2013-04-16 10:05:26 +02:00

212 lines
5.7 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File

sport
motorsport
formulaone
lewishamilton
4939571
-----
# Lewis Hamilton's McLaren F1 team have work to do
## Lewis Hamilton's new McLaren challenger was only seventh quickest out of
eight cars at the penultimate round of group testing in Jerez yesterday ahead
of the season opener in Melbourne on March 29.
![Lewis Hamilton's McLaren F1 team have work to do ][1]
Briefing: McLaren's world champion Lewis Hamilton admits his team have work to
do ahead of the Australian grand prix in Melbourne Photo: REUTERS
By Tom Cary 8:09PM GMT 04 Mar 2009
[Comments][2]
The world champion's MP4-24 suffered a technical failure during the morning,
which forced it back to the pits with fire coming from the engine.
Although Hamilton returned to complete 70 laps, he later spun in the blustery
wind and rain and his best time of 1min 21.302sec was nearly 1½sec down on
Renault's Fernando Alonso. Another potential world title rival, Kimi
Raikkonen, was second quickest in his Ferrari.
British race fans should not be too concerned, however, by the McLaren's
failure to best any car except Force India. Winter testing is a notorious
unreliable indicator of form going into a season, with different teams trying
different set-ups, testing different electronic systems and looking for
specific feedback. Two weeks ago Hamilton's wheels were the quickest for two
days running with Renault's R29 looking sluggish.
Certainly the Briton was unfazed, playing down comparisons with Renault and
perennial rivals Ferrari. "We're just testing, who knows?" Hamilton said.
"We'll find out when we get to the first race.
"This is my first day with Ferrari being at the same track, so for me it looks
very similar to every other year - 2007 and 2008.
## Related Articles
* [Mansell: Hamilton win 'less credible' than mine][3]
04 Mar 2009
* [De la Rosa's danger fears][4]
02 Mar 2009
* [Whitmarsh calls for F1 revamp][5]
28 Feb 2009
* [TV's best ever theme tune?][6]
24 Feb 2009
* [Danica Patrick: F1 driver?][7]
25 Feb 2009
* [Show promotes low- and zero-emission vehicles][8]
24 Feb 2009
"Just from looking at the times, it looks like [Toyota] are doing quite a good
job. But I think a lot of the teams are doing quite good jobs. The Renault
doesn't look bad, the BMW doesn't look bad, so there are quite a lot of teams
looking pretty impressive at the moment.
"I haven't arrived here thinking I'm world champion, I've arrived thinking
I've got a great team I need to push as hard as I can," added the 24-year-old.
"We've got a lot of work to do to make sure we're ready for Australia."
Asked if any team could spring a surprise this season, Hamilton's response
would have delighted his employers. The Briton nominated Force India, whose
entire power-train is being supplied McLaren-Mercedes this year.
Force India and Renault now head back to their factories prior to next week's
final group test in Barcelona, with the six other teams staying on at Jerez
for a final day of running.
Meanwhile, on a potentially landmark day in the history of F1, the Formula One
Teams Association will this morning hold its first official press conference
since its formation last year.
FOTA was formed in an attempt to provide the teams with greater harmony,
influence in terms of how the sport is run and bargaining power in their
negotiations with Bernie Ecclestone, the sport's commercial rights holder, and
the FIA, the sport's governing body. Their ability to stay unified over the
coming season will determine how successful they are in that power struggle.
Senior management from every FOTA-affiliated team, including Ross Brawn, who
is leading a management buy-out at Honda, met at the organisation's
headquarters in Geneva yesterday to discuss the findings of a global market
research survey conducted with fans.
Plans to revise the qualifying format, adjustments to the points structure,
mandatory tyre changes and more availability of team data for fans are all
thought to be on the agenda.
[X][9] Share & bookmark
Delicious Facebook Google Messenger Reddit Twitter
Digg Fark LinkedIn Google Buzz StumbleUpon Y! Buzz
[What are these?][10]
* Share: [Share][9] [ ][11] [ ][12]
[Tweet][13]
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/motorsport/formulaone/lewishamilton/4939571
/Lewis-Hamiltons-McLaren-F1-team-have-work-to-do.html
Telegraph
## [Lewis Hamilton][14]
* ### [Sport »][15]
* ### [Formula One »][16]
* ### [Ferrari »][17]
* ### [McLaren »][18]
* ### [BMW Sauber »][19]
In sport
[![Formula One 2011: drivers' and constructors' world championships standings
- Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton][20] ][21]
### [F1 2011: standings][21]
[![Formula One, 2011: Team by Team guide: Red Bull][22] ][23]
### [F1 2011: team-by-team guide][23]
[![][24] ][25]
### [F1 2011: full race schedule][25]
[![Follow Telegraph Sport on Twitter][26]][27]
### [Follow Telegraph Sport on Twitter][27]
[X][9] Share & bookmark
Delicious Facebook Google Messenger Reddit Twitter
Digg Fark LinkedIn Google Buzz StumbleUpon Y! Buzz
[What are these?][10]
Share:
* [ ][9]
* [ ][11]
* [ ][12]
* [Tweet][13]
* ## [LEWIS HAMILTON ACTION PHTOS »][28]
Lewis Hamilton action photos: The best full-colour Lewis Hamilton action
photos.
Advertisement
![][29]
telegraphuk
Please enable JavaScript to view the [comments powered by Disqus.][30] [blog
comments powered by Disqus][31]
Advertisement
Formula 1 Drivers' championship: Latest standing in the Formula One drivers'
championship.
## LEWIS HAMILTON LINKS
### [Lewis Hamilton on the web][14]
[Lewis Hamilton][32] | [SecretLewis.com][33] | [@SecretLewis][34]
Advertisement
Classified Advertising
* [Motoring][35]
* [Engineering Jobs][36]
* [Property][37]
Loading
var puffs_8257595 = new Array();