Castrol EDGE Rankings: Hamilton on comeback trail
Lewis Hamilton reclaimed fifth in the Castrol EDGE Rankings following a scintillating performance in the German Grand Prix
The Briton provided the perfect tonic to his and McLaren's recent struggles with astounding performances in qualifying and the race, taking his second win of the season in style with decisive moves on Mark Webber and Fernando Alonso.
Victory not only reignited Hamilton's title ambitions, but put him level with Stirling Moss' tally of 16 grands prix victories and allowed him to move back into the Rankings top five - an honour he had held for more than 12 months before Dario Franchitti demoted him to sixth.
Following Hamilton home were Alonso (3) and Webber (2), with both drivers gaining slightly on long-term Rankings leader Sebastian Vettel, who finished fourth.
The German profited from a last-lap pitstop delay for Felipe Massa, which cost the Brazilian one place but did not prevent him rising two places to 13th in the Rankings.
As Hamilton proved all his detractors wrong in Germany, IndyCar's Will Power had a point of his own to prove as he followed up two non-finishes with victory at Edmonton to re-establish his own title push.
Power had to withstand heavy pressure late on from Helio Castroneves and points leader Dario Franchitti, but hung on to claim his fourth win of the year.
Power moves up one place to seventh in the Rankings, and is now just a solitary place behind Franchitti after the Scot was demoted one spot to sixth by Hamilton.
While there were small movements at the sharp end of the Rankings, ALMS and GP2 produced more notable shifts as Lucas Luhr and Romain Grosjean continued their respective winning habits.
Grosjean claimed his fourth win of the year after a late mistake by Jules Bianchi opened the door to victory on the penultimate lap, the Frenchman extending his points advantage and rising five places to 39th in the Rankings.
Luhr meanwhile successfully partnered Klaus Graf as their Muscle Milk Lola-Aston Martin recorded its second win of the ALMS season at Mosport Park.
Luhr, who currently leads the FIA GT1 standings alongside Michael Krumm, gained 19 places as a result, breaking into the Rankings top 100 for the first time since 2009 in 86th.
To see the full Castrol EDGE Rankings and the latest positions in the Castrol EDGE Race for 2011, please visit www.castroldriverrankings.com.
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