Lewis Hamilton expects Sepang circuit to reveal the true pace of teams: Formula One
McLaren-Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton has claimed that the second race of the 2011 Formula One season, which will take place at Sepang in Malaysia on 10th April, will give a clearer picture of the true potential of all the teams. The British
driver started the season on a positive note, ending up in second place in the Australian Grand Prix behind Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel.
The former champion stated, “After the pace we showed in Melbourne, I think we can have another good race in Malaysia. Albert Park is a great track, but a circuit like Sepang is where the differences between the cars will start to become clearer.”
Hamilton further said, “I'm really looking forward to using KERS Hybrid and the DRS too - the rapid change of direction you experience when the car is really in the groove is phenomenal around here, and I think both systems will make the cars look sensational,
especially in qualifying.”
Although Vettel won the race by a convincing margin, Hamilton gave him a tough time during the season opener in Australia. However, the British driver damaged the floor of his car, which cost him a lot of straight line speed and he failed to challenge the
reigning champion towards the end.
McLaren team boss Martin Whitmarsh admitted that his team wasn’t as quick as Red Bull, but claimed that they would continue to develop the car throughout the season in order to catch up with the 2010 champions. Whitmarsh also stated that Red Bull weren’t
able to express their true pace in Australia as well, despite winning convincingly.
Apart from McLaren and Red Bull, there will be some other teams like Ferrari and Mercedes, which will be eying an improved show at Sepang. Both teams had a bad start to their campaign in the 2011 season. However, the scarlet car finished in the points, as
drivers Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa finished fourth and seventh respectively.
On the other hand, Mercedes had a terrible outing in Australia, as both drivers Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg were forced to retire from the race following their accidents. Earlier, the German team also failed to impress during the qualifiers of the
Australian Grand Prix.
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