‘McLaren have the upper hand’

SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, September 5 (Reuters): McLaren are looking good for the Formula One title even if Ferrari prove too strong in Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton said on Thursday. "On the tracks with the long straights they always seem to have a slight advantage than we generally do, but I think it will balance out," McLaren's 23-year-old championship leader told reporters. "Here they will be strong like they were last year," added the Briton, who is six points clear of Ferrari's Felipe Massa with six races remaining.
"But we have made a step forward with our car and we should be able to challenge them this weekend. Last year we weren't in a position to do so." Ferrari, champions last year after McLaren were stripped of all their points and fined $100 million for having the Italian team's technical data in their possession, are eight points ahead in the constructors' standings. Ferrari won last year in Belgium, the longest circuit on the calendar, while McLaren triumphed in Italy and Japan before their rivals were again victorious in China and Brazil.
Singapore, scheduled as Formula One's first night race later this month, is new to the championship. "I think in Monza they will probably be a lot quicker than they were last year, but still I think we will have the upper hand," said Hamilton. "On street circuits, in Singapore they will probably be very quick like they were in Valencia, so maybe they will have the upper hand there. We will wait and see. Fuji and Shanghai, last year we were very strong there. "I honestly feel we have the better package for the remaining races. They are going to be able to challenge us, but I feel that we will have the upper hand."
Hamilton was in far better spirits than a year ago, when he arrived at Spa not knowing whether he would be able to race on the Sunday. McLaren had risked being thrown out of the championship over the spying controversy and Hamilton, leading the standings in his rookie season, had attended a hearing in Paris to help his team's case before travelling to Spa. "We've moved on. It's a much better feeling being here, challenging for the world championship and not trying to stay in the championship," said the Briton.
"Last year I was walking the track and I didn't know whether I'd be racing. This year we don't have any of those stresses, we're a strong team and we've got a real good atmosphere throughout. "It's a big difference, it's nice."

 

 

SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, September 5 (Reuters): Formula One drivers are still fretting about the sport’s first night race less than a month before Singapore’s new street circuit makes its debut. “It’s a new circuit, we don’t know much about it, the schedule, the times of running. we all are a little bit concerned about the night race and the poor weather which might occur there,” Toyota’s Jarno Trulli told reporters at the Belgian Grand Prix on Thursday. “It’s a big question mark for everyone, we mustn’t underestimate the situation.”
Singapore will become the second new venue this season after last month’s Valencia street race when the southeast Asian island state hosts the 15th round of the championship on Sept. 28 at the tail end of the monsoon season. Unlike Valencia, which staged a couple of junior formula races on the street circuit a month before the grand prix to iron out any problems, Singapore remains untested. “In Valencia they (organisers) did a good job, so I am confident they can do a good job for Singapore,” said Trulli. “But the location is different and the climate conditions are different.
“We are all a little bit uncertain because we probably don’t have enough data. I haven’t seen the circuit layout but that’s not the problem. The problem is we don’t know if the circuit is good enough, if the surface is good enough, if we have enough run-off areas, if the safety is good enough for a night race in wet conditions. “There are several question marks and several concerns. I’m not saying that I don’t want to race there, but that we might encounter some more problems than in Valencia.”

 

 

SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, September 5 (Reuters): Felipe Massa expects team mate Kimi Raikkonen to return a favour and help him become Formula One world champion if he remains Ferrari’s leading driver in the final stages of the season. Massa starts Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix six points behind McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton and seven ahead of Raikkonen, with five races remaining after Spa.
When asked whether he expected the Finn to support his bid to become Brazil’s first champion since Ayrton Senna in 1991, should Raikkonen fall further behind, Massa told reporters on Thursday: “If necessary, yes. As I did last year.” “Because of me, my team mate won the championship. He (Raikkonen) is a fair guy and I expect him to do the same for me.”
So-called ‘team orders’ are not allowed, but the 27 year-old allowed Raikkonen to pass him to win the final race of last season in Brazil after claiming pole position and leading for most of the race. The Finn’s victory saw him claim the title by a single point, ahead of Hamilton and Spain’s Fernando Alonso.
Massa won last month’s European Grand Prix, his fourth win of the season, but Raikkonen is favourite to win on Sunday and force himself back into contention. He has won the last three Belgian Grands Prix. “I am not going to be less competitive here,” Massa said. “I need to have the mentality that I can win the race on Sunday.”
With rain forecast for Sunday, he dismissed criticism of his disappointing displays in the wet, such as the British Grand Prix performance that saw him spin five times at Silverstone. “I have never had a problem in the rain,” he said. “Monaco showed on the wet that I don’t have a problem even though people don’t look at the lap time,” Massa said. “I don’t care that people say I can’t drive in the rain, because I know I can drive and win in the rain.”

 

 

SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, September 5 (Reuters): Twice Formula One world champion Fernando Alonso said on Thursday he will decide his future shortly but dismissed media reports that he will make an announcement next week. "I will decide very soon on what I will do next year and what possibilities there are but there is not a fixed day," Renault driver Alonso told reporters before Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix.
Alonso, 27, has been linked with moves to Ferrari and Honda despite having a year left on his current contract. He said reports that he would disclose his intentions in Monza next week were incorrect. "No, I will not be making an announcement in Monza. It is not true," Alonso said.
Last month Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo dismissed speculation that Alonso was joining his team and said world champion Kimi Raikonen and Felipe Massa would both be staying for at least another year. Alonso, world champion in 2005 and 2006, lies eighth in the driver's championship.
The Spaniard finished third at Spa last season and second in 2005 and believes he is capable of repeating his Formula 3000 victory from eight years ago at his favourite track. "It was my first win in Formula 3000 and it probably kick-started my career," Alonso said. "This is the most complete circuit and my favourite circuit. If we can gets things right, then I know I am capable of a good result here."