Lewis Hamilton not shutting the year off as McLaren’s reliability remains a question – Formula 1
McLaren-Mercedes driver, Lewis Hamilton, has said that despite having a car that is not capable of winning a place on the podium, it’s still anybody’s season. He was talking to media after the second day of the Barcelona test. He had previously stated that
the first four or five Grand Prix races will decide the fate of McLaren in the rest of the season.
Hamilton clocked the fourth fastest time of one minute and 22.888 seconds on the second day of the Barcelona test, but was not happy with the reliability of the car. His new MP4-26, yet again faced a hydraulics problem and Hamilton’s outing was cut short
in the morning session. He did the afternoon session just to gather data with no real speed. This is the ninth consecutive day after the launch of the MP4-26 that a problem has halted their testing.
Hamilton said about his teams championship hopes, “I have every belief in my heart that I can win many, many more world championships. But do I believe I have a car to win the world championship at the moment? I don't.” Although he did say that the car is
not entirely a mess, as Brundle described it, but Hamilton said that a few improvements, he and the MP4-26 can make their way to the top five. He also said that, “for example we were able to be in the top five for the first three or four races, get those points,
and then if we happen to have a car capable of winning, then it would still be possible.” Jenson Button also said the other day that if McLaren finishes third to Red Bull and Ferrari, it will not be unexpected.
Hamilton has been with McLaren for four years now and he has only managed one championship so far. Talking about his recent performance with McLaren, he regretted it and said that he should have won the title in 2007, but he didn’t. “I'm ready, and ‘when’
the car is ready I will be at the front and I will win races, but whether that will happen, we'll see,” he said.
Hamilton and Button have both won championships with McLaren but have recently given several negative comments about the car. It seems that they are not expecting a championship with MP4-26 this year.
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