Despite having beaten Button in five of the past six races — the only exception being Barcelona where Hamilton would have beaten him but suffered a late puncture while second the 2008 world champion still finds himself just 12 points clear of his team-mate at the top of the standings.“It’s strange,” said Hamilton on a trip to Italy with his popstar girlfriend Nicole Scherzinger. “I’ve had four solid races – two wins and two second places – and yet I’m only 12 points ahead. We’ll have to see how it goes but if I can increase that gap a bit I’ll certainly be happier.”
While team orders are banned in Formula One, it is customary at a certain point during the season for the team to start favouring their lead man. The proximity between Hamilton and Button, however, means McLaren are a long way off that point and team principal Martin Whitmarsh saidon Monday he did not expect the situation to change soon.
“Not yet,” Whitmarsh replied when asked if McLaren regard Hamilton as their de facto No 1. “I’m sure Jenson hasn’t given way to Lewis’s championship charge. He’ll want to win this weekend, he’ll want to move that momentum back in his favour – and that’s how it should be.
“Jenson has proven he’s a great racing driver, a great reader of the race and also someone who can recover from 14th to fourth [at Silverstone]. He is phenomenally quick and someone who has a lot of determination.”
Whitmarsh added that he expected his cars to run the ‘blown diffuser’ package, which the team abandoned after Friday practice at Silverstone.
Hockenheim’s low-grip surface and slower corners do not necessarily play to Red Bull’s strengths as much as Silverstone’s high-speed turns but Whitmarsh still expects them to set the pace.
“Red Bull clearly are the principal challenge at the moment, but I don’t dismiss the others [Ferrari or Mercedes],” he said.
Source: The Telegraph
