in

Hamilton predicts open season in 2009

New regulations will leave next year’s Formula One title battle wide open, according to McLaren‘s world champion Lewis Hamilton.

2008 Lewis Hamilton - 0

“I’ve already had a close look at the new car and the engineers have explained the philosophy behind it and just how different things will be next year,” the 23-year-old Briton said via a press release.

“I’ve been watching testing with a lot of interest, I think the new cars will make next year’s championship wide open and I’m really looking forward to tackling the new regulations,” he added.

The 2009 cars have major aerodynamic changes and will also be using slick tyres instead of the grooved ones of recent years.

The season, which starts in Australia on March 29, will also see the introduction of KERS systems designed to convert the heat energy generated by the cars’ brakes into short bursts of additional power.

Hamilton, who last month became the sport’s youngest champion after beating Ferrari‘s Brazilian Felipe Massa by a single point, said he had no plans to return to the racetrack before January.

Instead, he will limber up with a team training camp at the Kuortane Sports Institute in western Finland before returning to Britain to perform a demonstration run in his McLaren at London’s Wembley Stadium as part of the December 14 Race of Champions event.

“Finland is when it (the training) all starts again in earnest,” said Hamilton, whose Finnish team mate Heikki Kovalainen will be testing again in Spain and Portugal this month after the camp in Finland.

“Brazil already seems a long time ago and I’m now focusing 100 per cent on 2009,” he added.

“Before Christmas, I plan to take a holiday and return fresh and positive to kick start our winter test programme with the MP4-24 (car).”

Report

Written by Israel Saria

For the last 20 years I have been working as a football pundit. This experience has provided me with a very useful insight into football and the opportunity to carry out extensive research into the game including its players, the stadiums, the rules and tactics and I have also been grateful to meet a wide range of people connected to football in the UK, Tanzania, Germany .....

What do you think?

71 Points
Upvote Downvote

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Loading…

0

Premier League – Managers: Ferguson on Ronaldo

Premier League – Liverpool waste chance to open gap at top