Lewis - we're not far off

Hamilton confident of McLaren victory soon

Last updated: 15th March 2010   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Lewis - we're not far off

Thumbs up: Hamilton was happy enough with third

The pace I had was quite good, so it's good to know we were able to match it and do similar times to the guys at the front.

Lewis Hamilton
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Lewis Hamilton believes McLaren are just a step away from competing for grands prix wins this season.

Hamilton finised third in Bahrain behind a Ferrari one-two led by Fernando Alonso on his debut for the Maranello marque.

Although the 25-year-old finished 25 seconds adrift of his former McLaren team-mate, who now has 22 wins to his name, Hamilton was encouraged by his second half of the race.

That came after the first pit stop, now limited to simply a tyre change due to a ban on refuelling, when he managed to leapfrog the Mercedes of Nico Rosberg who had held up the Briton early on.

Hamilton knows McLaren are not on the pace with Ferrari and Red Bull, who saw Sebastian Vettel slip from first to fourth late on due to a spark plug failure that resulted in a loss of power.

But he also appreciates they are not that far away either as he said: "I think we saw the true pace of our car after the first pit stop.

"I was right on Nico's tail for the whole of the first stint, but unfortunately I wasn't able to pull out the time I needed.

"The Ferrari guys were just pulling away. I would come onto the back straight and they were already around the next corner.

"The gap increased and there was nothing I could do at that time, but as soon as I got in some clean air and there were some new tyres on, the car felt great.

"The pace I had was quite good, so it's good to know we were able to match it and do similar times to the guys at the front.

"It shows we're not as far away as we thought we may have been, so we're not in a bad position.

Frustrating

"We just need to try to make a step closer to them which will enable us to compete for the win."

Team-mate and reigning world champion Jenson Button was a distant seventh, 45 seconds adrift of Alonso.

The 30-year-old finished narrowly behind Mercedes duo Rosberg and Michael Schumacher on his return to F1 after three-and-a-half years in retirement.

Like Hamilton, Button was a frustrated man as he too found himself unable to pass as the new rules and the circuit ensured it was a frustrating afternoon.

"In the first stint I didn't know what was going to happen to the tyres so I took it easy," remarked Button.

"I was a bit sad we pitted when we did because I thought I looked after the tyres a bit too much.

"In the final five laps of that first stint I was able to push and catch (Mark) Webber, who had damaged his tyres, and Michael.

"Michael pitted a lap before me and he was able to pull away, but I jumped Webber which was great.

"They were really good pit stops by the guys as Lewis and I both managed to jump someone.

"I then started pushing with 20 laps to go and I caught up with Michael, but I couldn't do anything.

"I didn't have the pace in the middle section to challenge in the final section, which was disappointing.

"So I'm okay with the result, although it wasn't what I was hoping for. I expected to be a bit further up.

"But it's impossible to overtake here. It's so difficult which is very frustrating, but the sport is what it is."

Comments (2)

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Matt Tully says...

7/1 Alonso?? Was that for last season?

Posted 10:24 22nd March 2010

Shamrock O johnson says...

As much as I would love to see Lewis Hamilton lift the title again this year I just dont see it happening. Although McLaren have resolved all reliability issues they havnt sorted out the little matter of speed which Ferrari seem to have soo much of. Fernando Alonso is a great driver and I've already put money on him to win the title. £100 at 7-1 is worth a punt considering he has previously won two titles with a slower car and is probably the most naturatlly talented person on the grid. Button was really lucky last year...the first 6 races where every one else on the grid was off the pace proved to be the deciding factor because after that he didnt seem to be as competitive. Schumacher is back and im glad he is figuring in the top 6. He is a F1 legend and if only the rules hadnt changed im sure we would see some hot overtaking from the pack of aggressive drivers. Hamilton, Massa, Schumacher, Alonso and Vettel...all drivers who like mixing it up but the fuel rules and tire rules mean that the finish will be pretty much the same as the start barring any technical problems.

Posted 09:19 15th March 2010
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