Formula One news
Hamilton looking forward to homecoming
10 June 2009Formula One fans saw a more acceptant Lewis Hamilton at the Turkish Grand Prix. Having now come to terms with the fact that McLaren's 2009 challenger is off the pace, Lewis is allowing himself to enjoy the season to a great extent, despite battling in the midfield. Hamilton will proceed to Silverstone as World Champion for the first time next weekend and is relishing seeing his home crowd.
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| Hamilton's first home Grand Prix came in 2007 |
With one British driver leading the championship by a healthy margin, the other continues to struggle and has not scored points since the Bahrain Grand Prix. Currently standing a joint tenth with 2007 Champion Kimi Räikkönen, Lewis lies just four points behind sixth-placed Timo Glock. "Racing in the midfield is different from racing at the front," he explained to the official F1 website. "When you're trying to win a championship and you're battling at the front, your approach is different: you've got to look after your tyres, make sure your strategy is correct, match the guy in front or behind and ensure your pit-stops are perfect - it's a very disciplined way of racing.
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| In 2008, Hamilton became the first British winner at home since David Coulthard in 2000 |
"When you're fighting to get past other cars and battling your way up the grid, it's actually a lot more straightforward and can still be fun - it's all about you and the other driver - how do you get past him, how do you stay ahead, can you pass him in the pit-stops?" Having had a potentially race-winning car on every F1 weekend entered until the start of this season, Hamilton has been forced to adapt a different approach. "It is character building," he admitted. "You have some good years and you have some bad years, but as long as you learn from both the good and the bad then you come out a stronger person."
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| Coulthard will be following the progress of Hamilton and Button on the BBC this year |
Ironically, the fortunes of the two British drivers in the field have adapted a complete role reversal in 2009, with Jenson Button's Brawn GP car now the country's leading representative. "I've know Jenson for many years," Lewis continued. "He's a fantastic driver and he thoroughly deserves the opportunity he's been given; he's waited years for the opportunity to drive a competitive car and, right now, he's showing exactly what he can do with it. I've always been impressed by Jenson; before I got to Formula One, I thought he coped with the bad times really well - he never forgot why he was there and he never let the team down, that's why he really deserves this success. It's great for the Brawn GP team and Mercedes-Benz and it's going to be great for the British fans because they'll have two British drivers to support at Silverstone."
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How does Hamilton rate his own chances in Northamptonshire? "The track itself is just awesome," he replied. "It's one of the biggest buzzes you get as a Formula One driver, but we fully expect next weekend to be very difficult; firstly, Silverstone is one of the fastest courses on the calendar and it's clear that our car doesn't behave well through fast corners. It's also harder to harvest KERS there than at other circuits because there's not too many heavy braking spots. It will be difficult, but I'm looking forward to just racing in my home country, in front of my home fans, enjoying (stepmother) Linda's home cooking and soaking it all in."
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