THE LATEST stage of the 2007 Formula One season was once more preceded by on-track controversy involving English debutant sensation and championship leader Lewis Hamilton.
This time, the fierce qualifying competition for pole position resulted in a McLaren civil war, double champion Fernando Alonso hampering his team mate’s pit lane exit in order to gain the vital fraction of a second required to take first place on the grid. Internal rifts apart, the underhand manoeuvre also attracted the attention of the racing authorities.
The Spaniard was demoted to sixth as a result, with Hamilton starting in front of formerly third and fourth-placed Nick Heidfeld and Kimi Raikkonen. Once the contest proper got under way Hamilton, pushed hard by Raikkonen’s Ferrari, led from start to finish to record his third victory this year.
Alonso improved into fourth and, although the points gained will count in the individual driver’s classification, the aforementioned unsporting behaviour meant that in the constructor’s championship, McLaren were sent home empty handed.
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