The McLaren Boys Show They Have What It Takes
By Emma Aitken
May 12 2008
After his horrible crash in Spain Kovalainen came back fighting in Turkey. His fight to make it back through the field made for some of the most entertaining moves we've seen in a Grand Prix for quite some time. Lewis, meanwhile, did a tremendous job of keeping those Ferrari's honest.
May 12 2008
After his horrible crash in Spain Kovalainen came back fighting in Turkey. His fight to make it back through the field made for some of the most entertaining moves we've seen in a Grand Prix for quite some time. Lewis, meanwhile, did a tremendous job of keeping those Ferrari's honest.
I did something while watching the Turkish Grand Prix that I haven’t done while watching any Grand Prix for some time; I sat on the edge of my seat!
What with Lewis taking on the Ferrari’s and Heikki taking on the whole grid I can’t remember that last time I enjoyed a race so much. And those McLaren’s were looking good. Martin Whitmarsh believes that Heikki could have easily gone on to win the race had it not been for the poor start and the tyre puncture. I’d love to gloss over the poor start bit but I can’t. What about that start? I mean, he made it extremely easy for his team mate to swiftly slot in to his second place, didn’t he? Too easy? No, no; surely not!
But then the poor Finn had to head back to the pits to sort out that puncture and, left at the back of the pack he got stuck in. It was brilliant. My God that boy’s a fighter and how encouraging to see it. Whitmarsh said afterwards,
“It was a particularly striking performance given the accident he suffered in Spain a fortnight ago.”
Too right it was. He certainly showed no fear getting back in to his MP4-23. McLaren seems to have been all about Lewis Hamilton since he arrived on the scene. Heikki showed in Turkey that he certainly has got what it takes to win races and I don’t think it will be too long before we see him do it either.
Lewis claims it was the best he’s ever raced.
“It doesn’t matter whether you win or not, it’s whether you drive at 100 per cent, whether you extract the most out of the car.
“It’s one of those times when you end the race and you ask yourself and the team, could we have done a better job?
“And I strongly believe we couldn’t have done a better job.”
In some respects it’s a slightly over-exuberant reaction. Possibly to compensate for the three stop strategy that did eliminate his chance of actually taking the lead from Massa out on the track and keeping it to the finish line.
Hamilton claimed that Bridgestone enforced the three stopper as it was the safest way to go. Bridgestone deny this claim, saying that they only requested that McLaren ensured Lewis’ middle stint was no longer than 18 laps. They recommended a two-stop strategy with pit stops on laps 20 and 38. they also confirmed that Hamilton was the only driver to suffer from the tyre problems, which appeared to be a consequence of the high loadings his driving style generated in the long and fast turn eight.
Lewis has a history of not being kind to his tyres. Where as I truly love his spirit and his will to win, I also love to see him complete races with all tyres in tack and there were several instances last season where that didn’t happen.
It was fantastic to watch him overtake Massa for the lead though, albeit short lived. And the pace was there too. I think the Ferrari’s are looking over their shoulders again now and all they can see coming at them are the McLarens.
Bookmark or share this story with:
Digg
Delicious
Facebook
Reddit
Stumbleupon