Lewis Hamilton, the new leader of the Formula One driver's world
championship, heads to Monaco in a fortnight hoping to claim a
maiden victory after his record run of podium finishes continued in
the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday.
Ferrari's Brazilian driver Felipe Massa may have won the race,
but 22-year-old Hamilton took most of the plaudits in Barcelona
after becoming Formula One's youngest ever championship leader,
again outperforming his double-world champion McLaren teammate
Fernando Alonso who finished third in his home Grand Prix.
Hamilton, the current GP2 champion, is not one to sit back and
reflect on his achievements, he has immediately focused on going
one better and claiming his first race win in Monaco.
The English-born Hamilton, who is the first driver of
Afro-Caribbean descent to race in Formula One, has not finished
lower than third in the four races so far this season and few would
bet against further success on a Monaco track where he has already
experienced victory in the Formula Three and GP2 series'.
"We didn't particularly have the pace of Felipe, but I think we
came another step closer and, as I said to him, we'll get him
soon," Hamilton said.
"I think we'll be very strong in Monaco, so I'm looking forward
to it. Again, that's one where we're going to be pushing hard to
get as many points as we can but for sure, I'm going to be going in
for a win."
Many respected spectators in Formula One have been surprised by
Hamilton's smooth transition into the sport.
But after taking the record as the youngest driver to lead the
World Championship from Bruce McLaren, the founder of the team for
which Hamilton drives, even he seems slightly taken aback that, as
things stand, he has an excellent chance of actually winning the
Championship in his debut season.
"I keep saying I am living my dream, it is really true," he
added.
"I have been working so hard for this and to come into only my
fourth grand prix and come out leading the championship with the
top two drivers here is incredible.
"Even from the last race (Bahrain) we knew that there was a
possibility of winning the championship. But again, we have to be
realistic. It is only my first season so it's going to be ups and
downs.
"I've done a good job I think until now and the team have done a
fantastic job and as long as we keep the reliability good on the
car and I don't make any mistakes, then I'm sure we can continue
with the performance we have."
The win was Massa's second in a row following his Bahrain
triumph last month as he, like Hamilton, continues to overshadow
his more illustrious teammate.
Finn Kimi Raikkonen was worryingly forced to retire after
suffering a problem with the wiring to the alternator of his F2007
car with Ferrari chief's promising to work on their car's
reliability ahead of the Monaco race in a fortnight.
"We are, of course, much less satisfied about our level of
reliability that we had up to now and we have to concentrate on
that," said Ferrari's technical director Mario Almondo.
"If I have to give you numbers; 51 percent we have to
concentrate on reliability and the other 49 percent is improving
performance."
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(Channelnewsasia.com? May 16, 2007)