King of England; Lewis Hamilton dominates the British Grand Prix.(Lewis Hamilton won 2008 British Grand Prix)

Byline: NIGEL ROEBUCK

As Lewis Hamilton worked through his final qualifying run at the Silverstone circuit, the message over the radio from his McLaren-Mercedes team was firm: "Don't overdrive.''

He had done just that on his previous run, driving off the road and nearly into a spin. The lurid tail-out style was wonderful to watch, but Hamilton looked like a driver on the edge, and although his last lap was better, it was good for just fourth on the grid. His teammate, Heikki Kovalainen, took the first pole position of his Formula One career.

The omens for Hamilton's British Grand Prix were not the best. He entered the race without having scored a point since he won at Monaco, and on top of that, there were suggestions that a relentless PR schedule, plus an active social schedule, were having an adverse effect on his driv-ing. While other drivers slapped Kovalainen on the back after qualifying, Hamilton stared vacantly into space as if in a trance.

His world looked much better 24 hours later. Rain merely threatened during qualifying, but it arrived on race day, and people inevitably remembered the Fuji race last autumn, when Hamilton left everyone behind in appalling conditions.

He did the same again at Silverstone, right from the start. Hamilton passed both Mark Webber (a stunning front-row qualifier for Red Bull Racing) and Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen before the first turn, and as he turned into the corner, McLaren's team leader made it clear that he was gunning to take the lead from his teammate.

Kovalainen is no patsy, however, and made the most of a better line entering the corner. The two cars touched briefly, but no damage was done, and Kovalainen held the lead.