Saturday, November 29, 2008

Hamilton: Always more to achieve

Friday 28th November 2008

Lewis Hamilton may be intent on winning F1 World titles but the reigning Champ insists his goal is not to beat Michael Schumacher's record.

Schumacher reigned supremo for much of his F1 career, winning a unprecidented seven World titles, including a string of five consecutive trophies.

It is an impressive record that some are already predicting that Hamilton, who won his first title in 2008, could one day break. However, the 23-year-old insists that's not his focus.

"There's always more to achieve," he told the Woking News & Mail newspaper.

"I do want to win more races and Championships in Formula One. But I'm not sure I want to do what Michael Schumacher did and win all those tiles.

"I would be happy to win more - but I've not really focused on that yet."

Instead Hamilton is just taking the time to enjoy his first World title, which he achieved in Brazil this year after beating Felipe Massa to crown by one point.

The Brit's celebrations included a trip to McLaren's home base in Woking where he celebrated his success with those behind the scene who made it all possible.

"Coming back to Woking in the days after winning the World Championship - it was just amazing," he said.

"I mean, I thought I was just turning up for the day and I didn't really expect to be getting into a car and finding the whole team waiting for me.

"As a racing driver, you're are really driven by, not just that support that comes from your team, but from the feeling that you don't want to let those people down.

"That they've worked so hard to help you and you have to live up to all their effort."

However, it wasn't always easy as Hamilton faced not only racist taunts but also the occasional dressing down by the British press.

But despite the at times dressing down, he concedes the media attention is the price he pays for doing his job.

"The media attention comes with the job, and it was one of the biggest changes to my life when I arrived in Formula 1 from GP2. But I like talking to the media, and I know they're important to Formula 1's success," he added.

"But it's rare that I read the newspapers, or even watch the television actually, so I don't really get to see what's written or said about me. I think that's probably the easiest way to deal with it."

Source : Planet F1

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