Rosberg beats teammate Hamilton in practice at British GP

Should Hamilton complete one more front-running lap at Silverstone on Sunday, he will surpass Sir Jackie Stewart’s 45-year record of leading 17 consecutive grands prix.

Of this year’s 20 drivers, only 10 of them will drive in a home grand prix – although Britain and Spain claim three drivers each, and Brazil two, making only five of the 20 races home grands prix. “It is a good period in the season for me and I want to keep that going”.

“Not that happy”, he replied when asked to summarise his day.

But the Brit insists those who can’t handle the way he lives his life are just dinosaurs.

“My family, my dad and my kid brother, and all my close friends are the people who have kept me grounded”. It should suit our auto nicely with the focus on down-force and we learned some useful things during the test.

The 30-year-old McLaren ace was referring to the flattery heaped upon him by Formula One legends and unashamed admirers, supremo Bernie Ecclestone and legendary British race hero Nigel Mansell. This is how a Formula One driver looks. The first one is “different”, to say the least!

“I never think about what other drivers think of me”.

“I notice that if I have a bit too much going on, left and right, it can influence my race driving performance. It doesn’t take energy from me”.

Hamilton will be hoping to get his hands on that one as well on Sunday.

Nico Rosberg maintained his position at the top of the timesheets during a trouble-free second practice session for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, with Lewis Hamilton down in fourth.

But he questioned whether any truly world class performer would ever settle for second best.

During afternoon practice, Hamilton said over the team radio: “The auto is all over the place”.

The same applies to his on-off relationship with ex-girlfriend Nicole Scherzinger. “I’ve also gone back on clutch setup which feels really good so far – just like it did in the first few races”. That’s why I have two world championships and the success I’ve had through my career, because I always manage to find it somewhere.

Hamilton, who revealed he missed last week’s in-season test in Austria following a “doctor’s check-up”, is bidding to win his third British Grand Prix this weekend.

Unsurprising results perhaps given Mercedes has won 23 of the last 27 races.

And as for calls for the fans’ call for the sport to go through a radical re-design because of its failing popularity, Hamilton said: “We go out there and do the best we can, that’s what we do”. So it’s about coming up with the next ace.