Lewis Hamilton hopes McLaren get some Spa relief at Belgian grand prix
• Hamilton optimistic that car’s potential can be unlocked
• Sebastian Vettel confident of Red Bull success in Spa
Lewis Hamilton heads to Spa this weekend hopeful that McLaren have found the key to unlocking the potential of his car. The race in Belgium is vital for McLaren after their worst weekend of the year in Budapest just over three weeks ago.
Hamilton trails championship leader Mark Webber by four points, but McLaren’s trouncing by Red Bull at the Hungaroring was a major cause for concern.
The hope is that Spa’s long straights will prove a benefit to McLaren for this weekend at least, while the belief is they will also be strong for the final European race in Italy next month.
If the team fails to revive their challenge it could leave them vulnerable for the final five fly-away races.
“Although it’s been great for the whole team to have had the factory shutdown and a well-deserved holiday, I think we’re all really looking forward to getting back into the title fight,” said Hamilton.
“The break gave us some valuable thinking time to consider how to improve our car for the remainder of the season. We head into these two races not only optimistic of some better results, but also of stronger pace for the rest of the year.”
McLaren’s team principal, Martin Whitmarsh, is convinced there are hidden secrets within the car which they have yet to tap into. “After a disappointing Hungarian grand prix we are pushing hard to regain the performance relative to our rivals that we had enjoyed earlier this season,” said Whitmarsh.
“While we believe our recent upgrades have given us a downforce improvement, it appears the package hasn’t yet delivered to its full potential, particularly in terms of providing the drivers with a consistent, confidence-delivering platform. As we’ve always stated, we believe there are some large areas of performance locked within the car and its recent upgrade.
“We are confident our solid-engineering approach will enable us to fully unlock them sooner rather than later.”
Hamilton, who watched last season’s Belgian grand prix from the garage after being involved in a first-lap accident that also included Jenson Button, is also hoping to avoid any more reliability issues after his gearbox failure in Hungary.
“We’ve investigated the causes [of the gearbox issue], and think we’ve identified the reason and are confident it shouldn’t happen again.
“Personally, I think Spa is one of the great Formula One tracks, and one where I’d really love to win. I’ll be going flat-out to try and get us back into the hunt again in Belgium, and it would be fantastic if we could take home another win at the end of the weekend.”
Sebastian Vettel, meanwhile, says he is feeling confident ahead of the race. Vettel remains only 10 points adrift of his team-mate Webber going into the final seven races.
“I love Spa. It has some of the best corner sections in Formula One. They’re long, fast-flowing and suit our car.
“Our weakness will be the long straights and, with uphill sections too, we know it won’t be easy for us, but I am optimistic for the race.”
Category: Lewis Hamilton Updates
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