CHAMPIONSHIP leader Lewis Hamilton left his Formula 1 title rivals trailing at Hockenheim yesterday, as McLaren turned on the power in the German Grand Prix practice.
The 23-year-old Briton, fresh from his dominant home win in the rain at Silv
erstone on 6 July, was quickest in both sessions at engine partners Mercedes' home circuit.
Hamilton lapped in 1min 15.537sec on a damp and drizzly morning and, with the sun breaking through the overcast skies, went even quicker in the afternoon with a best time of 1:15.025.
Ferrari's Brazilian Felipe Massa was second in the later session, 0.697 off the pace, with Finnish team-mate and world champion Kimi Raikkonen third.
Hamilton, Massa and Raikkonen are all level on 48 points, with Hockenheim the first race of the second half of the championship.
The Briton's McLaren team-mate Heikki Kovalainen, whose compatriot and double world champion Mika Hakkinen was the last McLaren winner at Hockenheim in 1998, was second in the morning session and fourth after lunch.
With McLaren and Ferrari looking the teams to beat, Australian Mark Webber kept Renault-powered Red Bull in the mix with the fifth fastest time in the afternoon ahead of Renault's double world champion Fernando Alonso. Spaniard Alonso had been fourth in the morning.
Poland's Robert Kubica, like Hamilton and Kovalainen making his first grand prix appearance at a circuit that was absent from the calendar last year, skidded across the gravel at the Agip curve and into the tyre barrier in the morning. Kubica, winner in Canada for BMW Sauber, is two points adrift of the top three after nine races. He returned in the afternoon with the eighth best time.
Williams' Nico Rosberg was sixth and seventh respectively and the best performing of the five German drivers, a quarter of the starting grid, in action. David Coulthard completed the top ten in his Red Bull, with Jenson Button 13th for Honda, again 1.5sec down on Hamilton as he was in the morning.
Hamilton feels he is far better equipped to mount a Formula One world title challenge throughout the second half of this year compared to last season.
After finishing more than 0.6 seconds quicker than team-mate Heikki Kovalainen at the end of the day, and 0.7secs to Massa in the second session in particular, Hamilton could not be happier.
"I feel much, much better than last year. I feel much more positive and confident as a driver than I did last year," said Hamilton.
"We've made some good steps with the car, and we just need to keep on pushing and not forget that there is a long way to go.
"This was certainly a very productive day for us as a team.
" It was a very strong performance and just showed we are very competitive with a strong package.
"We didn't have any problems. I feel good, I feel comfortable, I feel pretty relaxed.
"We've made some very good steps forward, but I don't think there will be a gap of seven tenths tomorrow. It will be very close, probably within a couple of tenths."
Despite the victory at Silverstone, Hamilton feels only a strong result in tomorrow's race will help him gather momentum to sustain his challenge throughout the second half of the season. He believes continuing progress is essential for his team.
"I don't think one race gives you momentum, it gives you a boost," added Hamilton.
"We had a good race and hopefully we can have a good one this weekend, score some more points and then build the momentum.
"But we really haven't changed much from the last race. We have a very similar performance to Silverstone, especially in the dry.
"The weather looks like it might rain, so who knows, but whatever happens I feel confident we can definitely challenge for the front row (in qualifying)."
The full article contains 668 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
