SHANGHAI // Lewis Hamilton has admitted logging on to YouTube and watching the moment when his world title dreams were dealt a crushing blow a year ago as he prepares to revisit the scene of the disaster 12 months on. The incident in question came in last season's Chinese Grand Prix when Hamilton appeared poised to clinch the championship in his rookie year.
Leading the standings by 12 points ahead of then McLaren teammate Fernando Alonso going into the race in Shanghai, Hamilton started from pole and comfortably led throughout the opening stages. But with the team unsure whether a damp track would dry out or if the rain would return, Hamilton stayed out on rapidly deteriorating tyres, and on worn tyres he skated into the gravel trap on the entry of the pitlane and out of the race.
Hamilton insists he is not haunted by the incident as he arrived in China this year, again as championship leader, but admitted it was one thing he has occasionally viewed again on the internet. "Sometimes I've been on YouTube and seen a video clip or a picture of me in the gravel last year and thought, 'Damn! That shouldn't have happened'," he reflected. "But it was a learning mistake and I can still move forwards from it because things like that happen for a reason and it taught me a lot.
"Last year the last couple of races taught me a lot about my personality and my life, and I'm stronger for it." Not for the first time this season ahead of a grand prix weekend, rain has been forecast which could play into Hamilton's hands given his ability in the wet. But Hamilton is unconcerned as to what the heavens might bring, just as long as it is not the mixed conditions that played their part in his downfall last year.
"I've said before that I don't mind racing in the wet or the dry," said Hamilton. "Of course, it's safer in the dry and I guess those are the conditions that racing drivers prefer. "But having said that, I would just prefer it if the weather wasn't too changeable during the weekend." Hamilton will be glad to start practice today after enduring a tough press conference yesterday, where former teammate Fernando Alonso said he would rather see either Felipe Massa or Robert Kubica win the title.
"I don't really have an opinion on it," Hamilton said of Alonso's comments. "I focus on my job and the most important thing is to be competitive this weekend and try to earn some points. I want to bring it out and be at the front and what the others do is none of my business." Alonso, who has won the last two races for Renault, added: "You prefer some drivers to win or some teams to win compared to some others.You can take whatever from my comments but it's very simple."
* PA Sport
