British GP winner riding a wave of confidence after Silverstone success
Tuesday 7 July 2015 11:09, UK
Riding a wave of confidence after his British GP win at the weekend, Lewis Hamilton reckons his best is yet to come this season.
The defending world champion opened up a 17-point gap over Nico Rosberg after his Silverstone success - and the bad news for his Mercedes team-mate and title rival is that Hamilton also thinks he’s performing better than last year.
“It is five out of nine [wins] and I have had eight out of nine poles,” The Times quoted Hamilton as saying. “Last year was exceptional for me and to think that I am doing it just as much as that but a little bit better this year, I didn’t think I could do that.”
Hamilton also won last year’s British GP but so far this season has scored 33 points more than he’d managed by the same point 12 months ago.
He also struggled during qualifying last summer, which helped Rosberg become the first team-mate in Hamilton’s F1 career to out-qualify him during the course of a season.
The cancellation of the German GP leaves a three-week gap in the schedule until the next race in Hungary - although it’s a location that holds no trepidation for Hamilton, who has won there four times.
“[The Hungaroring] has been a great track for me in my career, so I am excited about that. I will be training like crazy over the break to make sure I am strong for the next part of the season,” he said.
“Generally in my career, the second part of the season has been stronger for me.”
Hamilton’s third British GP win was sealed when he pitted for wet tyres with nine laps to go.
It proved an inspired decision - the rain shower worsened soon afterwards - and has made Hamilton feel more confident about an area he has long considered a weakness.
“It was 100 per cent confidence in my mind in terms of making the decision,” he said. “You can't half-arse it, you either do or you don't.
“Honestly, I never felt that was a strength of mine in Formula One, making those calls. Generally because the driver only has one view of everything and the guys outside have a better view, and so generally I would rely on the team.
“And definitely in the past there were times when they got it right and sometimes when they got it wrong.
“I don't know how the future is going to go with that but I am glad I have ticked that one off.”
Don’t miss the F1 Midweek Report for all the analysis of the British GP. Former FIA president Max Mosley and F1 correspondent for The Times Kevin Eason join Natalie Pinkham in the studio. Catch it at 8:30pm on Wednesday July 8 on Sky Sports F1.
