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Time for young pretender to take crown
Lewis Hamilton's debut year in
Formula One thrust him into the
spotlight, but now expectations are
higher. Chief Sports Writer Scott
Wilson previews the new season
which starts tomorrow in Australia
TWELVE months ago,
it was hope; now, it is
expectation. If Lewis
Hamilton thought
things were tough in
his maiden season in Formula
One, they could be about to get
an awful lot tougher.
No longer the wide-eyed
rookie, Hamilton will start the
opening race of his second
season as a formula one driver in
Australia tomorrow as a world
champion in waiting.
The 23-year-old's debut
campaign was so stellar, so
startlingly impressive given his
immaturity, that this year's
driver's championship is already
being viewed as the 18-race
anointment of motor racing's
latest king.
Having finished just one point
behind Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen
last season despite the double
distraction of the ongoing
McLaren-Mercedes spy saga and
the tensions that plagued his
relationship with team-mate
Fernando Alonso, Hamilton will
start the new campaign with
much in his favour.
But the successes that were
unexpected 12 months ago will
now be demanded each weekend.
Mistakes that were previously
put down to inexperience will be
interpreted as evidence of an
inability to handle pressure. And
the rod that Hamilton made for
his own back last season will be
used against him as soon as
anything goes wrong.
A second-placed finish was a
cause of celebration last
autumn, but this time around, it
will not be sufficient.
"Second-year syndrome is
much more prevalent than you
might think," said former world
champion, Jackie Stewart. "It is
a real possibility for any driver.
No matter how much you have
done or achieved, it is only when
you get into Formula One that
you begin to appreciate how
little you really know."
Hamilton is undoubtedly still
learning, but if the evidence of
his first season in the sport is
anything to go by, his second
could yet see him secure his
status as a formula one great.
After all, while the pressure has
increased, Hamilton's experience
has also grown exponentially.
With a season of racing under
his belt, the youngster should be
much better equipped to deal
with the problems and pitfalls
that will come his way.
He knows the tracks now, and
has built up a close relationship
with key members of the
McLaren pit team. Last year's
much-publicised fall-out with
Alonso might have created a
divide within the wider McLaren
camp, but it undoubtedly served
to bring Hamilton's crew closer
together than they might
otherwise have been.
"I feel my relationship with
the team is better than ever
because in any situation, when
you go through an experience
with a group of people, it
definitely builds tension,"
said Hamilton.
"At the end of it, though,
the relationship does
grow. As they have
known me for many
years now, they know I
would do anything for the
team."
That bond could prove crucial
in a campaign that is likely to be
every bit as tight as last season's,
and
the
latest
raft of rule changes could also
work in Hamilton's favour.
Traction control, a
computerised system that helps
prevent wheelspin, has been
banned, a development that
should ensure drivers pay a
higher price for their mistakes.
Hamilton, with his inherent feel
for the right racing line, makes
fewer errors than most of his
rivals.
Similarly, the introduction of
a single electronic control unit is
also a development that should
benefit McLaren. In the past,
each team has used its own
control unit. This year, they will
all use the same system, and it
has been manufactured in part
by McLaren.
New rules are one thing,
though; old controversies are
quite another. The motor racing
authorities
would like
to sweep
last
year's
spying
scandal
under the carpet, but McLaren
will continue to suffer its
consequences for a number of
months yet.
The Woking-based team
preached business as usual after
they were fined a record £50m
following the discovery of a 780-
page dossier containing
sensitive Ferrari technical
information, but the fall-out
from the saga continues to hang
over them and precious testing
and development time has been
spent rebutting an Italian
criminal investigation.
This year's McLaren is an
improved version of last
season's, but in guaranteeing no
prohibited material was present,
the team engineers were forced
to ignore specific areas - the use
of exotic gases in tyres and
certain parts of the braking
system in
particular -
that were
central to
Ferrari's
research
and
development.
That will hardly help
Hamilton, and the arrival of
Finn Heikki Kovalainen could
also prove a double-edged sword.
The Scandinavian is no
Alonso, and a harmonious team
should generally be a more
successful one. But with
McLaren standing by their
policy of not favouring one
driver over another, it will be
interesting to see how Hamilton
reacts now he has been paired
with a driver who was hugely
impressive in an underperforming
Renault last term. If
Hamilton needs a co-operative
team-mate at the business end of
this season, he can hardly
complain if Kovalainen refuses
to be one.
Raikkonen should have no
such problems with Felipe
Massa and, for the second season
in succession, the 28-year-old
Finn is likely to be Hamilton's
leading rival.
Uncommunicative and laconic,
Raikkonen is the polar opposite
of his British opponent, but his
ability behind the wheel makes
him a more than worthy
adversary. In fact, on last
season's performances, the
Ferrari driver is superior to his
challenger.
The popular perception of last
year's title is that Hamilton
threw it away. The alternative
view is that Raikkonen won it.
He claimed two more Grand Prix
wins than Hamilton and, as his
rival imploded in the final two
months of the campaign, won
three of the last four races to
claim the drivers' title by a
point.
Raikkonen has proved he can
succeed under pressure, and
with this year's Ferrari looking
even better than the car he drove
to the title in Sao Paulo last
October in the most recent
round of pre-season tests, the
flying Finn will start as
favourite to claim a second
successive crown.
It will be a surprise if he does
not win in Melbourne tomorrow,
and his calmness and
commitment will make him a
formidable front-runner.
Alonso's flamboyance made
him a more volatile proposition,
but having returned to Renault
after a season-long hiatus, the
Spaniard will have to get used to
some mind-numbing
predictability. He will get a lot of
different views this season, but
the vast majority will be of the
back ends of other cars.
Renault claimed just one
podium finish in the whole of
last season, and while Alonso's
return has boosted morale, the
current campaign is likely to be
another struggle. Having
recently bought Queens Park
Rangers, Flavio Briatore now
finds himself presiding over two
second-rate teams.
McLaren and Ferrari are likely
to finish well clear of the
chasing pack, but if anyone
threatens the current duopoly
this season, it will surely be the
BMW-Saubers of Nick Heidfeld
and Robert Kubica.
Heidfeld's two podium
finishes last season
underlined his talent,
while Kubica's recovery
from an horrendous
accident in Montreal
confirmed he has the mental
strength to go along with his
undoubted driving ability.
Williams and Red Bull should
challenge Renault in the middle
of the grid, while Jenson Button
will be desperately hoping that
Ross Brawn's arrival will finally
transform the fortunes of an
ailing Honda team.
Toyota will continue to make
slow but steady progress, but
Super Aguri will do well to
survive the season at all given
the financial problems that have
haunted them throughout the
winter.
There will be the added
excitement of a night race under
floodlights on a waterfront
street circuit in Singapore, but
for most British motor racing
fans, the season will stand or fall
on the performances of one man.
Last season was great for
starters; now it is time for
Hamilton to serve up the main
course.
10:19am Saturday 15th March 2008
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