Hamilton wants to be Melbourne-again
If Lewis Hamilton had his pick of holiday destinations Melbourne would be quite low down on his list. The 2009 Australian Grand Prix was the venue where Hamilton’s suffered his annus horribilis.
He was disqualified from the race and it set the tone for his disastrous title defence.
Hamilton was accused of allowing Jarno Trulli to overtake him during safety car conditions, so the Italian would be demoted, thus securing Hamilton a third-place finish. The Englishman initially denied these accusations but was caught-out by the radio transcript and faced a black flag as a result.
You would think 2010 would represent a great opportunity for Hamilton to right these wrongs but thing’s aren’t getting much better. He was pulled over and arrested for wheel spinning yesterday as his relationship with the Land of Oz continues to sour. Hamilton was accused of smoking his tyres as he left the circuit at around 9pm. As a result he faces criminal charges and his car has been impounded; let’s just hope it wasn’t the McLaren.
It also begs the question, if Hamilton lost his driving licence would he lose his racing licence?
However there is light at the end of the tunnel as Hamilton has looked very quick in practise today racking up a 1min 25.801sec lap, the fastest of the day. The Stevenage-born racer was slightly off the pace in Bahrain coming third without setting the world on fire, only just nudging-out the wounded car of Sebastian Vettel.
During pre-season testing it looked like McLaren could be competitive, they have continued to tinker with the car and although it has potential, it isn’t producing the speeds it is capable of.
However the tide seems to slowly be turning and today McLaren racked up a one-two quickest lap, they will be hoping to repeat that in qualifying and then again on Sunday. Teammate Jenson Button will be a lot happier with his performance as well. The world champion has been playing second fiddle to Hamilton since his arrival and looked much more comfortable and confident, putting in a lap time just 0.275 seconds slower than Hamilton’s.
Elsewhere Mark Webber and Nico Rosberg looked very quick, while somewhat ominously Michael Schumacher put in a lightning lap of 1:26.511. The old Kaiser is rolling back the years and starting to remember how to drive. Once he finds his swagger things will really heat up.
Hamilton will be the man to beat on Sunday though. He will be desperate to put on a good show and exorcise those demons of 2009. With the Ferrari’s, Vettel and Schumacher are all clambering for the top spot already, Hamilton has no time to lose in terms of racking up the points.
It should be the memories of last year that will spur on Hamilton. The Melbourne Grand Prix represents everything that went wrong in his year of h**l and if he gets the top-podium spot he can consider that well and truly in the past.
Yet in many ways Hamilton can consider himself lucky. If there is one place where he can bounce back it’s the land of the kangaroo.
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