Lewis Hamilton is confident McLaren can close the gap on Sebastian Vettel`s Red Bull after staging a stunning turnaround to finish second behind the world champion at the Australian Grand Prix.
|Last Updated: Mar 28, 2011, 08:16 AM IST|Source: Bureau
Melbourne: Lewis Hamilton is confident McLaren can close the gap on Sebastian Vettel`s Red Bull after staging a stunning turnaround to finish second behind the world champion at the Australian Grand Prix.
The Briton said he felt privileged after coming from such an unpromising position in pre-season testing to a podium finish after the team made dramatic changes to the car for the season opener.
"I think we can take this and be very proud of ourselves," he told a news conference. "A week or two ago, we were not expecting to be anywhere near the top five.”
"So to come away with a second, the car was reliable, this was the longest the car ever lasted. I think it`s a great achievement.”
"Clearly we were catching Sebastian early on in the race... Generally we had very good pace and I`m looking forward to the next race.”
"This is a great platform for us to push on from."
Australia has not been a happy hunting ground for the 26-year-old since he won the race on his way to the world title in 2008.
In 2009, he was caught in a storm over lying to race officials and was stopped by police near the Albert Park circuit and fined for reckless driving in his road car following Friday practice last year.
Even the news that the dominant Red Bull had not used the KERS system, which gives a short boost of power to a driver, in the race could not dim his enthusiasm."I think it`s clear they have a fantastic car," he said. "But for us coming here two seconds off the pace to being in qualifying a second off, if they had KERS, (and) the race pace being very, very similar.”
"That`s the most impressive part for me, it`s very rarely you see in Formula One such a massive leap in performance. I`m really privileged to be up here because I thought it was going to be a bad weekend.”
"But I`m back in the fight only behind the guy who has a much, much faster car. But we will close that gap, I`m very sure of that."
It was not all an easy ride for Hamilton. He made a poor start from second on the grid and only just managed to hold off Red Bull`s Mark Webber and then had to contend with some damage to the floor of his car late in the race.Team boss Martin Whitmarsh was confident Hamilton would not face a penalty for damaging the wooden plank, which runs the length of the floor of all Formula One cars and is supposed to remain intact.
"There`s plenty of precedent for damaged cars," he told reporters.
"I might be wrong but I don`t fear that at all. It`s clear that the car was damaged, I`m sure the plank saw a bit of wear it`s still there I`m quite, sure so I wouldn`t think that`s a problem."
Bureau Report
By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts.
Cookies Setting
By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device and the processing of information obtained via those cookies (including about your preferences, device and online activity) by us and our commercial partners to enhance site navigation, personalise ads, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. More information can be found in our Cookies and Privacy Policy. You can amend your cookie settings to reject non-essential cookies by clicking Cookie Settings below.
Manage Consent Preferences
Strictly Necessary Cookies
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work or you may not be able to login.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then some or all of these services may not function properly.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They are also used to limit the number of times you see an advert as well as help measure the effectiveness of an advertising campaign. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we may not know when you have visited our site, and may not be able to monitor its performance.