Hamilton given time off to prepare for Germany

McLaren will give Lewis Hamilton time off ahead of next week's German Grand Prix after the 2008 Formula One champion said he feared burnout under the burden of media and sponsorship commitments

"I think Lewis has done too much coming into this grand prix," team principal Martin Whitmarsh said after Sunday's British race at Silverstone, a disappointing afternoon for his men.

"We've managed to organise a bit of a break for him before Germany, which I know he wants. Then he has a big break after that in August as well.

"It's one of those things. He is a world superstar and lots of people want lots of his time, but we're generally being criticised for protecting him too much, aren't we?," added Whitmarsh.

Hamilton qualified only 10th on Saturday for his home race and there were plenty of long faces in the McLaren motorhome after a session that showed just how much ground the team had to make up on Red Bull and Ferrari.

The Briton was far happier on Sunday after making a storming start to the race in the damp conditions and finishing fourth with a thrilling battle to the line against Ferrari's Felipe Massa after being told by the team to save fuel.

He also managed to stay out of trouble with the stewards, something of a rarity for him this season.

"He drove a fantastic race," said Whitmarsh. "He drove without a mistake, with the right levels of passion and aggression and above all with the right level of discipline and control."

INDIA TRIP

The news he would get some time off before the Nuerburgring was welcomed by Hamilton, who is 95 points adrift of Red Bull's world champion and runaway leader Sebastian Vettel and level with team mate Jenson Button in fourth with 10 races remaining.

"I was supposed to be working tomorrow (Monday) and Tuesday, and I basically said 'No way' because I've been in England like a week or whatever, so it has been quite busy here," he told Reuters after the race.

"Then I was supposed to be flying to India for a day on Wednesday, in and out within a day. Fortunately, for some reason, it got cancelled.

"So that's good. I get to be in one place for a good period of time and do some training, get my mind clear for the next race," added the 26-year-old.

"Hopefully that gives the team some time to clarify the rules, because we lost a lot this weekend, and (Ferrari's) Fernando (Alonso) told me that they didn't lose anything, and the Red Bulls clearly didn't lose anything either.

"Hopefully we can catch it back, I don't know how we will."

The race weekend at Silverstone was overshadowed by arguments about the governing body's clampdown on engine regulations.

Under the tighter rules, teams were told they could no longer use engine electronics to gain an aerodynamic advantage by ensuring a constant flow of exhaust gases through the rear of the car even when a driver was braking.

After directive and counter-directive, the governing FIA ultimately said it would go back to the situation before Silverstone if all the teams agreed, something that was secured on Sunday afternoon.

"Whatever it (the rule) is, we'll do our best to improve the car and make sure it's competitive at the next race," said Whitmarsh.

Source: Reuters Sports

British GP - Alonso: “Hope and motivation to win every race”

Stereotypical cloudy and cool English summer weather was the backdrop for Fernando Alonso’s first press meeting of the British Grand Prix weekend, in the relocated and brand new Silverstone paddock complex. The first question thrown at the Spaniard was a very simple one: how can Sebastian Vettel be beaten this season. “We need to wait and see if either Ferrari or McLaren has made a big improvement which would allow us to fight with Red Bull this weekend,” began the Scuderia Ferrari driver. “At the moment, their car has been too dominant and, if it had not been for his mistakes in Canada and China, we would be talking about eight Sebastian wins in eight races. We have not seen this sort of dominance since maybe Michael’s (Schumacher) time in 2004. Hopefully, here in Silverstone we can see a turn around in this situation. There is always hope and there is the motivation to win every race, but we need to make a step forward in terms of performance. All we can do is concentrate on our own job, do the best we can, try and win every race, but in terms of the championship, we need some help from those ahead of us in terms of them making mistakes.”

This is the first race where cars cannot use the exhaust to add downforce to the car when braking and Fernando is keen to see what this will mean in practical terms. “I think it will affect everybody more or less the same,” said the Spaniard. “We have done our simulation programmes to look at the effect and clearly it will cost us some downforce under braking, which means it will also cost us in terms of lap times. We probably won’t have a real picture until Saturday and Sunday, as I do not expect the situation to be so clear in Friday practice.”

The Silverstone circuit is popular with drivers, who generally prefer high speed circuits as confirmed by Fernando. “Normally, the whole circuit is quite fun to drive, with high speed corners everywhere and I think all drivers enjoy driving here. The only thing that is not fun is possibly when it rains, because even if it is beautiful in the dry and it’s nice to experience all the G-force, in the rain, you miss the grip and speed into the corners and, because it rains often here, you are always hunting for that nice dry lap!” The moving of the pits to a completely different part of the track will have an influence on how the racing evolves, particularly on the opening lap and the Ferrari man reckons it’s a change for the better: “The first corner is quite flat and I don’t think we will see much overtaking into Turn 1 after the start. There will be more at the third corner, the first one with big braking. I am sure there will be more action which I am happy about as I think the new position for the start-finish line will make for more exciting racing.”

Source: Ferrari.com

Interview with Sebastian Vettel : Silverstone and Hockenheim

Source: NextgenAutoVideos