Hamilton enchanted by Turkey

« I love running in Türkiye », enthuses from the outset Lewis Hamilton. The world champion knows he must make amends in Turkey after his blunder during the qualifying session for the Monaco GP. Starting last on the starting grid on Sunday, the Briton was then unable to do better than 12th place at the finish when his teammate, Heikki Kovalainen, retired. A blank result for the team Woking who does not intend to repeat such a performance in Istanbul.

« It?s a real challenge because you need to attack to achieve a good lap but you also need to preserve your tires? if you push too hard, especially in turn eight, then your tires suffer a lot “, declared Hamilton. Will the will of the native of Stevenage be enough to bring the MP4-24 back to the top? Martin Whitmarsh, the team director, is cautious on the issue. “ We arrive in Turkey knowing that the characteristics of the circuit are a little less likely to suit our package than in Monaco “, he said. " But we are constantly improving and we will introduce several small improvements to the MP4-24. »

With only 13 points in the constructors' standings compared to 86 points for the Brawn GP, ​​McLaren will test its competitiveness on a circuit which is not necessarily to its advantage. Indeed, with large, fast curves like turn number 8, the Istanbul route has similarities with that of Barcelona. There, Hamilton only took ninth place, one lap behind the winner, Jenson Button. Norbert Haug, the vice-president, also wants to be cautious before approaching the Turkish weekend. “ The Turkish Grand Prix will be a very demanding challenge for us », he concluded.