Hamilton Looking For Third Straight Victory

Topics:  Lewis Hamilton, French Grand Prix

Anthony Fontanelle
June 30, 2007

The current Formula One season is being headlined by a rookie in the form of Lewis Hamilton. The British driver will go into this Sunday’s race in Circuit de Nevers in Magny-Cours as the leader in the drivers’ championship standing. He leads double champion and teammate Fernando Alonso by ten points.

The upcoming French and British Grands Prix are seen by experts as the pivotal races of the season. Alonso himself said that the championship race will start in France. This claim by the Spaniard came after Hamilton beat him to the chequered flag in the past two races held in North America.

At the Canadian Grand Prix, Hamilton emerged victorious while Alonso has to make do with a seventh place finish. At the United States Grand Prix, the two went toe-to-toe but still, Hamilton upstaged his teammate.

The dominant start to the season achieved by McLaren is now being mired by the alleged falling out between the team’s two drivers. In the defense of the team and both drivers, Norbert Haug, Mercedes-Benz’ competition chief claimed that the team is not favoring any of the two to become this year’s champion.

“If that was right, I would know about it,” said Haug after it was rumored that McLaren has already decided which diver to back for the championship. “The truth is that there is obviously a huge demand for stories about Lewis by the English media and therefore things emerge that say more about the creativity of their author than they do about the facts.”

“We are not so arrogant to think that we can pre-determine who is a world champion. Ron, myself, and every other team member would welcome any world champion as long as his car has a (Mercedes-Benz) star on his nose,” added Haug.

As for Hamilton who is driving the same car as Alonso, the MP4-22 with a Mercedes-Benz engine and Mercedes-Benz oil filter and whatnot, he answered Alonso’s claim that the championship starts at the French Grand Prix by saying: “The championship starts at the first race.”

The young rookie who has broken record after record in his maiden season in Formula One pointed out that while he and Alonso are competitive they have respect for each other. “We are very, very competitive. In ourselves, obviously we want to beat each other more than anything but, outside of the car, we respect each other. But, for sure, we have to be careful.”

Hamilton also claimed that he and Alonso have agreed to speak with each other if they are not happy with what has been said already. “If I have any questions, I will ask him face to face,” said Hamilton.

The British Formula One rookie has 58 points so far after seven races. In all his seven races, Hamilton scored podium finishes and the last two outings have been wins. Alonso also has two wins, at the Malaysian and Monaco Grands Prix. His inconsistency though to finish in the top three for every race put him ten points behind his consistent teammate.

McLaren leads the constructors’ championship standing with 106 points. Their closest rival is Ferrari with 71 points. Ferrari is looking to close that gap with a breakout race from Kimi Raikkonen, a former McLaren driver. To extend McLaren’s lead, either Alonso or Hamilton needs to win the French Grand Prix.

Source:  Amazines.com