Hamilton - Pressure on Massa

Championship leader says home advantage works both ways

Last updated: 21st October 2008   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Hamilton - Pressure on Massa

Home advantage: Hamilton and Massa

You know you are there to entertain the people and you don't want to disappoint them by sending them home empty-handed.

Lewis Hamilton
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Lewis Hamilton believes the home advantage Felipe Massa will enjoy in next weekend's Brazilian Grand Prix could actually work against the Ferrari driver.

McLaren Mercedes star Hamilton heads to Sao Paulo's Interlagos circuit holding a seven-point cushion in the Drivers' Championship after his dominant display in Sunday's Chinese Grand Prix.

Meanwhile, and helped by team-mate Kimi Raikkonen ceding him ground during the race, Massa trailed home a distant second at the Shanghai International Circuit.

That result means that a fifth-place finish for Hamilton in Brazil will guarantee him a place in the record books as Formula One's youngest ever World Champion.

Massa will therefore be fighting against the odds to become the first Brazilian World Champion since Ayrton Senna claimed the last of his three titles in 1991.

And, with Massa performing in front of 100,000 of his fellow paulistanos, Hamilton thinks the potential exists for his rival to flounder.

"It definitely gives you some form of boost, but it's hard to explain exactly what that is," he said.

"Nigel Mansell used to talk about it being worth a second per lap. It's clearly not worth that much, but there is something to what he said.

"I know Felipe is very proud to be Brazilian and that he'll be pumped up to perform in front of his home crowd.

"That gives you extra confidence and a mental boost for the whole weekend.

"I remember at Silverstone earlier this year when I won the British Grand Prix just how much appreciation I received from the crowd and just what it meant to me.

"But it does bring extra pressure too. You know you are there to entertain the people and you don't want to disappoint them by sending them home empty-handed."

Tranquil

However, Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali is convinced that Massa, who won the race in 2006 and was heading for another victory 12 months ago before handing the win to the Championship-chasing Raikkonen, can cope.

"I'm not concerned about the pressure he might come under," Domenicali said.

"I think the race on Sunday was a more tense one for Felipe because he knew there was a possibility Lewis could be champion.

"Considering he was not competitive enough to beat Lewis, and you never know about reliability, you have to say 'okay, we did what we could to the maximum'.

"So I am expecting Felipe to be more - I don't think it's correct to say relaxed, but more tranquil in Brazil rather than in China.

"I'm pretty sure he will handle the pressure in a positive way."