Hamilton heads home plotting title bid
by Gordon Howard
FORMULA ONE: SHANGHAI, April 23 (AFP): A delighted Lewis
Hamilton headed home after winning the Chinese Grand Prix confident he
can build a convincing title challenge and give defending champion
Sebastian Vettel a run for his money.
Britain's Hamilton and his McLaren team-mate and compatriot Jenson
Button finished first and fourth in the third race of the 2011 season in
Shanghai on Sunday as Vettel's run of two season-opening wins came to an
end.
Vettel was second for Red Bull ahead of his team-mate Australian Mark
Webber, who produced the drive of the day to finish on the podium after
starting 18th on the grid.
Victory for Hamilton, 26, was his 15th career win and his first since
last year's Belgian Grand Prix.
As most close observers of the sport have noted, Hamilton has made a
near-flawless start to the season, driving with great speed, confidence
and efficiency. His passing of his rivals in Sunday's race was sublime.
"I feel I am driving as well as I can, maybe as well as I have ever
done," he said. "And the car is improving all the time.
We now have a decent gap before the next race in Turkey so I am
hoping for some more new parts and a bit of time to pull it all
together.
"I definitely feel we are in there now with a chance. Our race pace
is good, as everyone could see today, and now we just have to work on
getting things going a bit better in qualifying," said the 2008 world
champion. A delighted Webber joked that he should start down the grid in
future after his heroics at the Shanghai International Circuit.
"Maybe that's where I should always start," he said. "Just give up on
qualifying, save the tyres and get out there and go for it. It would
certainly give the crowd value for money and I think we'd all enjoy it,
too.
"But, being serious, I have to say thanks to the team for the great
effort put in for this result by everyone.
It has been a tough time for me and I may have said that the way
things were going I thought I might get hit by a truck, but this was
just a great day for me.
"To finish on the podium after starting 18th is pretty amazing and I
am glad, too, that Lewis has ended Seb's run even though he drives for
McLaren. It is good for racing."
After two wins and a second, Vettel leads the title standings with 68
points, ahead of Hamilton on 47, with Button third on 38 and Webber
fourth on 37.
Of that foursome, only Webber has never been crowned champion, but he
kept that ambition alive with Sunday's awesome demonstration of
commitment, skill and courage in an incident-packed race that was a
near-perfect advertisement for the new rules and the fast-wearing
Pirelli tyres.
"It was very enjoyable, great fun and we never really knew what was
going on out there," said Button, world champion in 2009. "I think
that's the way things are going to be this year."
Button also supported Hamilton's claim that McLaren were now in a
position to build up a challenge to Red Bull.
"This is a big, experienced team that knows what it takes to win a
championship and there are a lot of very good people working to do just
that this time," he said.
Vettel, philosophical in defeat, said he was not surprised. "We made
some mistakes and a few things went wrong.
It happens. Now we have to regroup, stay cool and work hard to get
back on top." |