Lewis Hamilton’s new boss thinks that his star driver can overtake Michael Schumacher’s feat of winning seven Formula One titles.
McLaren’s new team principal Martin Whitmarsh told the Guardian: "Lewis won’t talk about it because he’s too modest, and what Michael did is extraordinary. But with great champions you don’t want to match it, you want to beat it."
Whitmarsh warned Hamilton’s title rivals that the 24-year-old hasn’t reached the peak of his powers yet, something that "must be very worrying for his competitors".
But the rest of the F1 field can take heart from the fact that new rule changes apply from next season, meaning that Grand Prix driving could be a whole new ball game by the time the cars take the chequered flag in Melbourne in March.
Overtaking Schumacher’s record of winning seven titles could be one of the most daunting tasks in sport – similar to surpassing Pete Sampras’ haul of 14 Grand Slam titles in tennis or Rocky Marciano’s 49 undefeated fights in boxing.
Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone has told the BBC that India will host a Grand Prix race in 2011.
Delhi will apparently be the venue for India’s F1 debut, despite a top Indian driver casting doubt on whether Ecclestone’s ambition will become a reality.
Narain Karthikeyan, who has had a stint driving for Jordan on his CV, believes that the global credit crunch could put the brakes on the sport’s drive to enter the Indian market.
But he did acknowledge that: "It will also be much better for fans in India to get closer to the sport."
The Force India team now has a place on the starting grid at Grand Prix events, helping F1 to gain a foothold in a country where cricket is as big (and arguably bigger) than football is in Britain, baseball is in America and table tennis is in China.
Ecclestone acknowledged that it is unlikely that Indian school kids will be tearing down their posters of Sachin Tendulkar to replace them with posters of Lewis Hamilton.
But he will be aware that even if motor racing only becomes a minority sport in a land with such a growing population, it could prove very lucrative.
Written by James Christie
Lewis Hamilton returned to work yesterday, stepping on to the race track for his first meaningful session of driving since he snatched victory from the jaws of defeat at the Brazilian Grand Prix last year.
He managed 27 laps of the Algarve Motor Park in Portugal before having to retire due to "an engine systems shut-down".
The F1 champ later returned to clock up another 50 laps to complete a satisfying day of testing.
So is motor racing like riding a bike – something you don’t forget how to do however many Downing Street functions, dates with Pussycat dolls and Sports Personality of the Year-style award you attend during the off-season?
Apparently so. The 24-year-old was quoted by the Telegraph as saying: "It’s funny, you think you’ll be rusty, but that’s never really the case."
Not that McLaren have simply dusted off last year’s car in an effort to regain the drivers’ championship.
A batch of rule changes have clearly heavily influenced the design of their new MP4-24 car, which will be put through its paces for another six weeks before making its racing debut at the Melbourne Grand Prix in March.
Written by James Christie
Lewis Hamilton’s team mate has insisted that there is not a culture of favouritism in the McLaren team.
It might be understandable if McLaren staff gave Hamilton a few extra minutes attention compared to his colleague Heikki Kovalainen.
The Finn has only managed to finish seventh in the last two drivers’ championship seasons, while Hamilton covered the team in glory by finishing runner-up in his first season in the sport and clinching the title last time around.
Speaking at the unveiling of McLaren’s new car, Kovalainen told Helsingin Sanomat that if he can keep up a good performance level his bosses will not unfairly favour Hamilton.
He said: "Then the team will give me a chance as well. There are no magic tricks to success. I just have to get my self-confidence up to the kind of level that I will always be in the top squad of drivers."
McLaren team bosses have previous experience of handling their drivers’ egos. Fernando Alonso, who now drives at Renault, was reportedly unhappy that McLaren was giving Hamilton preferential treatment when the young Brit first burst on the scene.
Written by James Christie
Formula One drivers Robert Kubica, Nick Heidfeld and Christian Klien have told pitpass.com what they think it takes to succeed in the sport.
BMW Sauber driver Kubica, the first Pole to compete in F1, thinks that "performance" is the vital factor when considering a driver’s merit. "You have to be quick," the 24-year-old said, adding that having the technical knowledge to give good feedback to the engineers is also vital.
The driver’s experience, Kubica believes, can also give him the edge over his rivals.
His BMW colleague Nick Heidfeld thinks much of the driver’ art can’t be learned and that talent is something you are either born with or not.
The German listed "good instincts, good vehicle control and enjoying what you’re doing" as talents worth valuing if going down the F1 driver career path.
