McLaren say Hamilton to only get better

08/07/2008 05:01

By Alan Baldwin

LONDON (Reuters) - McLaren have warned rivals Ferrari that Lewis Hamilton will only get better after producing one of Formula One’s great drives at Silverstone on Sunday.

While triple world champion Jackie Stewart expressed complete admiration for the 23-year-old’s prowess in the wet, McLaren chief executive Martin Whitmarsh said the new championship leader was on a roll.

"This, without doubt and even if you put it in context and look back on all the other ones, will be a great, great victory because of the circumstances," Whitmarsh told reporters.

"What he actually did on the track today was incredible. It will be one that those of us involved and many other people will remember for the rest of their lives and I’m sure Lewis will too."

Hamilton arrived at Silverstone after two races without points and critics suggesting that he was stretching himself too thin with a whirl of sponsor commitments and social engagements.

After driving into the back of world champion Kimi Raikkonen’s Ferrari in the Montreal pitlane, a gaffe that prompted humiliating headlines, Hamilton hit back.

He might not have seen a red light in Canada but, with his helmet visor steamed up and wing mirrors as good as useless in the rain and spray, he barely put a wheel out of line at Silverstone.

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He lapped all but the second and third placed finishers Nick Heidfeld and Rubens Barrichello and won by more than a minute - an eternity in a world where success and failure are measured in split seconds.

By the end, he was level with Ferrari’s Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen in a three-way tie at the top on 48 points and with another home race for McLaren partners Mercedes to look forward to next week at Hockenheim in Germany.

"It’s the best way to silence the critics, just get the job done," said team boss Ron Dennis afterwards.

SENNA MEMORY

His afternoon’s work recalled for many the late Brazilian triple champion Ayrton Senna’s great drive in the wet in the 1993 European Grand Prix at Donington Park.

Hamilton, alluding in a news conference to his heroes Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King as well as Senna, revealed just how much pressure he had been under in a race that had his rivals skidding and spinning in his wake.

"Imagine if I was a minute, 60 seconds ahead and I came off, and I didn’t win," he said.

"There would be no way you could come back from that. That would be the most embarrassing thing. You would have to retire."

Whitmarsh said the youngster had grown in stature since his astonishing 2007 rookie season when he partnered double world champion Fernando Alonso and ended up overall runner-up to Raikkonen.

"We’ve made mistakes, he’s made mistakes along the way but after a result like today he can only build and go forward," said the McLaren boss.

"He’s still incredibly young. He’s now only 26 races into his Formula One career, and over those 26 races he’s undoubtedly scored more points than any other racing driver.

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