There could be few more satisfactory presents for a racing driver’s birthday than a new grand prix car, and Lewis Hamilton beamed with delight as the new McLarenÂÂMercedes for the 2008 grand prix season made its entrance this week.
”We’ve gone to a lot of trouble,” Ron Dennis, the McLaren team principal, said before the unveiling. ”Lewis is 23 today, the car is the MP4-23 and he’ll be carrying the number 23.”
Hamilton’s smile was a regular feature of the 2007 season, particularly as he began it with a run of nine consecutive top-three finishes, although it flickered as his chances of winning the drivers’ world championship faded and died in the last two races of the season.
But his impact in his debut year brought the sport to a wider audience, whose enthusiasm for his achievements and personality was reflected in soaring television ratings.
”After such a great season in 2007 I don’t think I’m going to approach it any differently from how I did last year,” he said.
”However, I think we’ll have a better car, I’ve got a new teammate, as a team we’re stronger and as a driver I’ve developed so much in the past season that I’ll be a lot stronger this year than I was last year.
”For sure, everything came quickly. But, when you look at my career, you’ll see I’ve been racing for 15 years. It was all the product of a lot of hard work. Every year I grow. And the disappointments as well as the wins help mould you as a person. Now I feel more confident, more relaxed and more sure of what I want.”
The blow of successive antiÂÂclimaxes in China and Brazil, when he let the title slip out of his hands, has not cast a shadow over his winter break.
”You wouldn’t be human if you didn’t feel something, but I’ve definitely got over it.
”When I finished the last race in Brazil, I wasn’t thinking about the disappointment of not winning the title. All I could think was that I couldn’t wait for the next year to start. Bring it on.”
This time last year Hamilton was making his bow as a rookie alongside Fernando Alonso, the reigning world champion; this week he was joined by Heikki Kovalainen.
McLaren are noted for their refusal to nominate a number one driver — as Alonso was disappointed to discover — and promises were again made that the new pairing will receive equal treatment.
In Hamilton’s mind, however, there will be the firm expectation of establishing an immediate superiority over the Finn.
Kovalainen might be his senior by three years, but Hamilton is in a position to make use of his nine years’ experience inside the team, as well as the many lessons he learned during his first year at the top.
In public, nevertheless, he keeps to the party line.
”Heikki and I have known each other for a while and our friendship has grown over the years,” he said.
”I find it very easy to get on with him. We talk a lot and he seems to have similar views to me. We’re both very competitive, we both want to beat each other and we expect to have the exact same opportunity.
”I believe that’s what we’re going to be given. He’s got a chance to show his true colours and I know we’re going to be pushing each other.” – Â