Lewis Hamilton will continue to live his dream on Sunday when the British racing sensation competes in his first Monaco Formula One Grand Prix as world championship leader.
Getting a maiden career win in the principality in front of the rich and famous would cap one of the most stunning debuts in the sport.
”I am really looking forward to Monaco. It is one of the tracks I have always dreamed of racing at in Formula One. For me it is the best circuit of the year; there is nowhere like it for getting the adrenaline going,” said the 22-year-old Briton.
McLaren-Mercedes driver Hamilton is the youngest driver in F1 history to lead the drivers standings, on 30 points after making the podium in all of his first four races.
Teammate Fernando Alonso has 28, with the Ferrari duo of Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen following on 27 and 22 points, respectively.
Hamilton is the only one of the leading quartet who hasn’t won a race — with Raikkonen taking the season-opener in Australia, Alonso the Malaysian GP and Massa the last two races in Bahrain and Spain.
With overtaking almost impossible on the famed, narrow 3,34km street course in Monte Carlo, the key to victory should be the pole position, which so far has been monopolised by Ferrari.
Raikkonen led the grid once and Massa three times.
But the McLaren duo have high hopes, with the world champion Alonso winning in Monte Carlo last year in a Renault and Hamilton topping a GP2 race in 2006 and an F3 event in 2005.
”I have always run well at Monaco, having won there on my previous two visits to the race. I am going to the race again this year with the intention of fighting for the win, but that is the case at everything I compete in,” said Hamilton.
But he added: ”We do have to keep being realistic — this will be my fifth race in Formula One and I am still developing.”
Alonso aims to rebound from a fifth-place finish in Malaysia and only third place at home in Spain in the best possible way.
”I have not had the results I have wanted at the previous two races,” he admitted.
”Monaco is another of those races that, at the start of the year, you mark as one that you really want to win. I took the victory at the grand prix last year, and although it was an emotional weekend, it was an amazing feeling, one that I will race hard to try and repeat again this season with McLaren-Mercedes.”
Raikkonen, who won 2005 in Monaco in a McLaren, is in a similar situation to Alonso, having lost ground when an electronics problem forced him to retire in Spain.
”It would be wonderful to win with a red car and it would be much easier if I could start from the front row,” he said.
Surprises can never be ruled out in Monaco due to the course characteristics, with Hamilton saying ”there is no room for error” and Alonso speaking of ”milliseconds that you need at Monaco”.
The action kicks off one day earlier than at all other races, with the first two practise rounds on Thursday. The final practise and qualifying are on Saturday, with the 65th edition of the 78-lap race on Sunday. — Sapa-dpa