Hamilton in Confident Mood

• Formula 1

Lewis Hamilton readily accepts this season represents his best chance of becoming a two-time Formula One world champion.

After retiring early in the season-opening grand prix in Australia, three successive victories for the first time in his F1 career have catapulted Hamilton into the title picture.

Despite such a run of success, Hamilton still trails Mercedes team-mate NicoRosberg by four points after the German’s win Down Under and trio of runner-up finishes to the Briton.

At this early stage the title fight appears to be between the duo as Mercedes have won all four races, also taking all four pole positions and fastest laps.

No team in F1 history that has won the opening four races has then not had one of their drivers go on to be crowned champion.
With just the 2008 title to his name, Hamilton said: “At this point it is evident I’ve never been in a car that’s ahead of the pack like it is, and I’ve never had a team that’s so together and so united.

“When I was at McLaren I don’t remember starting with the strongest car, maybe in 2008, but generally we would be playing catch up. The team had a massive capacity to do that.

“At McLaren, looking at Mercedes, I could see they didn’t have the strength to keep going through the whole year. They would be strong, but then they couldn’t keep it up.

“But last year (on his debut with Mercedes) I could see how strong they now are at developing, and I knew they would be even stronger this year.”

In 1988 Alain Prost won three of the first four races for McLaren, with team-mate Ayrton Senna winning the other, but still lost out to the Brazilian, so there is a precedent, albeit the only one in the sport’s 64-year history.

Hamilton is naturally wary of Rosberg as he said: “I’ve still got a huge battle on my hands, making sure I’m on top of all the data and all the different settings and trying to do a better job.

“Nico is still leading the championship, and will be massively quick at every race we go to.

“And there are so many races to go so you cannot predict what is going to happen.

“Ferrari took a big step in China (on Sunday). They don’t have the same pace as us, but to be ninth and 10th in the previous race, and then to be third in the following race is quite impressive.

“I am sure Renault (power unit suppliers to Red Bull) will improve their engine for the next race, so we cannot stand still. We have to keep improving and I am sure we will.”

Meanwhile the F1 teams still remained split of the proposals for costs caps. Following confirmation earlier this month from FIA president Jean Todt that his plans for a cost cap from next year had been abandoned, four teams – Force India, Sauber, Caterham and Marussia – penned a strongly-worded letter to the Frenchman expressing their outrage.

F1’s Strategy Group – comprising Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes, Red Bull, Williams and Lotus – had previously voted for a cap, only to have second thoughts and decide against.

The small teams, however, are desperate for new financial measures to be put in place to curb escalating costs and ensure they can continue to compete.

Without directly threatening legal action, the letter cited European competition law, suggesting an abuse of power by the bigger teams, as well as what they saw as an erosion of governance within the sport.

The upshot is a meeting between all 11 teams, Todt and F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone that is to take place on May 1 in the hope a way forward can be found.

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner insists the smaller teams will not be ignored.

“Absolutely not because at the end of the day we have to have somebody to race against,” said Horner.

“The purpose and formation of the Strategy Group means there are teams in there who are in the same situation as Force India for example, or worse.

“You’ve got Lotus, whose situation has been fairly dire for the last couple of years, and Williams, who are run on a tight budget.

“They have key representation in the Strategy Group, so gauging their opinion is fairly important, so there is a balanced view in that discussion.”

Horner, who has long been against a cap as he believes it would be impossible to correctly police, believes the only way for teams to save money is through the sporting and technical regulations.

Horner added: “The cost cap, at the level that was being discussed, was so far beyond the means of the smaller teams anyway.

“It was almost a 100 per cent increase on the budgets some of them are operating on. How would that help them in any way shape or form?

“The far more effective way, which is something I’ve believed in from the beginning, is controlling costs by the sporting regulations because that has the biggest impact on your cost drivers.

“If, as a group, we focus on those elements then we can really save significant costs for all the teams, the little and big teams.”