McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton targets victory at Italian GP in Monza
McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton almost lost the race at the Belgian Grand Prix after losing control and going off track in the rain but eventually recovered and cruised his way past the chequered flag to score a well-deserved victory this past Sunday. It added a win on one of the “classic” venues for Hamilton along with his wins at Silverstone and Monte Carlo. The British driver hopes to win the race at Monza next week and the MP4-25 is the perfect car for achieving that goal. Hamilton explained his agenda in an interview on his official website.
Hamilton was happy about the fact that this win returned him to the top of the championship standings and it was a critical win. The team went into the summer break and they knew that they had a disappointing race at the Hungaroring. McLaren struggled for pace all weekend in Hungary but the team was confident before going into Spa, as they knew that they had a very strong package for the track. However, one can never predict what the other teams might have in store.
It was not an easy weekend because of the changing conditions and obviously, the team did not know how the car would perform as it rained on Friday and although the team was doing great in those conditions. The team got a better idea on Saturday and if it had not rained in the last couple of minutes in qualifying, Lewis believes he would have scored a pole. However, it was still quite satisfying as he was able to qualify in the front row and with Jenson at fifth, the team showed its competitiveness.
“In the race itself, I was able to settle into a steady rhythm at the front. The track was only slightly damp in places at the start, so it was quite easy to establish a gap. When the rain started to fall, that is when I began to get quite nervous, because you know you have built up a margin, and you know that you can so easily lose out in those sorts of conditions. It was scary”, said Lewis.
The former champion thought his race had ended when he went through the turn eight gravel and his heart started pumping. He was trying to nurse the car through the gravel and get back on the track.
“The funny thing is, I wasn't particularly pushing at that point - I'd just been on the radio to the team to explain to them how the track was feeling and how slippery it was. I braked at what I thought was a sensible distance, but the car just kept going forwards - which was pretty exciting”, opined the British F1 driver.
The former world champion said that he took a straighter line and scrubbed as much speed as he could to get the car out of the gravel. The car might have kissed the barriers with the left wheel rims.
Lewis was proud to win at the Spa-Francorchamps as it is one of the “classic” tracks of the Formula 1 calendar. The British driver remembers when David Coulthard won the race at Spa and said he was proud to win four unique races in Formula 1 with Team McLaren. Lewis believes that these four tracks stand out due to their amazing history and phenomenal structure. That is the reason why the young McLaren driver was so pleased to finally secure a win at Spa-Francorchamps.
Winning at these tracks is like becoming a part of history. Nevertheless, Lewis looks forward to the Italian Grand Prix at Monza and claims that he will finish on top once more. This would be quite interesting as the McLaren seemed very strong at Spa and Monza has the same characteristics as Spa. With Hamilton in the lead as of now, it would make things more interesting. “Our car should be strong there too, but, as with every race in this championship, you can never take anything for granted”, said Hamilton.
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