- 25 Aug 09, 12:28#146115From F1 Live:
Lewis Hamilton came close to recording his second straight win of the season on Sunday in Valencia. He and the McLaren Mercedes team claim that they simply did not have the pace to beat eventual race winner Rubens Barrichello but an error in the final pitstop arguably denied the defending champion the chance to record his 11th career victory, something he predicts will be a tough challenge this coming weekend in Belgium.
"It was a great weekend and the team ought to be really satisfied with our result," said Hamilton. "We can't complain, we're up there at the front and we led most of the race - some you win and some you lose. That's motor racing. As I've said before, we don't have the best car just yet, we've still got a lot of work to do but the positive thing is that I genuinely believe we can catch up."
Despite the disappointment of not winning the European Grand Prix and being forced to settle for second position, the recent races has seen a remarkable turnaround in the competiveness of the MP4-24 package with Hamilton scoring 18 of his 27 points so far this season in the last two races.
"Before the recent upgrades, we'd have been hopeful of getting into the top ten but now we're regularly hoping for a win or to finish second - and that's a big difference and very encouraging," he said. "We're definitely strong again - but we're not fastest. With KERS, we are there or thereabouts but we still lack two or three tenths to the Brawns.
Hopefully we can make some further changes to our aerodynamic package - Spa will be an interesting test for us."
The Hungarian and European rounds of the championship are relatively stop-start in nature and do not feature long sweeping corners such as Pouhon and Blanchimont at Spa Francorchamps. It is these longer high speed turns that put a premium on downforce, McLaren’s Achilles Heel for much of the season.
"I don't think we'll be as competitive as we've been at the last few races, because Spa is a circuit where you need a lot of downforce," he admitted. "I think Brawn, Red Bull and even Ferrari will be fast there - it's a high-speed circuit and Ferrari has always been very quick there, so I'm expecting Kimi to be quick. It should also suit the Red Bulls because it's very high-speed and flowing and they have great downforce.
"But, like most races these days, it's going to be very competitive. For ourselves, we need to ensure that we are competitive without KERS, so that when we use it, it will give us the advantage that we need."
Earl ALEXANDER
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