It was a great start by Lewis on a sodden track. He was quickest off the line on the dirty side of the track and zoomed past Raikkonen and Webber into turn 1. In fact had he kept his foot down the odds are he'd have passed his team mate but he opted to lay off.

It was apparent that Lewis was quickest and he was soon buzzing all over the back of Heikki's car. On lap 4 Lewis squeezed past (or was let through) and was seemingly on his way.

Meanwhile many were struggling to keep their cars on the track. Mark Webber, who started in second, spun on lap 1 going down the Hanger Straight. Massa followed a couple of corners later (his first of five spins!).

When Heikki lost the car he let his countryman through to claim second. In drying conditions Raikkonen hunted down Lewis and by the first pit stop was within a second of the leader. It was at the pit stop where Ferrari made their error. McLaren, being much harder on the tyres, opted to put Lewis on to a new set of inters, Ferrari chose to keep Kimi on his old set assuming the track would continue to dry.

Big mistake.

Raikkonen had barely exited the pitlane when the rain came tumbling down and Lewis was opening up a gap of 5 seconds a lap. Rather than come in Kimi stayed out until he was again in a pit window and could be fuelled to the finish. In this time he lost over 40 seconds and several places.

As the rain got worse Lewis' lead increased. Everyone was struggling for grip and just about every camera angle involved one car or another going off the track. Kubica had an off, as did Hamilton (albeit a minor one). Things went from bad to worse for Kimi as he spun a couple of times coming out of the last corner.

When Lewis pitted he had a decision to make: inters or extreme wets. McLaren bravely chose inters but it was the wrong choice. Rubens Barrichello pitted at the same time and put on extreme wets and started to be five seconds a lap quicker than Lewis on some laps.

By this point Hamilton was 40 seconds ahead of Heidfeld and it was at this point where Hamilton drove like a legend. In what was a very treacherous part of the race he was five seconds quicker than his main rivals, including team mate Kovalainen.

Rubens meanwhile shot into second and should have kept that slot had it not been for a Honda fuelling error which saw him needing to pit again — still the chirpy Brazilian was good for third.

When the chequered flag finally came Hamilton was over a minute ahead of Heidfeld. It was a phenomenal drive and just what the young man needed following his two no scores in Canada and France.

Although the young man has a lot to learn there is no doubting his raw talent is up there as the very best, if not the best, in the sport. What a race, what a win!

And with the top four drivers within two points of each other in the title race we are in for a great second half of the season. It is anyone's championship.