19/09/2013
NEWS STORY
Mat Coch writes:
The Marina Bay circuit in Singapore may be a great track to race on, but it's no Monaco according to Lewis Hamilton. A great lover of street circuits Hamilton relishes the challenges of each, but believes there is something a little extra in Monaco.
"If they made Monaco today, it would potentially have the run off areas we have at a track like this," said the Mercedes driver. "Here you have a lot more run off areas, you have the white line and you might have one or two metres before the barrier.
"It's a little bit different. It's a lot wider, a lot more room to overtake - it's a better track in the sense you can overtake here."
But while the modern Maria Bay may produce better racing it can't beat the thrill of a lap attacking the streets of Monaco, says Hamilton, though he laments that the driver has less impact over a car's performance than they once did.
"Driving a single lap around Monaco is beautiful. Ups and downs, it's got such great character in that sense.
"Nowadays you've got to have the top package," he added. "The driver that's willing to go closer to the barriers, more on the edge, later on braking, or willing to take more risks is generally the one that comes out on top, as long as he's got the package.
"In the times of Ayrton Senna and Niki (Lauda) and those guys back then when it was a lot more dangerous I think the driver could have even more of an effect.
"Monte Carlo is just a very unique place," he concluded. "It's a much different street circuit; it's a real street circuit."
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