Being widely touted as favourite to succeed countryman Jamie green as F3 Euroseries champion did not appear to faze
Lewis Hamilton in round one of the international series, the ASM driver taking his Dallara-Mercedes to a comfortable victory at Hockenheim.
Along with new team-mate
Adrian Sutil, Hamilton gave the reigning champions the perfect start to their title defence, leading a 1-2 result ahead of Prema Powerteam's surprisingly competitive Italian Marco Bonanomi.
“It’s just fantastic to have won the season opener," Hamilton admitted, "This is the perfect start into the 2005 season and, while I think I will have similar chances tomorrow, it will be more important to score as many points as possible.”
“It’s great to be back on the podium after having endured such a difficult season in 2004," Sutil, a surprise inclusion in the crack ASM squad, insisted, "My start was rather poor, and I lost a lot of time during my battle with Giedo van der Garde, but, afterwards, my race was rather easy. On the one hand, there wasn’t any pressure from behind, but, on the other, I had no chance of pressurising Lewis as his lead was just too big.”
While Hamilton and Sutil provided their team with a superior one-two, pulling away from the squabbling pack, the drivers left in their wake entertained the crowds with thrilling battles and spectacular action all the way down the order.
In the battle for third place, Manor Motorsport's Lucas di Grassi hit the rear of Giedo van der Garde’s Prema Dallara at a speed estimated in the region of 200kph, the Brazilian somersaulting several times before somehow managing to extricate himself unhurt from his damaged car.
