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Hamilton clings on to relative comforts

Monday 28th April 2008

Lewis Hamilton has demanded an improvement from McLaren before his World Championship dream stalls for another season.

While the Englishman was able to take "comfort" from his proximity to the two Ferraris as he took third place at the Spanish GP, there was no disguising the performance advantage the Italians possessed at Barcelona.

Hamilton described McLaren as being "relatively close to Ferrari", which, in F1 terms, isn't close enough, just as Ron Dennis' remark that his team were "quite quick" was a world away from 'quick', let alone 'very quick'.

"There are areas where we definitely need to improve," acknowledged Hamilton, who now trails Kimi Raikkonen by nine points in the Drivers' standings. "But it was quite encouraging."

Only quite, though. Hamilton's pace was matched throughout by BMW's Robert Kubica and but for the Pole suffering from a stiff clutch at the start of the race it is probable that Hamilton would have spent the afternoon tucked up behind his rival with no way past just as a frustrated Kubica trailed Hamilton by a couple of seconds from the first corner until the chequered flag.

Ominously, Raikkonen confirmed in the post-race press conference that he had been on cruise control for a grand prix victory that must rank as the easiest of his F1 career.

"We didn't need to push," the Finn remarked. "If we wanted to push, we could go much faster, for sure, but there's no point in risking anything or using the engine more than you needed to."

How Hamilton, pushing from start to finish just to keep the Ferraris in sight, must envy that luxury.

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