, Scuderia Toro Rosso Ferrari 2.

It’s still all to play for this season, with Hamilton quite capable of overtaking a nine points lead. But McLaren will have to start matching the Ferrari’s current pace and power.

Kimi Raikkonen stole pole position from Fernando Alonso in the final moments of the qualifying session for tomorrow’s Spanish Grand Prix at Barcelona.

On the second row of the grid are Raikkonen’s team-mate Felipe Massa and the BMW Sauber of Robert Kubica.

Lewis Hamilton is fifth, a far cry from his glory days last season.

McLaren team-mate Heikki Kovalainen is in sixth, while the Red Bull of Mark Webber is in seventh with Jarno Trulli eighth in a Toyota.