Motor Racing: POLE DANCE

0 Comments | Sunday Mirror, Aug 3, 2008 | by BYRON YOUNG

LEWIS HAMILTON roared "we are not afraid of Schu" as he trounced his rivals in red yet again.

The 23-year-old grabbed pole position for the third race in succession for today's Hungarian Grand Prix.

Team-mate Heikki Kovalainen, re-signed by McLaren on Thursday, finally got his act together as he joined the championship leader on the front row for the first time this season.

Ferrari's Felipe Massa starts third, while Kimi Raikkonen had another lacklustre qualifying by only managing sixth.

Hamilton brushed off concerns that Ferrari could be increasingly competitive since it has turned to Michael Schumacher to help develop its car.

"I'm not worried at all," said Hamilton. "It's a compliment to us. We are not doing that and we are still winning races.

"For me that makes it even more of a challenge."

Ferrari's challenge, which started so well this season, could not be going downhill any faster if it was on the ski slopes. Raikkonen insisted Ferrari's revival needs to start here, but his mind appeared to be somewhere else as soon as he climbed into the cockpit.

It was left to Massa to admit that Ferrari is struggling to keep pace with mighty McLaren.

"It was not a fantastic day for us. We need to work very hard, everyone is already working day and night," he said. "But we were fastest in the second qualifying, so that's promising."

But Hamilton has now beaten Ferrari in the rain, on the sweeps of Silverstone, the heat of Hockenheim and now here around the twisting confines of the Hungaroring.

McLaren's domination is looking less like a one-race wonder and more like a title-winning trend.

The turnaround in the both the team and Hamilton's fortunes since Magny Cours is not news to the man at the eye of the storm.

"I'm not surprised. There are no miracles. We had a couple of dodgy races, but we've worked very hard and made very good steps forward," said Hamilton.

"I feel more comfortable in the car than ever, but you can never be too comfortable."

And he wants it to continue in today's gruelling 70-lapper, when cockpit temperatures are predicted to soar to 120 degrees.

"It's a great day for me and Heikki to be first and second and it's about time we did the job," said Hamilton.

"It would be great to have a onetwo in the race. The team deserves it and Heikki and I do too."

The atmosphere at McLaren could not be more different than a year ago when Fernando Alonso blocked Hamilton in the pits.

Sunday morning began with a confrontation between Alonso and McLaren team chief Ron Dennis that ultimately resulted in a pounds 50million 'spying' fine.

Later that day, Hamilton roared from pole to a valuable victory, but behind the scenes their season was turning to rubble.

Yesterday McLaren was a scene of sun-bathed serenity.

Hamilton has set himself the shortest route to another slot in the record books.

Victory here will see him become the first British driver since Damon Hill in 1996 to win three races on the trot.

TODAY'S GRID

1 Lewis Hamilton, McLaren 1:20.889

2 Heikki Kovalainen, McLaren 0:00.996

3 Felipe Massa, Ferrari 0:01.047

4 Robert Kubica, BMW 0:01.137

5 Timo Glock, Toyota 0:01.182

6 Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari 0:01.372

7 Fernando Alonso, Renault 0:01.554

8 Mark Webber, Red Bull 0:01.588

9 Jarno Trulli, Toyota 0:01.623

10 Nelson Piquet, Renault 0:02.227

11 Sebastian Vettel, Toro Rosso

12 Jenson Button, Honda

13 David Coulthard, Red Bull

14 Sebastien Bourdais, Toro Rosso

15 Nico Rosberg, Williams

16 Nick Heidfeld, BMW

17 Kazuki Nakajima, Williams

18 Rubens Barrichello, Honda

19 Giancarlo Fisichella, Force India

20 Adrian Sutil, Force India

STANDINGS

1. Lewis Hamilton 58

2. Felipe Massa 54

3. Kimi Raikkonen 51

4. Robert Kubica 48

5. Nick Heidfeld 41

6. Heikki Kovalainen 28

7. Jarno Trulli 20

8. Mark Webber 18

9. Fernando Alonso 13

10. Rubens Barrichello 11

11. Nelson Piquet Jr 10

12. Nico Rosberg 8

13. Kazuki Nakajima 8

14. David Coulthard 6

15. Sebastian Vettel 6

16. Timo Glock 5

17. Jenson Button 3

18. Sebastien Bourdais 2