Lewis Hamilton: Shanghai a “Step Towards My Dream”
Lewis Hamilton has described his victory in Sunday’s Chinese Grand Prix as “another step towards my dream”.
The McLaren Mercedes driver led from start to finish at the Shanghai International Circuit, with Ferrari duo Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen finishing second and third.
Hamilton thus holds a seven-point lead over Massa in the Drivers’ Championship heading into the final race of the season, the Brazilian Grand Prix, two weeks hence.
Renault’s Fernando Alonso finished fourth, ahead of the BMW pair of Nick Heidfeld and Kubica. Toyota’s Timo Glock was seventh and Renault’s Nelson Piquet Jr. got the final point.
Hamilton predicted: “Going to Brazil, it will be a much different situation to last year.”
You will recall the then rookie Hamilton held a seven-point lead, over Kimi Raikkonen, heading into last year’s Brazilian Grand Prix. A combination of driver errors, plus a gearbox problem, meant that Hamilton could only finish seventh in 2007. Raikkonen won the race at Interlagos to take the title by a single point.
Ron Dennis, the McLaren team principal, has praised Lewis Hamilton’s victory in the Chinese grand prix, but said the team is under no illusions that the championship is theirs.
Dennis warned Hamilton to “keep the discipline going” over the team radio after his win and said that for the next week the 23 year-old would be put in an environment where he is not thinking about motor-racing at all.
“We just want him to chill out, keep training and not worry about anything because there is nothing to be gained by thinking about other things,” said Dennis. “All he has to do is turn up in Brazil in very good condition, do all the normal things he does to combat jetlag, prepare mentally, and then we will get on and do a job. But we recall we went to Brazil last year and didn’t win the championship, so we are under no illusions. We know it’s not done.”
Lap 35 and Kovalainen suffers a puncture that sends him to the back of the field.
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That was not the most exciting of races, Lewis led into the first corner & Kimi followed him but could not close the gap,
Man I can’t wait for the arrival of the new cars next year, hopefully they will mix up the grid & allow some passing.
Poor lewis, statistically he’s long overdue for an engine related DNF: And he’ll be on his second race with this particular M-B engine.
If he’s not content to settle for 5th place and nurse that baby home he may lose it all……..again!
The thought of mASSa winning a title on his home ground makes me ill.
George, I don’t really have a dog in this fight, but it would be “just deserts” if Massa won considering all the flack he caught by the press and others early in the season.
Besides, if Lewis had a breakdown of mental, or mechanical, and lost the title AGAIN it would be great fun watching the Brit press completely eviscerate him.
Hell, the Brit press may even start pimping The Dear Boy again.
Hehehe………you may have something there, vis-a vie neutering Lewis if takes the collar. He’ll be a sympathetic figure if it’s a mechanical breakdown. In that case Ron Dennis sings soprano for the off season!
mASSa is not my favorite as you no doubt can tell by my unique spelling of his name. He brings whining to a different level, in a different way.
While I don’t question his talent (although I do question some of his on-track behaviour) Hamilton does not seem to realise his incredible good fortune.
How many drivers have had race winning & championship winning cars under them in their first two seasons?