As he approaches what is arguably the most important date on his 2008 racing calendar this weekend the British Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton is in buoyant spirits, and determined to finish off the job that he started last year.
In 2007 the McLaren-Mercedes ace stormed to a scintillating pole position in front of the thousands of home fans who had packed the Northants circuit to will him on, but a misguided strategy and poor balance the result of having missed the pre-race test, a mistake he did not make second time around saw to it that he could only struggle to the bottom step of the rostrum when it counted.
Now, one year on and bidding to put a barren two-race run behind him, Hamilton is in fighting mood and ready to begin justifying all the hype swirling around him on the back of a record-breaking rookie season in the top flight in 2007.
I'm the driver that people seem to want to write about at the moment, he told the
Daily Telegraph. It is a shame people don't get to know the real
Lewis Hamilton. They only get the version presented through the media.
I realised last year that however much you care about how you are perceived, you cannot control what people write. I just have to deal with that. I'm not complaining. I'm in
Formula 1, driving for a great team with fantastic support. Things could not be better.
To get pole and have a podium finish [in the 2007 British Grand Prix] was fantastic. Leading the world championship in my first year was insane, and knowing how close I came makes me want it even more.
Indeed,
Silverstone is the only circuit on the grand prix calendar at which the 23-year-old can recite the corners in name order, and he joined the chorus of those who are adamant the race must not be struck off the sport's schedule [see separate story
click here].
