04/03/2008
NEWS STORY
Yesterday, less than two weeks before the start of the season, McLaren invited members of the mainstream British media to Woking, not for a formal interview but to watch Lewis Hamilton 'working out' in the team's state of the art gym - or, to give it its official title, The Fitness and Wellbeing Centre. Indeed, the illustrious members of the press had been invited to join the English youngster on the various machines as he prepares for Melbourne and beyond.
In addition to allowing the more flowery journos to 'get sweaty' with their golden boy, Ron Dennis was looking forward to attending the session, having promised to grind several of their number to dust.
Looking ahead to his second season, having made such a dramatic impact in his first, Hamilton appreciates that there will be even more pressure this time around, however, he refuses to allow it to get to him.
"Perhaps there is more pressure," he said, "but I feel there is less. Last year I had so much to prove. There was the press asking 'can he do it or not?' I'm sure even people in the team were wondering. I was quick in testing but racing is a different thing. People wait for you to fail.
"I think this year is slightly easier," he continued. "People know how well I can drive. I'm not going into an unknown world. I don't have any doubts that I will do a good job this year but that means something different now. It means I want to win the world championship."
Looking ahead to the new season, Hamilton is under no illusion as to the battle that lied ahead, however, he disagrees with those who claim that Ferrari already has the titles in the bag.
"Last year Ferrari were ahead by maybe three or four tenths of a second," he said. "They have a very good car again but now we are in equal cars.
"I thought it was strange that they were not at some of the tests with the other teams," he added, referring to the Italian outfit's decision (along with Toyota) to spend six days testing in Bahrain. "I think Barcelona is a very accurate measure. It will be a lot closer than last time."
As a footnote, Ron Dennis did indeed attend the session, actually taking part in a number of exercise programmes and demonstrating that even at the age of 61 he can give younger men a bloody good run for their money. Indeed, our observers say that the glint in Ron's eye was not that of a man about to walk away from the paddock to join the pipe, slippers and Horlicks brigade.