Lewis Hamilton has admitted that he is ready for the challenge of going for a maiden British Grand Prix victory as the
Formula One World Championship heads to Silverstone next weekend for the ninth round of the year.
The
McLaren Mercedes man heads into his home race eager to get his season back on track following difficult weekends in both Canada and France where he failed to score to slip to fourth in the championship standings, ten points behind current leader
Felipe Massa.
Twelve months ago, Hamilton took pole position at Silverstone before finishing the race third behind
Kimi Raikkonen and
Fernando Alonso but now has his sights set on trying to bring to an end a turbulent run which included his controversial coming together with Raikkonen in the Montreal pitlane and the resulting media criticism that the incident led to.
"Of course, winning your home race is something that every driver wants to achieve,” he reflected. “People talk of winning the 'big four':
Silverstone, Monaco, Monza and Spa, but it's more straightforward for me.
"I want to win the first race of the season, I want to win Monte Carlo - which I did for the first time this year - and I want to win my home grand prix. Those are my goals and I'm ready for the challenge at Silverstone this weekend."
Hamilton went on to add that there was an added boost from appearing on home soil at a venue he believes would be a loss to
Formula 1 if it were to disappear from the calendar in future, with continued doubts existed over how long one of the most traditional races will retain its slot on the schedule.
"There's something about racing in your home country that definitely affects you," he said. "You can't really say what it is, but there's something about the familiarity of your surroundings and the constant support of the crowd that gives you a boost throughout the whole weekend. It's not something you experience anywhere else but it does make you that bit more determined to succeed.
