McLaren Mercedes Chalked Up Third Consecutive Win

Topics:  McLaren, United States Grand Prix

Anthony Fontanelle
June 19, 2007

The team of Vodafone McLaren Mercedes posted their third one-two finish at the recently concluded United States Grand Prix. Rookie sensation Lewis Hamilton posted his second consecutive win this season while teammate Fernando Alonso finished just 1.5 seconds after Hamilton. This one-two finish demonstrates the domination of the British team at this year’s Formula One season.

After seven races, McLaren has already four wins in the bag. Alonso won at the Malaysian Grand Prix and the controversial Monaco Grand Prix. Hamilton, on the other hand, showed his true mettle at the Canadian and United States Grands Prix. Bitter rival Ferrari has three wins so far this season but trails McLaren in the constructor’s championship by 35 points.

“It just keeps getting better and better,” says Hamilton. “What an amazing week this has been. I can’t believe that I have won and am so incredibly grateful to the team who have worked to hard to continue the development which has seen us taking one-two here today.”

The young British driver leads the driver’s championship with 58 points to his credit while Alonso, the two-time defending champion, is ten points behind with 48 points so far.

“Everything went right; start, pit stops, strategy and I’m really happy,” says Hamilton of his race. “I was under pressure all the way from Fernando and we were both pushing as hard as possible. I made a good start to maintain the advantage but Fernando was right there. In the second stint Fernando managed to get really close when my tires were graining, and he had a go at the end of the straight, but I was able to keep him behind. It’s been a long and hot day, but I have really enjoyed myself and the support from the fans.”

Both Hamilton and Alonso are using the McLaren MP4-22 with a Mercedes-Benz FO 108T engine which so far has not succumbed to major failures which will need a Mercedes-Benz repair manual.

Fernando Alonso trails his teammate but is apparently looking forward to the next race to possibly take the lead from Hamilton and eventually secure his third straight driver’s championship. “I didn’t win but I finally managed to leave Indianapolis with a trophy,” Alonso said.

“I think the race was decided after the first corner, and I didn’t manage to get past. All I could do was to stay as close to Lewis as possible. We were side-by-side on one occasion, but it was all fair and square and it was good racing. I was constantly in his slipstream and was getting all kind of dirt from the brakes on my overalls, the car and the helmet which was why I sometimes went slightly off line to try and get some clean air. The car was working well, and I’m looking forward to the rest of the season. At the end of the day the team can leave Indianapolis having extended the gap to Ferrari in the Constructors’ battle and having eight points is better than none. I’m looking forward to going back to Europe and the rest of the season,” he continues.

The next race of the season will be the French Grand Prix which will be held at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours in France. Raceday will be held on the first of July. The race will be the last Formula One contest that will be held at Magny-Cours according to Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone.

Source:  Amazines.com