Lewis Hamilton has likened his ‘hunger' to lift his first
Formula 1 World Drivers' Championship crown to that of Rafael Nadal chasing his maiden Wimbledon men's singles tennis trophy on the same day that the McLaren-Mercedes star so memorably triumphed in the British Grand Prix two weeks ago.
Following his tremendous
Silverstone success – when the home hero quite literally pulverised the opposition on his way to recording the most dominant victory since
Damon Hill prevailed by the margin of two laps at Adelaide back in 1995 – Hamilton said he tuned into Nadal's epic, see-saw encounter at the All England Club, in which the clay court specialist triumphed over defending five-time champion and Wimbledon expert Roger Federer at the end of the longest men's singles final in the tournament's history.
Comparing the beaten world number one – a man regarded as virtually untouchable on grass, and who had defeated his Spanish adversary in the final in the two previous years – to seven-time
F1 World Champion
Michael Schumacher, Hamilton also revealed that he discerned in Nadal the same desire and inspiration that he hopes will lead him to the 2008 drivers' laurels at only his second attempt, having agonisingly missed out on glory by a sole point at the end of his debut season in 2007.
“The game went on for so long,” the 23-year-old is quoted as having said by international news agency
Reuters. “I only caught the last half an hour, and that was long enough for me.
“I thought Federer was going to win – not because I'm biased, but because I know him and he is a fantastic athlete who has achieved so much – but I knew Nadal was hungry for it.
“Nadal had something new. He had even more hunger, and it is impossible to match that once you have won it a lot of times. Nadal had never tasted it, and for me I can probably identify with his hunger to win that first title.
