Hamilton blitzes F1 competition on home ground

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Lewis Hamilton has finally given his legion of fans something to cheer about ahead of his home grand prix by flying to the fastest time in the third day of testing at Silverstone.

The Briton, who has had a torrid time in the past month after crashing out in Montreal and starting with a 10-place grid penalty at Magny-Cours, breezed around Silverstone Thursday in front of 10,000 fans.

He finished well clear of Toyota's Timo Glock and Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen with a best lap time of 1:19.170.

Hamilton said there was "no more satisfying feeling" than racing in his own country.

"It gives you a few extra tenths of a second, just with confidence, so I'm really thankful for the support."

He said winning at home would be a career highlight.

"In front of your home crowd, knowing that there's so many people watching... the sort of roar that I got from qualifying last year [he led the grid] was incredible and making people happy, making the team happy, doing it in our country would be an immense feeling."

The Briton said McLaren would have a "great package" ready for Silverstone, with new updates to the car.

Raikkonen, who has suffered three lots of misfortune in as many grand prix, said he was happy with Ferrari's testing results at Silverstone.

"Obviously it is far too early to say where we can be on this track compared to our main rivals, but I can see no reason why we should not be competitive."

BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica, currently second behind Felipe Massa in the race for the title, said Silverstone was a good circuit for drivers.

"It is very important to have good downforce here, especially in the high-speed first sector. Later on in the lap the track has some low-speed corners.

"From a driver's perspective, the circuit is a good mix that makes a lot of different demands. Wind conditions are always a big factor, and they can have quite an effect on the car in the first sector."

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