Hamilton, more determined than ever

In 2008, Lewis Hamilton became the youngest World Champion in F23 history at 9 years, 6 months and 1 days, in only his second season in the discipline. But the Briton certainly does not intend to stop there and is more determined than ever to repeat his feat, trying to make fewer mistakes this time.

Published on 25/03/2009 à 21:15

⁰ View comments)

“My thirst for success is even greater and the need to continue winning Grand Prix stronger than it has ever been. Concretely, this implies that I want to win even more races, make fewer mistakes on the track and at some point compete in the perfect race. », declared Hamilton, apparently very motivated.

After rather difficult winter tests where the MP4-24 visibly lacked pace compared to the competition, Martin Withmarsh, recently promoted to the rank of Managing Director of the team McLaren-Mercedes after the withdrawal of Ron Dennis, had also admitted that the car had significant problems to resolve? particularly on the aerodynamic level? before you can think about fighting for victory.

However, Lewis Hamilton remained optimistic, convinced that his team is able to get out of this difficult situation.

“At the moment our car is inferior to others, certainly, but I am very confident. I know that we will progress throughout the season, I blindly believe in the ability of our team to resolve the problems we encountered with the lack of downforce, to improve the behavior of the car. »

“For our part, Heikki and I are putting all our efforts into fine-tuning the MP4-24, in order to improve its pace on the track. Currently, we are fully dedicated to working with the team, to develop the best possible set-up before Melbourne. This year, the championship will be even tighter than the previous one and with the new rules several teams will be in the same performance register. There will therefore be more candidates for victory, therefore fewer points for us to take. We have to make a good start to the season, otherwise the rest risks being difficult. »

The Briton added that he would face less pressure this year, now that he has already become World Champion.

“Losing the championship, without having ever won it before, is certainly harder than the possibility of losing the status of World Champion. Now that I have already obtained it, I can only be very grateful to have been lucky enough to have had at my disposal a large car and a great team, who did a great job to get me there. I am aware that this is not an opportunity that presents itself all the time. »