Hamilton out to turn disappointment into joy
by Tim Collings
FORMULA ONE: LONDON, Sept 18 (AFP): Lewis Hamilton will
fly to Singapore this week fired by a steely determination to put his
Monza mistake behind him and stay on track for his second drivers world
championship.
The 2008 champion, who crashed out of last Sunday's Italian Grand
Prix on the opening lap, has now failed to score in two of his last
three races and seen his title bid falter.
But after a few days of rest and recovery this week, he said he has
overcome his disappointment at his own failings - and is ready to
deliver his second title in three seasons for his McLaren team.
He said: "It's one of those experiences that happen in motor racing.
It's always so disappointing, but it's not the first time my race has
ended on the first lap and it probably won't be the last -
unfortunately!
"But you can't dwell on the negatives - we are still in a good
position, and we need to capitalise on that so I aim to put in a good
performance in the Singapore Grand Prix - and, above all, finish the
race with some points."
After 14 of this year's 19 races in the championship, the 25-year-old
Englishman is second in the title race with 182 points, five behind
leader Australian Mark Webber of Red Bull who has 187.
Italian Grand Prix winner Spaniard Fernando Alonso is third for
Ferrari on 166 with defending champion Briton Jenson Button fourth for
McLaren with 164 and young German Sebastian Vettel fifth for Red Bull on
163.
This means that the top five are separated by just 24 points - one
point fewer than the 25 awarded for a single race win - as the season
reaches boiling point with the final five 'flyaway' races outside
Europe.
Of the top five, of course, it is the two Red Bull drives who are the
only ones without any previous experience of handling this sort of
pressure successfully.
Both Hamilton and Button are former champions (2008 and 2010) while
Alonso won two championships with Renault in 2005 and 2006.
Vettel was in the contest last season, but fell away with erratic
results when it seemed the Red Bull team had the car and the pace to
overhaul the early lead built up by Button, then racing for the Brawn
team (now Mercedes). Hamilton, who has been more consistent and driven
with much greater maturity this year, showing almost none of the
impetuosity that blighted some of his earlier key showdown races, has
developed a mind set to help him cope with the pressure.
As the F1 circus flies to Singapore, Japan, Korea, Brazil and then
the final event at Abu Dhabi in mid-November, he will need his
experience and temperament to work well together.
"In bad situations you soak up all the lessons that need learning,"
he said.
"You absorb that information, put the bad experiences to one side,
use the benefits and move on. I have learned this the hard way, as
everybody does I guess.
"So I got up on Monday morning and I was already focused on the next
race, the one in Singapore, on improving the car and closing in on the
world championship.
Not good enough
"I've had two non-finishes and one win in the last three races - and,
while that's not bad, it does mean that I lost points to some of the
other drivers in the hunt for the title.
"For me, it is not good enough. Those results aren't enough to get me
the title. I'll keep pushing.
"I'll take each race as it comes, but I'll also be making sure I get
to the finish of the next five races - that's more important than
anything. But, overall, I go to Singapore to win."
Hamilton also has the advantage of knowing that he won in Singapore
last year on a circuit that this time may not favour his McLaren.
Team-mate and rival Button said: "I was disappointed last week and
had mixed emotions, but now I look back and I can say I scored 18 points
on a day when Lewis scored none, Mark took home eight and Sebastian 12.
"I think we've seen that no one driver's going to walk away with the
world title - there's going to be a fight right to the very end." |