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Hamilton confident he can improve on last year

Lewis Hamilton is confident that he can improve on his showing in last year’s British Grand Prix come this weekend’s race at Silverstone.

Hamilton snatched a dramatic pole position in front of an adoring home crowd at the Northamptonshire circuit 12 months ago, but was unable to match the pace of Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen in the race, eventually finishing third. This year though, Hamilton believes that the work he and his McLaren team got through at last week’s Silverstone testing session will equip him for a more competitive weekend.

“I think doing the test has made quite a big difference,” Hamilton said. “Last year, I came here and was just given the car and you don’t have that much time during Friday practice to really get the right settings. I tried last year and failed, and the car was terrible, I was very fortunate to put it on pole, but this year I think we’re in a much stronger position. This year I know what I want from the car and having the test here has really given me the opportunity to get it in the right ballpark. Conditions will be slightly different to those at the test, but at least we’ve got a good place to start from.”

Unlike last year when Hamilton arrived in Britain on the crest of a wave, he has recently endured a poor run of form, failing to gain a single point in his last two races and dropping 10 points behind championship leader Felipe Massa.

However, Hamilton maintains that he will continue to approach each race in exactly the same way and insists that his confidence and belief are not shaken.

“I’m not expecting to blow everyone else away here this weekend,” he said. “But we have worked very hard, the test last week was really good and we come here with a strong feeling within the team, and for sure a strong package. We’d love to get some good results here. It would be a good starting point for the next 10 races.”

Hamilton also denied that the added pressure and demands of his home race would adversely affect his race weekend. The 23-year-old has fulfilled a seemingly endless run of media and sponsorship engagements over the last fortnight, but he claims to have drawn “positive energy” from many of these and is not concerned over the punishing workload.

“I haven’t noticed that it has been any different from last year really,” he said. “Through the whole time, I haven’t lost focus. My mind has always been on preparing for the next race.”
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