Hamilton, McLaren on a high in Hungary
Saturday 30th July 2011
Lewis Hamilton has back-to-back wins in his sights as he continues to ride the crest of a wave.
Following his German Grand Prix victory five days ago, Hamilton maintained his form by finishing quickest at the end of Friday's two practice sessions ahead of Sunday's race in Hungary.
Hamilton finished a quarter of a second quicker at the Hungaroring than Ferrari's Fernando Alonso with a lap of one minute 21.018 seconds, with McLaren team-mate Jenson Button third fastest.
As for Red Bull, Mark Webber and championship leader Sebastian Vettel were forced to settle for fourth and fifth quickest on the timesheet respectively, the former after spinning into a barrier in the morning.
The cooler climate in Budapest, with temperatures at 20 degrees in contrast to the heatwave that usually prevails at this time of the year, certainly played into the hands of McLaren and Hamilton.
"It's a great feeling to start on a high this weekend, and again not really expected," said Hamilton.
"The climate is working quite well for us. It is not as hot as it usually is here, and the car is feeling better again.
"The guys have been working hard at the factory. We've a couple of things new for here, which to produce in such a short space of time is quite impressive.
"It's still too early to say what is going to happen, but at least we are competitive, and I think we can race with the guys at the front."
After admitting a week ago he had no chance of pole at the Nurburgring, Hamilton was wary on this occasion of making predictions.
"Learning from that it's important not to take too much from what happens on a Friday," added Hamilton.
"You can get excited or down, so it's better just to focus on the set-up because the track, temperatures, the whole situation could be different on Saturday.
"But I do feel we have the same pace as we had last week, so I think we can challenge the Red Bulls and the Ferraris, which is exciting, and then we'll see how it rolls from there.
"We do have a positive buzz in the team, yet without a doubt we know it's going to be massively tough this weekend.
"We'll be pushing as hard as we can, and of course winning back to back is our target."
On the occasion of his 200th grands prix, and in a determined bid to put an end to his bad luck of the last three races, Button was also in an upbeat mood.
"A trouble-free day, which is nice," said Button.
"I'm very happy with the direction we've taken with the car, with me quickest in the first sector and Lewis fastest in the last.
"If we can put it all together we'll be looking pretty good, and I think we can be competitive.
"I hope to challenge for victory, but then I'm not the only driver thinking that as Ferrari and Red Bull will also be looking to have good weekends, but that's great for Formula One."
Credit: ESPN STAR (www.espnstar.com)
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