Lewis Hamilton says he is in the best form of his career heading into the British Grand Prix, despite disappointing finishes in his last two races.
The 23-year-old McLaren driver led the overall standings after winning at Monaco last month, but has since fallen to fourth place after a crash and penalties kept him from getting a single point in Canada and France.
”I haven’t had any lack of concentration,” Hamilton said in an interview on Tuesday. ”If anything, I’ve been more in form in the last two races than I ever have before.”
Hamilton looked set to win the Canadian GP in Montreal before crashing into the back of Kimi Raikkonen’s Ferrari after the safety car had come out, and said he was ”unfortunate” at Magny Cours. He was penalised 10 spots on the starting grid in France, and then got another penalty for an illegal manoeuvre during the race.
”Bang, bang! Two penalties. What can you do about that?” he asked.
Hamilton was in Amsterdam for a promotion for sponsor Reebok, and said he felt relaxed ahead of his home race this weekend — the British GP at Silverstone.
”I’m not putting all the pressure on myself, saying I’ve got to do it all this weekend, because that’s not realistic,” Hamilton said.
He said he expects an ”extra boost” from having a home crowd, and disputed that McLaren would have a disadvantage against Ferrari on the fast course.
”People make those comments and I beg to differ,” he said. ”I mean for sure, it’s a track where Ferrari seems to excel, they have done in the last couple of years, [but] I think our car is good enough there.”
Hamilton also remains confident he can overcome his 10-point deficit to Ferrari driver Felipe Massa and clinch the title in his sophomore season, even if he doesn’t win on Sunday.
”I have 10 races [to go] and I’m 10 points behind. That ain’t nothin’,” he said.
In his rookie season, Hamilton held a 12-point lead with two races to go, but ended up losing the title to Raikkonen by a single point.
That season was marred by infighting between Hamilton and teammate Fernando Alonso, who moved to Renault this year. McLaren were also fined a record $100-million for spying on Ferrari, and have struggled to keep up with the Italian team this year.
Still, Hamilton has no plans to leave the British team, where he is under contract until 2012.
”It’s the team I’ve always wanted to drive for ever since I started watching Formula One, and there’s nowhere else I really want to be,” he said. ”I don’t know what the future has in store for me; hopefully we’ll have a lot of world champions and success together, but you know, who knows?” — Sapa-AP