Lewis Hamilton believes McLaren's long run pace during last week's testing at Barcelona puts the team in a strong position heading to Bahrain.
The 2008 world champion did the quickest time of the test on the final day, but was most encouraged by the performance of the MP4-25 with a high fuel load.
"On the first day of testing it wasn't particularly impressive," Hamilton said of McLaren's long run pace. "We weren't fast enough compared to the Ferraris.
"But on the last day we made some improvements to the car. On the long runs, if you look at the times, I did a race distance so you can guess what fuel load I was on and the balance of the car and the times I did were very competitive - probably the most competitive of the day, so that was a big boost of confidence for me."
But Hamilton believes Ferrari and Mercedes also showed well and suspects Ferrari will be McLaren's biggest rival this year.
"I think the Mercedes was very competitive over its long runs and so was the Ferrari. [But] when you go to another circuit it's really about how we use the tyres, and the temperatures. We have to manage these in the best way we can.
"I think the biggest rivals, team-wise are Ferrari, Red Bull, Mercedes, Sauber and Force India. For me, these look like the most competitive teams.
"In terms of the drivers, you've got Felipe [Massa], Fernando [Alonso], Jenson [Button], probably [Sebastian] Vettel and Mark Webber because obviously they've got a quick car, Michael [Schumacher] and Nico [Rosberg].
"It's really difficult to say who is the most competitive out of all of them, but at the moment the Ferrari looks the fastest I think."
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Showing posts with label f1 hamilton. Show all posts
Showing posts with label f1 hamilton. Show all posts
Monday, 1 March 2010
Monday, 23 March 2009
Hamilton confident McLaren can recover
By Matt Beer
Lewis Hamilton says he has absolute faith in McLaren's ability to get its currently uncompetitive 2009 car on the pace during the season.
The world champion is facing a very difficult start to the year after McLaren languished near the foot of the times in recent tests, and the team admitted that it had significant problems to resolve before it could think about challenging for victories.
But Hamilton is optimistic that McLaren can develop its way out of its present predicament.
"I've driven for Vodafone McLaren-Mercedes for two years and, in both those seasons, the team has developed a fantastic car," he told a group of British newspaper journalists.
"At the moment, this year's car is a little behind the rest in terms of development but I'm absolutely confident we will get stronger and grow as the year progresses.
"I have complete faith in my team. They are working so hard at the moment, putting in incredible hours and massive effort. And I'll do my bit too. Heikki [Kovalainen] and I will work together to improve the car's pace. We're totally committed to working with the team to develop the best car possible."
He is adamant that his motivation will not slip even if he does not have a car capable of race wins.
"My plan is to be at the front of the grid in Melbourne," said Hamilton. "But if I'm not able to start the Australian Grand Prix from the front of the grid, I'll still race my heart out. I can't wait to get back racing."
The Briton added that he felt less pressure than he would have done had this situation occurred before he had clinched his first title.
"Losing the championship because you've never had it before is definitely harder than the possibility of losing the status that comes with it," he said.
"Now that I've won it, I can be very appreciative that I had a great opportunity, that I had a great car and a great team that did a great job. I've got to be mindful of the fact that you can't do it all the time.
"Some people win one; some win two or three. I don't know how many I will win, but I know that I'm just as determined as ever.
"But the energy behind that determination is managed differently. Rather than just being aggressive, it's a much happier balance because I've not got stresses from anywhere.
"Things are good; sponsors are happy, my boss is happy, so I'm getting positive energy from all these different people."
Lewis Hamilton says he has absolute faith in McLaren's ability to get its currently uncompetitive 2009 car on the pace during the season.
The world champion is facing a very difficult start to the year after McLaren languished near the foot of the times in recent tests, and the team admitted that it had significant problems to resolve before it could think about challenging for victories.
But Hamilton is optimistic that McLaren can develop its way out of its present predicament.
"I've driven for Vodafone McLaren-Mercedes for two years and, in both those seasons, the team has developed a fantastic car," he told a group of British newspaper journalists.
"At the moment, this year's car is a little behind the rest in terms of development but I'm absolutely confident we will get stronger and grow as the year progresses.
"I have complete faith in my team. They are working so hard at the moment, putting in incredible hours and massive effort. And I'll do my bit too. Heikki [Kovalainen] and I will work together to improve the car's pace. We're totally committed to working with the team to develop the best car possible."
He is adamant that his motivation will not slip even if he does not have a car capable of race wins.
"My plan is to be at the front of the grid in Melbourne," said Hamilton. "But if I'm not able to start the Australian Grand Prix from the front of the grid, I'll still race my heart out. I can't wait to get back racing."
The Briton added that he felt less pressure than he would have done had this situation occurred before he had clinched his first title.
"Losing the championship because you've never had it before is definitely harder than the possibility of losing the status that comes with it," he said.
"Now that I've won it, I can be very appreciative that I had a great opportunity, that I had a great car and a great team that did a great job. I've got to be mindful of the fact that you can't do it all the time.
"Some people win one; some win two or three. I don't know how many I will win, but I know that I'm just as determined as ever.
"But the energy behind that determination is managed differently. Rather than just being aggressive, it's a much happier balance because I've not got stresses from anywhere.
"Things are good; sponsors are happy, my boss is happy, so I'm getting positive energy from all these different people."
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