Reading: Hamilton defied critics with smooth handling of tyres

The first Grand Prix of the season may have been a bit of a bore, but Lewis Hamilton reckons he shook things up by confounding his critics.

Racing pundits reckoned his more aggressive style of driving, which is harder on the tyres, would not suit the new rules which rely on preserving tyres throughout the race.

Hamilton, who stormed home in third place at the opening Grand Prix of the season in Bahrain this weekend, said: “I do feel sort of vindicated.

“This was not supposed to be a racer’s formula but one where you have to protect tyres and think smart. People said it was for smooth drivers but I proved it can be my formula.

“I proved I can look after my tyres as well if not better than anybody. And that has proved the smoothness I have.

“If someone said ‘Jenson and Lewis go out and do the smoothest lap possible’, I guarantee the laps would be the same smoothness.

“If they said be as aggressive as possible, we would be equally aggressive too.

“It’s just a technique we have to have but I still feel there’s room for my aggressiveness.”

Meanwhile, reigning world champion Jenson Button, who is hailed as one of the smoothest operators when it comes to taking care of tyres, admits he was a little too cautious and ended up finishing in seventh place.

Alex Kapadia, Operations Team

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 16th, 2010 at 1:31 pm and is filed under Blogs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.