25/06/2013
NEWS STORY
Still awaiting his first win with Mercedes, ahead of his home race, Lewis Hamilton insists he has no regrets moving to the German team from McLaren.
"I feel like I have a better car this year so I think we should be more competitive than we were last year," he told reporters at his team's Brackley HQ ahead of this weekend's British Grand prix.
"It is definitely closer to being able to win than what I have had for a couple of years," he added, "so I am looking forward to seeing what the car can do. I think the car will go really well here."
Asked about Testgate, the row over the 'secret' test at Barcelona with Pirelli which overshadowed the Monaco and Canada weekends and threatened to seriously compromise his season, Hamilton admitted that he was glad it was all over.
"I tried my best not to give it much thought," he said. "Ross kept me in the loop and I'd get an email here and there from the lawyer explaining where we were. Of course, when I saw the team at the weekend it was a relief for everyone, that they could get on and start focusing on the next race. And I'm happy as well."
The biggest loser as a result of last week's tribunal is test driver Sam Bird who loses out as a result of Mercedes exclusion from the forthcoming Young Driver Test.
"That does suck a little bit," said Hamilton. "It's important because we had a lot planned, upgrades and stuff, on those three days. It's also vital for the drivers who are always on the simulator to test the tyres, and where they are, and come back in here and feed-back so they continue working on developments and improving the simulator. It definitely puts us back a little bit but we're going to have to try to figure out a way to recover it elsewhere."