McLaren confident of another success
by Michelle Fortune, 25 July 2008
McLaren are in a confident frame of mind heading into next weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix with Lewis Hamilton bidding for his third straight win.
Hamilton won the race from pole position last year and as expected he is optimistic of consolidating his position at the head of the Drivers' championship with another strong showing at the Hungaroring.
However, the Briton was wary of saying too much as he knows that strategy will be all important once again.
"I’m wary about making any strong predictions; yes, we were strong in the last two races, but we encountered difficulties in the two before that, so it’s impossible to call it this weekend," said Hamilton.
"All I can say is that our car feels fantastic at the moment and I’m really enjoying driving it: it feels like you can keep fine-tuning it to extract more performance from it, which is a fantastic feeling for any racing driver."
When questioned about the circuit, Hamilton added: "Hungary is very different from Germany; Hockenheim is a track that allows you to slipstream and pass other drivers fairly easily, the Hungaroring is the opposite of that.
"Qualifying will be crucial, and strategy will also be important in determining the optimum fuel-weight for the opening stint. It will be hot and tiring too, so keeping your focus and concentration will be vital.
"I don’t go into this weekend surfing any particular wave of confidence: it’s such a different type of circuit that it’s difficult for anybody to feel certain about their chances."
Hamilton's team-mate Heikki Kovalainen was pleased with his performance at the Hungaroing last year, when he was 12th, and he is looking forward to returning to the circuit next week.
"It’s a circuit where you’ve got to make the car work for you: it’s not a track where you can drag the laptime out of the car, it’s more about working patiently with the set-up to make your life easier on raceday," he said.
"It’s a circuit I enjoy. I’ve done a couple of GP2 races here but my best performance was last year when I had one of the best races of my F1 career.
"Okay, I finished only eighth, but I was fighting with Rosberg for lap after lap, really pushing 100 percent all the way to the flag.
"It was one of those dices that never gets shown on TV, but I felt proud and satisfied afterwards because I’d pushed for the whole afternoon. This year, it would be nice if I could reward the team with another strong result."