The latest F1 Racing magazine runs an article called “Hamilton’s World Title Road Map”. Four British F1 Champs (Surtees, Stewart, Mansell and D.Hill) are trying to tell Hamilton how to do it. Here are some smart words from Jackie Stewart on Lewis Hamilton:
“He is intelligent enough to realize that you don’t win a grand prix on a first lap of a race”
It looks like it has been long time since Jackie Stewart last checked the race stats:
This is a brief review of the 2007 races so far:
Round 1 – Australia:
1st after lap 1: Raikkonen
Race winner: Raikkonen
Round 2 – Malaysia:
1st after lap 1: Alonso
Race winner: Alonso
Round 3 – Bahrain:
1st after lap 1: Massa
Race winner: Massa
Round 4 – Spain:
1st after lap 1: Massa
Race winner: Massa
Round 5 – Monaco:
1st after lap 1: Alonso
Race winner: Alonso
Round 6 – Canada:
1st after lap 1: Hamilton
Race winner: Hamilton
Round 7 – United States:
1st after lap 1: Hamilton
Race winner: Hamilton
Round 8 – France:
1st after lap 1: Massa
Race winner: Raikkonen
Round 9 – Great Britain:
1st after lap 1: Hamilton
Race winner: Raikkonen
Round 10 – Europe:
1st after lap 1: Raikkonen
Race winner: Alonso
Round 11 – Hungary:
1st after lap 1: Hamilton
Race winner: Hamilton
In 8 out of 11 races the leader after lap 1 won the race (races 1-7 and 11). Those 3 races where the lap 1 leader and winner were not identical seem to be just an exemptions that confirm the rule … In France Massa got stuck in traffic, Raikkonen took advantage and took the lead after pit stops. In Britain Hamilton made mistakes in his car set up and was out of the pace. And European GP was the mayhem of the season …
It very much looks to me that these days races are won on a first lap (if not a day earlier)…
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