The Hindu : Sport / Racing : Motor : New track boosts Hamilton’s hopes

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Friday, Sep 28, 2007
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Sport - Racing : Motor

New track boosts Hamilton’s hopes

OYAMA: Lewis Hamilton is hoping the new track for this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix at the Fuji Speedway will turn around a recent slump in form that has allowed his McLaren teammate Fernando Alonso to gain ground in the drivers standings.

Defending Formula One world champion Alonso has beaten Hamilton in five of the last six races, and the British driver’s one-time 14-point lead has shrunk to just two, 97-95, with three races left in the season.

“I think one or two of them were by luck. A couple issues I had with tyres,” Hamilton said, referring to tyre and wheel failures in two of the races he was bettered by Alonso. “The other ones he just outperformed me.

“You are trying to get it right and I definitely didn’t get it right the last couple races,” Hamilton said.

Hamilton is clinging to the chance to become the first rookie to take the F1 title amid a tumultuous two months that has seen McLaren embroiled in dispute over possession of technical data belonging to rival constructor Ferrari.

After being found guilty by world governing body FIA, McLaren is not only out of the constructors’ title race and fined $100 million, but relations are strained within the team.

Alonso says he is getting better, especially after the Italian Grand Prix which he won and the Belgian Grand Prix where he was third and Hamilton fourth.

“You are learning every weekend. For sure I am better now than I was in Spa, and at Spa I was better than I was at Monza, “Alonso said.

The others

Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa will be out to challenge the McLaren duo.

Raikkonen won the last race in Belgium with Massa second. They now have 84 and 77 points respectively.

Hamilton refuses to give up his grip on a possible title.

“We still have three races to go and I think we should be able to turn that over a little bit and turn up the heat, maybe,” he said.

Hamilton will be hoping he can turn up some of that heat on the new Fuji Speedway, a state-of-the-art racing facility at the base of the picturesque Mount Fuji which boasts a 1.5-km main straight, the longest in the world. The last corner forms a hairpin turn where drivers could pass.

The 4.6-km circuit obtained a Grade 1 license from FIA last year after hosting its last F1 race 30 years ago when James Hunt drove a McLaren-Ford to victory.

The Fuji Speedway originally opened in 1966. Toyota, which is trying to be more competitive in F1, completed renovations on the new course in 2006.

About 200 km southwest of Fuji is the Suzuka circuit, owned by rival Japanese manufacturer Honda Motor Co. Ltd., which had staged the Japanese Grand Prix since 1987 and will host it again in 2009.

Suzuka’s contract to host F1 expired after the 2006 season and the Fuji Speedway is just over an hour’s drive from Tokyo, while Suzuka is three hours from Nagoya by car.

Practice for the Japanese Grand Prix will be held on Friday and Saturday morning, ahead of qualifying Saturday afternoon. Sunday’s race is 67 laps.

Even though Raikkonen and Massa trail the McLaren drivers in the driver standings, Ferrari took its 15th team title when McLaren’s team points were withdrawn. — AP

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