Q+A Hamilton and Kovalainen
After the launch presentation of the MP4-23 at Stuttgart on Monday and before travelling to Jerez for the track debut of the new car, Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen sat down to meet the press and answer their questions.
"You almost answered the question. I wouldn’t have come to a team if I didn’t think I had an equal chance to fight for the championship and at Vodafone McLaren Mercedes I have that. We don’t know how the season will go but to start with I have exactly the same opportunity as Lewis has, and then it is up to me to build a relationship with the team, to make it as strong as I can. We’ll see what happens but absolutely – I have equal treatment."
Lewis, have you recovered from the disappointment of last year?"I wouldn’t say it was a blow, but for sure you wouldn’t be human if you didn’t feel anything. But I have recovered from it and I feel even stronger – both mentally and physically, mainly because I’ve been training, preparing for this season. I’m just excited, even more determined than in the past and perhaps that experience has encouraged that."
Lewis, are you expecting a step forward in your second year?"Heikki says it will be backwards now, but I agree with your first sentence - it should be better."
Lewis, some people think that the new regulations will be harder for you and your driving style, what are your thoughts on this?"No, I haven’t changed my driving style, but for sure when you go from having a car with traction control to one without you have to use a slightly different technique. But in terms of driving it is pretty much the same. I think it will be tricky for all the drivers and perhaps some drivers will do a better job than others. I don’t think it will be harder for us than any other team, we have to do the best job we can - I guess you will see during the season."
Lewis, did you learn anything from Fernando – what?"Yes, I learnt a lot from Fernando throughout the season, as I do with every team mate that I work with. You learn things outside of the car, their personality or perhaps how they present themselves. As a driver, I’m always striving to be more professional, more competitive, to be better as an all-round driver. Each time you work with someone new, you learn something and he’s got more experience and with that, I was able to extract some good from it. He was a fantastic driver and I was able to improve my driving with his help."
Lewis, you have driven without traction control before, when competing in GP2, do you think this will be an advantage?"I don’t think so, all drivers come from F3000, F3, Formula Renault. We have all had the experience and the ability, we’ve all got talent. As you can see in the testing, everyone is adapting quickly. And that is what we do as race drivers - we adapt as quick as possible. I don’t believe there is an advantage. But I think you’ll see that some drivers can deal better with it than others."
Heikki, do you think driving in the rain without traction control is too dangerous?"I don’t agree with that. Formula 1 is already quite dangerous and without traction control or engine braking it will be little bit more difficult but, like Lewis said, all drivers will adapt reasonably fast, but it will not make big difference to the result. Maybe we’ll see some more mistakes. It’s clearly easier to make mistakes and apart from that I don’t think it will change that much."
What do you think about your birthday present – the MP4-23 and Heikki as a team partner?"I haven’t seen a contract which states that I can keep the car so can’t really comment whether this is the best birthday present or not! We’ve known each other for a while now and our friendship has grown over the years. I find it very easy to get on with him. As you can see, it is a very mutual feeling between each other. We’re both very very competitive and we both want to beat each other but in doing that we are going to try the best job we can individually but also to push the team forward, to have a good year but also to enjoy racing. In the end of the day, that is what we’re here to do."
Lewis, how much pressure do you feel, starting as a first driver?"I don’t believe that I’m starting as a first driver. As Heikki was saying earlier, we expect to have the exact same opportunity and I believe that is what we are going to be given. As team mates we are going to push to beat each other and push the team forward and we both want to win the World Championship at the end of the day. Whoever is finishing higher, more consistent or winning more – it doesn’t mean he’s the lead driver. As you saw last year, even though I was leading the world championship, I had to work just as hard as always."
Heikki, what are your thoughts on your new team mate?"I could almost echo Lewis’ answer. I will do everything to beat him on the track, which won’t be easy. He had a great season last year and has shown he can win a championship, but I will work with my crew and team as much as I can to beat him. He will do the same and at end of day whatever happens at the races, I think we can laugh about it off track. We have to bring the team forward together. And we must not forget also Pedro and Gary, they are going to a lot of help for our team as well. I know Lewis and his family very well from the go-kart days. We will push each other forward and won’t have any problems."
Lewis, so much has happened to you over the last year, how has this changed you?"It was a steep learning curve. I think I just grew up, grew as a person and as a driver and that is obviously the aim. With all experiences, whether they’re good or bad, you learn and you move forward. This year, I just feel more at home, I feel more confident, more relaxed, and even more sure of what I want."
Did you ever get the feeling that things were moving too fast?"No, I think I live my life in the fast lane. We’re racing drivers. For sure in 2007 everything came so quickly, I suppose for many people it seemed too quick, but if you look at my career, I’ve been racing for nearly 15 years, with hard work from my family and me for a long period of time, so it wasn’t too big a shock to the system."
Did you perhaps not enjoy racing last year as much as you could have, because of the politics?"I thoroughly enjoyed last season, just the whole year - all the way up to Christmas and New Year. It was the best year of my life, but I know it can be better, perhaps less problems with politics."
Lewis, last year’s car was developed on Fernando’s driving style, what did you ask McLaren to change on the MP4-23?"Firstly, the car wasn’t based around Fernando. It was an evolution of the MP4-21 and that goes way back. My car last year was how I wanted it, it wasn’t how Fernando wanted it. He had his car set up the way he wanted it, I had my car set up the way I wanted it. I haven’t called the boss and said “I want my car like this”. The team are developing the car and moving forward to try and make the best car possible for this year and it is down to me Heikki, Pedro and Gary to put in the mileage, to give the correct feedback and move the team forward."
Lewis, who are your biggest opponents this season?"I think the same as last year. Now, I have Heikki alongside me, who has a great opportunity to show his true colours. I know he will be pushing me all the way and we’re going to push each other. We haven’t even tested against each other yet and perhaps at the first race you still don’t know just how much you’re going to be pushing each other, but I have no doubt that Heikki will be one of the quickest guys. Fernando may be at the front, Kimi and Felipe, and I really do hope there will be more than two teams racing for the championship"
Heikki, Lewis has known McLaren for ten years, how much of an advantage will that be and how soon can you get up to speed?"Obviously that is something I will really have to work on between now and Melbourne and to be honest I have already started. Straight after I signed the contract, the next day I was at the factory, going around and getting to know everybody, getting to know how the team works. I just think it’s something I have to focus on more than Lewis. He is already on auto pilot, he knows everything, I need to find my way there. I just have to work hard, but by the time we get to Melbourne and have the first few races, I should be up to speed and I should be well-integrated in the team. Everybody has welcomed me very well and so far it has been easy to be honest."
