Sports / Motor Racing |
Hamilton brushes aside Coulthard warning(Reuters)Updated: 2006-11-29 10:27 Briton Lewis Hamilton has brushed aside fears that he has arrived in Formula One too soon for his own good. The 21-year-old tested with McLaren in Spain on Tuesday for the first time since they confirmed last week that he would be double world champion Fernando Alonso's team mate. Compatriot and former McLaren driver David Coulthard was quoted in Britain's tabloid News of the World newspaper on Sunday as saying Hamilton could struggle alongside the Spaniard. "I believe McLaren have given him his break way too soon," declared the Scot. "The first person you are compared to is your team mate and if Lewis struggles alongside Alonso it could destroy his confidence." Hamilton, the sport's first black driver, refused to get sucked into an immediate controversy. "I value David's opinion. He is extremely experienced and I have always looked up to him," he told reporters at Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya. "I think in some ways he could be right. "But at the end of the day I have done all I needed to do coming up to F1. I have got plenty of time to do the testing in pre-season and so we will have to wait and see." Hamilton covered some 287km in testing after stopping in the morning with a minor engine mapping problem. He set the sixth fastest time, with regular McLaren test driver Pedro de la Rosa the second quickest. Brazilian Felipe Massa, in a Ferrari, set the pace with a lap of one minute 17.162 seconds according to unofficial timings. Alonso does not join McLaren from Renault until the New Year while Kimi Raikkonen, Michael Schumacher's replacement at Ferrari, is also unavailable until January. "It was quite a special day," said Hamilton, this year's champion in the GP2 series that acts as a feeder for Formula One. "I have done four test days with McLaren but there was a lot of weight on my shoulders before. "Now it is out in the open, we can get on with developing the car. It was a really positive day and I enjoyed every moment of it," he added. "To come here knowing that I am the driver for next year meant I could really knuckle down on bonding with the team and my engineer and get on top of the car and up to pace." Tuesday's test was the first with all drivers using Bridgestone tyres, next year's sole supplier following the departure of Michelin. "The tyres are very different to those I have used so far in Formula One; there is less grip overall," said Renault's Heikki Kovalainen, Alonso's replacement at champions Renault after a year as test driver. |
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