Lewis Hamilton Q&A: I am not ecstatic, but I’m happy 16 Oct 2011
McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton is a realist and, like his team's head honcho Ron Dennis, sees finishing second as nothing more than being the first of the losers. But after a lengthy and well-documented dry spell, Hamilton’s second place finish in Korea on Sunday was very welcome. He discusses his Yeongam race and his hopes for the remaining three races…
Q: Lewis, you must be disappointed not to win but your battle with Mark Webber was fascinating to watch…
Lewis Hamilton: Well, let’s put it this way - I am not ecstatic - but I am also happy for the team and I think that the fans will have enjoyed seeing us. Overall I have to say that I drove pretty well over the weekend, considering how much quicker their car was.
Q: Can you talk us through your start?
LH: I think our starts have been good, especially in the second half of the season and also here I was able to position my car well. I thought that I was on the outside but obviously the position was not good enough - it was a small mistake - but you can’t go through life without making small mistakes. Regardless, Seb (Sebastian Vettel) would have overtaken me because he was simply too quick.
Q: How well did the car behave?
LH: The car started well, but then it got worse and worse at the front end of the car. I had to use all of my adjustment switches and give the maximum to help the car turn. There was nothing I could do. At the pit stop I got all the wing that I could possibly have and turned with almost maximum lock, but still the car was not turning really well. That was when Mark was catching me as I was not able to carry the speed around the corners because of my front end. Funnily enough the rear end was very good! There was the suggestion that there was something up with my front wing but I’ve looked at it and it looks fine. I probably didn’t have the best set-up for the race.
Q: After some difficult races would you say it was one of your better races of the season?
LH: I definitely would. I was put under a lot of pressure and didn’t make any grave mistakes like locking up or going wide. I didn’t do it once. So I am quite happy with my performance.
Q: There are three more races to go - can you win at one of the remaining events?
LH: Well of course I want to build up a foundation to hopefully have some continued success and more and more finishes in this kind of position.
Q: Do you feel now confident in the car and yourself for the rest of the season?
LH: I have always felt confident in myself, regardless of how much negative talk there was around the world. I still rise above it. And that is key. Every sportsman around the world has tough times - in fact every human being. And even if I finished one place down from the win, which makes me first of the losers, it’s a better position to be in than finishing anywhere else. I have to say that my fans always supported me - on facebook, on twitter and so on - and I this helped a lot and felt really special.
Q: The constructor’s championship has been decided in Red Bull’s favour, so what are your goals for the last three races?
LH: Clearly it’s to stay in front of the Red Bulls. I am not sure whether we are still working on this year’s car or shifting our entre focus on next year’s car. But I think that there are still things that we can learn from this year’s car and there is still so much we can prove so I hope that we will get some more consistent finishes as we did here. Why not a one-two for us at the next race - that would be even better!
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