One year is enough to make a pretty compelling difference. Take McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton. A year ago, he was a rookie, but a remarkable one. Now, he radiates oozing confidence.
What would the 2008 season be like to Hamilton? In an interview with the official website of F1, he spilled the beans…
Q: How do you expect your relationship with new teammate Heikki Kovalainen to differ from that you had with Fernando Alonso?
Lewis Hamilton: I don’t think it’s going be a huge difference because me and
Fernando got on very well. Sure he liked to keep to his own side and do his own thing whereas Heikki is probably more similar to me as I like to talk a lot and he is also quite bubbly. He is more open to talk so it’s easy to speak to him and there is already something of a friendship developing, so it will be a fun season.
Q: But as Heikki is the newcomer, does that automatically make you the top dog?
LH: We both will be treated equally. And I think that is the best way to do it. At the end of the day we are out there to beat each other, compete with each other, but also to bring the team forward. With Heikki I can clearly see that he wants to beat me and I want to beat him - but all in a fair manner. He is as much a racer as I am.
Q: And obviously he does not come with the baggage of being a twice world champion…
LH: I don’t know what you mean… What I can say is that Heikki and me, we both have that fresh blood and the determination to go somewhere.
Q: Do you think the team will be handicapped by agreeing to suspend development of certain new systems on the car following the Ferrari ‘spy scandal’?
LH: No, we will find other ways of improving the car and continue moving forward. It is part of the sport. The team has gone through a hell of a lot but they still have the same determination and drive to win the world championship - and if we win it’s even better.
Q: Traction control has been banned for ’08. There has been talk that this could prove dangerous in wet conditions such as those we saw at Nurburgring and Fuji last year - what are your thoughts on this?
LH: We will see. I quite liked traction control so it’s a new challenge for the drivers - and for the team, to not have the set-up control and use it to our advantage. So I guess it will be tricky for sure. But look at GP2, look at Formula Three - every other class can drive without it and so we can do it too. It’s harder for sure. In the end racing is our job and we have to give the maximum under whatever technical requirements or outside conditions.
[credit: Formula1.com]