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Britain’s hope for sports glory
falls on
Vodafone-Sponsored F1 team
Ghanadot, July 7, 2010 - After the disappointment of the World Cup and Andy Murray’s
near miss at Wimbledon, the weight of British sporting
expectation falls on the shoulders of Formula One drivers
Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button this weekend.
The McLaren pair head to the British Grand Prix leading the
world championship, Lewis six points clear of Jenson, and
each hopes to notch up his third win of 2010 in Sunday’s
race. A home victory would mean the world to both men, but
particularly Jenson, who’s never previously won at
Silverstone. The world leader in telecommunication, Vodafone
is a sponsor of these two F1 enviable drivers.
“I’ve achieved many of the goals I set myself when I came
into F1,” says Jenson, “I’ve won the world championship,
I’ve won the Monaco Grand Prix and I’m now driving for
McLaren, the best team in the sport.
“But I haven’t won the British Grand Prix – I haven’t even
finished on the podium at Silverstone – and I’ll be doing
everything in my power to put that right this year. I’m not
saying I will definitely win because you can never say that
in sport, but if I do it would complete my set of F1 jewels.
I would regard it as my own World Cup triumph.”
The battle for victory will be hard-fought because there’s
been little to separate the top teams and drivers this
season. Button, Hamilton, Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel
have two wins apiece and Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso is back
on form after suffering a barren patch.
“There’s never been a better British Grand Prix for British
fans,” says Button. “F1 is incredibly competitive this
season and it’s difficult to know which team will have the
edge from one race to the next. Lewis and I will have an
aerodynamic upgrade on our cars at Silverstone, which we
hope will give us a step forward in performance and enable
us to give the fans something to cheer about.”
Prior to this latest aero upgrade, which has seen McLaren
move the exhausts of its Mercedes V8 onto the floor of the
MP4-25, Jenson and Lewis were enjoying a purple patch. In
the last three races they’ve racked up 119 world
championship points out of a possible 129, and their
uncompromising styles have helped to push the team forward.
For Jenson, however, the team’s success has been a bit
one-sided recently. Lewis beat him in Turkey, Canada and
Valencia and he’s looking to redress the balance at
Silverstone.
“To win in F1,” says Jenson, “you have to beat everyone,
including your team-mate. Lewis is a great driver and we
have a great relationship off the track because he’s fun to
be around, but I want to beat him as much as anyone else
when we’re on the racetrack. I don’t just want a British
winner at Silverstone, I want that winner to be me.”
To achieve that ambition, Jenson will have to master
Silverstone’s new-for-2010 Arena layout more effectively
than his rivals. He’s always been good at learning new
circuits – the first year that China and Bahrain were
included on the F1 calendar in 2004, he finished on the
podium in both events – and, predictably, he doesn’t expect
the new Silverstone to pose too many problems.
“I’m excited about racing on the new layout,” he says. “I’ve
driven it on the simulator at the McLaren Technology Centre
and it seems interesting and it might even present an
overtaking opportunity on the way in. But it won’t take long
to learn, maybe five laps.”
Let’s hope that’s enough for him to steal a march on his
rivals and end a summer of disappointment for British
sports’ fans.
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