Christian Klien stressed that talent and the right support are equally important in his eyes. He said: "There have been many drivers in the past who have had the talent but not received the right support."
Written by James Christie
Fernando Alonso seems keen to quash speculation that he might soon join Ferrari by saying that winning the drivers’ championship with Renault next season is a "realistic target".
The Spaniard was in bullish mood as he said: "If we are winning races and fighting for the championship maybe we forget Ferrari – that’s my aim. I’m more motivated than ever and I’m not looking to 2011 or 2012."
Part of the reason for his optimism is the belief that rule changes introduced by the sport’s governing body mean that "everyone starts from zero".
Another reason is his conviction that the new car he will be racing in, unveiled by Renault yesterday, will be more competitive than the machine he was saddled with last year.
Alonso is no stranger to Formula One title races having won the drivers’ championship in 2005 and 2006. His rivalry with former McLaren colleague Lewis Hamilton could make next year’s title race especially interesting.
Written by James Christie
surprisingly relaxed about the decision of Ron Dennis to step down as team principal of McLaren.
Hamilton has had Dennis in his corner since the age of 12, with years of advice and nurturing from him finally paying off last season when the young Brit won the drivers’ championship at only the second attempt.
But Hamilton’s relaxed attitude to Dennis’s departure has fuelled speculation that the two aren’t as close as they used to be.
The Daily Mail suggested that the relationship between the pair went downhill towards the end of the 2007/2008 season when tensions allegedly arose between Hamilton and Fernando Alonso, who was racing for McLaren at the time.
The Mail quoted Hamilton as saying: "I only heard Ron was standing down a couple of minutes before he announced his decision.
"The team have never been just Ron, as he says himself."
The new man replacing Hamilton’s mentor in the McLaren team principal hot seat will be Martin Whitmarsh, who has served a lengthy apprenticeship as Dennis’s right-hand man.
It is Whitmarsh who will now take all the final decisions over race weekends.
Lewis Hamilton has been given the keys to a new car that he describes as looking "beautiful".
Hamilton, who has just turned 24, didn’t choose the car on a showroom forecourt like most British drivers; the ultra-modern vehicle will be his new place of work for the forthcoming Grand Prix season.
The McLaren driver and his Finnish team-mate Heikki Kovalainen unveiled the new Mercedes-powered MP4-24 at the team’s Surrey HQ, allowing it to be compared to the new machines that Ferrari and Toyota revealed earlier this week.
Hamilton said: "The car looks beautiful and it’s great to see the final outcome.
"This season will be a whole new challenge for everyone, including me, because of the rule changes."
The car’s design is a reflection of the rule changes which will see the return of slick tyres, aerodynamic changes endorsed by the Overtaking Working Group and a new compulsory kinetic energy recovery system.
Commenting on the development of the new car, Heikki Kovalainen said: "I’ve been amazed at just how hard everybody in Woking, Brixworth and Stuttgart has worked."
Written by James Christie
Racing legend Michael Schumacher has told how he feared he was losing his life after a heavy collision at Silverstone during the British Grand Prix in 1999.
Speaking to German television network ZDF the seven-times world champion recalled how he was sent spinning off the track after his car’s rear brake failed.
He said: "I suddenly felt my heart beat slowing and then completely stopping. The lights went out.
"Then I thought, ‘Ah, that’s the way you feel probably when you are on the way up.’ I only know that my heart stopped beating, at least that’s the way I felt."
Schumacher suffered a broken leg in the collision which meant he missed much of the 1999 season and could do little to prevent Finland’s Mika Hakkinen retaining the title.
The German race ace was racing with Ferrari that year and their current team principal Stefano Domenicali has just commented that he believes next season’s F1 championship will be the most open for a long time.
Written by James Christie
Lewis Hamilton has revealed that he expects his main challengers to be "the same faces as last year" with Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel possibly joining them.
Speaking exclusively to Gulf Weekly, Hamilton, who turned 24 last week, named "Kimi, Felipe, Robert, Heikki and Fernando" as the usual suspects who he believes will be his main rivals.
Fans of the sport might find it reassuring that he is on first-name terms with these drivers after a tense season when no love seemed to be lost between some of the competitors.
Hamilton said: "It’s no secret that I would like to have a smoother campaign in 2009 – I’d like to make fewer mistakes and I’m working hard to make sure that happens.
Neutrals will be hoping that the season goes down to the wire again after the thrilling climax to the championship in Brazil when the British driver seemed almost certain to be pipped to the title on the final lap.
Written by Penny Forguay
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