Rookie's F1 success prompts ticket rush

Ticket sales for next month's British Grand Prix have rocketed following Lewis Hamilton's maiden Formula One victory in Canada on Sunday.

Hamilton is eight points clear of McClaren team-mate Fernando Alonso at the top of the World Drivers' Championship standings after claiming podium finishes in the first six races of his debut season.

And Silverstone Circuits managing director Richard Phillips said: "The reaction to his win in Canada has been amazing. We haven't seen this level of interest since Mansell-mania in the late 80s and early 90s.

"Ticket sales have been selling steadily since the start of the season, but demand has gone through the roof in recent weeks."

Racegoers will be hoping to cheer home Hamilton as the first Briton to win at Silverstone since David Coulthard took the chequered flag on the Northamptonshire track for McLaren in 2000.

Meanwhile, Sir Frank Williams has hailed Hamilton as "a phenomenon" after he held his nerve over the 70 laps at the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve in Montreal as chaos ensued behind him, leading from start to finish.

Williams, who guided Britons Mansell and Damon Hill to world titles with his team, said: "Lewis is clearly a very special driver. We have never seen anything like this in F1 before.

"It's almost inexplicable. The word phenomenon just about fits. It makes you think maybe there is a God after all. He is a great story not just for McLaren but for everybody involved in motorsport."

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