Hamilton: I vow that I’ll give it my all on every single lap at Interlagos
22 November, 2012
Lewis Hamilton celebrates after winning the United States GP
Nov.22 (Apex) The Brazilian Grand Prix weekend is sure to be an emotional weekend in the McLaren camp as Lewis Hamilton’s tenure with the team that nurtured him from karting to the 2008 Formula One World Drivers’ Championship title, comes to an end in Sao Paulo, before the Briton moves on to the next chapter of his career with the Mercedes team.
Hamilton recalled, “Brazil has been the scene of some epic races for me during my time at Vodafone McLaren Merecedes and, for many reasons, this weekend will be a very big race for me. I nearly won the title here in 2007, clinched it on the final turn in 2008 and drove like crazy to finish on the podium in 2009.”
“But I’ve never won: and that’s what I’ll be aiming to do this time around. As [this will be my] my final race behind the wheel of a McLaren. I vow to the whole team that I’ll give it my all on every single lap,” he promised.
Hamilton and McLaren will look back on a year which could have been very different had reliability not plagued the team in the final stages of the season, before Singapore they were well positioned in the standings. But on a balmy night in Singapore, Hamilton retired while leading comfortably, and allowed Sebastian Vettel to go on to win the race. In retrospect that was the turning point of the title battle.
Thereafter another DNF, while leading in Abu Dhabi ended his title ambitions.
Nevertheless Hamilton bounced back to win the United States Grand Prix, by out racing Vettel, and said, “My win in Austin last week was one of the races of my life, and I’d love to take victory in Brazil this weekend to give the team the perfect farewell present.”
The weekend in Sao Paulo is all about the title battle between Vetel and Fernando Alonso, something which the 2008 world champion acknowledges, “Finally, a word on the championship; it’s a very finely poised battle, and neither Sebastian nor Fernando can afford to relax for a moment. They are both fantastic drivers, and both have driven superbly all season. Now, we’ll see who takes the final honours – I hope it’s an epic contest.”
McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh;”This weekend’s Brazilian Grand Prix will be Lewis’ final race for Vodafone McLaren Mercedes – the end of a long, and successful, chapter in the team’s history.”
Subbed by AJN.
Related posts:
- Brazilian Grand Prix: McLaren previews Interlagos
- Hamilton: Last race in Brazil is going to be a really emotional sendoff
- Preview: Brazilian Grand Prix, Round 20 at Interlagos
- Hamilton wins US GP, Red Bull champions, Brazil to decide Vettel vs Alonso
- FIA preview the Brazilian GP at Interlagos
LH, the next Damon Hill lucky to have won WDC. well at least Damon dominated all the way to his championship!
Definitely. because it appears he is the only driver who can shake Seb. If you look at all the races of Seb’s domination/wins, Lewis has retired while leading 2 out 6; and he won 1 out of 6; so that would make it 3 wins a piece. But Lewis’ strength only favoured Alonso in Austin. It saved him 7 pts for the fight. That’s where it stops; he can only be a disadvantage to Alonso now, bse Seb does not care what Alonso or who else does. He will only drive his race and hope he does not DNF. On the other hand Alonso is interested in scoring maximum points plus hoping Seb DNFs; that means he is fighting every other driver incl. Lewis who most likely might be stronger. Tough times ahead! Will LH gift FA a position if it gives him the WDC? hmmm.. tough one..
Definitely. because it appears he is the only driver who can shake Seb. If you look at all the races of Seb’s domination/wins, Lewis has retired while leading 2 out 6; and he won 1 out of 6; so that would make it 3 wins a piece. But Lewis’ strength only favoured Alonso in Austin. It saved him 7 pts for the fight. That’s where it stops; he can only be a disadvantage to Alonso now, bse Seb does not care what Alonso or who else does. He will only drive his race and hope he does not DNF. On the other hand Alonso is interested in scoring maximum points plus hoping Seb DNFs; that means he is fighting every other driver incl. Lewis who most likely might be stronger.
Point to note however; Seb will have to hover around the top 4 to prevent any syndicates! If he relaxes knowing that LH will win, he might be in for a shocker when LH understeers with FA on his tail and it is the penultimate lap! At that point McLaren will be settled for 3rd in the WCC for instance (Massa doing well a given) and Kimi is in the top 5 => LH not fighting for 3rd in the WDC.
Therefore PLAN Seb.. pole, get away fast and control the race, avoid midfield squabbles for the first corner, drop the field, if LH comes, let him by => do not push unnecessarily.. reliability, just cruise. keep ur distance from the midfield teams aka Sauber, Williams, Force India.. a lot of fights there.. friendly fire in those teams.
PLAN Alonso.. drive to the maximum and hope for luck
Definitely. because it appears he is the only driver who can shake Seb. If you look at all the races of Seb’s domination/wins, Lewis has retired while leading 2 out 6; and he won 1 out of 6; so that would make it 3 wins a piece. But Lewis’ strength only favoured Alonso in Austin. It saved him 7 pts for the fight. That’s where it stops; he can only be a disadvantage to Alonso now, bse Seb does not care what Alonso or who else does. He will only drive his race and hope he does not DNF. On the other hand Alonso is interested in scoring maximum points plus hoping Seb DNFs; that means he is fighting every other driver incl. Lewis who most likely might be stronger. Tough times ahead! Will LH gift FA a position if it gives him the WDC? hmmm.. tough one..
Point to note however; Seb will have to hover around the top 4 to prevent any syndicates! If he relaxes knowing that LH will win, he might be in for a shocker when LH understeers with FA on his tail and it is the penultimate lap! At that point McLaren will be settled for 3rd in the WCC for instance (Massa doing well a given) and Kimi is in the top 5 => LH not fighting for 3rd in the WDC.
Therefore PLAN Seb.. pole, get away fast and control the race, avoid midfield squabbles for the first corner, drop the field, if LH comes, let him by => do not push unnecessarily => reliability, just cruise. keep ur distance from the midfield teams aka Sauber, Williams, Force India.. a lot of fights there.. friendly fire in those teams.
PLAN Alonso.. drive to the maximum and hope for luck
God luck and I hope you win to leave McLaren on a high. It will be a sad parting for the fans though. Lewis’ win at Austin helped Alonso by limiting the deficit by 7 points. I have a feeling that he may have a role to play in the outcome of the WDC.
GATECRASHER