Forget Any Second-season Syndrome, Says Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton said yesterday that he was "up for the fight" and denied that he was suffering the dip in form often experienced by formula one drivers in their second world championship season. But he looked like a man under pressure in light of an error-strewn Bahrain grand prix in which he finished 13th, his worst formula one finish by some distance.

However, Hamilton said he would not alter his approach for Sunday's Spanish grand prix here. "I will be approaching this weekend in entirely the same way, except that I won't be repeating those mistakes," he said. In Bahrain he crashed heavily in Friday practice, messed up his starting procedure and dropped well down the field, ran into the back of Fernando Alonso's Renault and eventually trailed home well out of the points.

Reflecting on his error at the start of that race, Hamilton acknowledged that this was a particularly frustrating slip to have made. "When you come up to the grid and stop the car you have a three-second window in which to engage the launch-control map [mechanism]. I took four seconds, so just before the start I realized that it had not selected."

It is a far cry from 12 months ago when Hamilton arrived at the Circuit de Catalunya with a reputation as the most exciting formula one newcomer for a generation and emerged from the Spanish grand prix with a second-place finish and the distinction of being the youngest driver ever to lead the world championship points table.

Hamilton accepted that people would compare his start this year with 2007's. "Yes, sure I think it is fair to judge me by my performances last year. I judge myself by my performances last year and don't see why anybody else shouldn't do [the same]," he said.

"It's been a bit up and down, but nothing you don't see normally in a season. It's a slightly different pressure compared to last year but in a positive way. But I don't think that distracts me or keeps me from wanting to do my job. I want to win more than ever. It's to be expected that everyone is pushing very, very hard. Ferrari is quick, BMW are quick and so are we [McLaren]. I think we're in with a chance of the world championship and there's still a long, long way to go so my spirits are high and I feel very confident as we move forward into the next few races."

Hamilton believes that the McLaren MP4-23 will be well suited to the Circuit de Catalunya for the race on Sunday. "It's always difficult to predict these things as all the teams are continuously improving," the 23-year-old Englishman said. "Winter testing there was positive and last week we covered a good amount of laps.

"I feel we have a competitive package at this track - the car seems to work quite well. We have a new range of components coming on board for this race which we tested this week and had some good positive results, but we are not alone in doing this. It was one of the most constructive tests we have had."

Meanwhile Martin Whitmarsh, the McLaren chief executive, said he believed it was the team's responsibility to provide a driver of Hamilton's caliber with a car which avoids the necessity of his having to over-drive to achieve good results. "Let's be frank, it is a very normal human reaction to overdrive the car if it is not set up well," Whitmarsh told Auto sport magazine. "And over-driving a formula one car generally doesn't make it go quicker."

Misfiring for McLaren

Malaysian grand prix March 23

Grid 9th Finished 5th

Demoted five places for the start at Sepang for impeding Nick Heidfeld in qualifying, a disastrous pit stop on lap 18 - when a jammed wheel nut kept him stationary for 20 seconds - ends Hamilton's distant hopes of victory

Bahrain grand prix April 6

Grid 3rd Finished 13th

The Briton's failure to properly program the car's launch-control system causes the McLaren to go into anti-stall mode at the start. He later touches the back of Fernando Alonso's Renault to miss the points altogether