Alonso: no qualms about beating Hamilton

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By Jonathan Noble and Pablo Elizalde Thursday, July 5th 2007, 13:25 GMT


Fernando Alonso says he will have no qualms about beating teammate Lewis Hamilton at the Briton's home Grand Prix this weekend.

"I don't think so. It happened in Barcelona. (Felipe) Massa won the race and Lewis finished second, so if here we are in the same position, I am second and he is third, I will cross the line very, very happy," Alonso told reporters at Silverstone, where he is aiming to reduce the gap to Hamilton.

The British rookie arrives in his home Grand Prix with a 14-point lead over Alonso and having finished ahead of the Spaniard in the last three outings.

Hamilton said it would be "immense" to win his home race, but Alonso is not expecting the rookie to take any more risks than usual to triumph at Silverstone.

"I don't think so," Alonso added. "The home Grand Prix is always important for any driver who wants to win the race after Saturday qualifying for sure you start thinking of the start, the race, the pitstops, to see where you can win the race.

"But it is not an extra dangerous approach or anything like that or any more risk than normal. I think the race should be okay, it should not be too difficult here, not too demanding, so at the end of the day if you are quick enough you will win."

Alonso admitted he is unsure how competitive his McLaren team will be following Ferrari's dominant one-two in France last weekend.

"You never know what is going to happen in the weekend," the world champion said. "Sometimes we believe we can win the race and be competitive and we are not so competitive as happened in Magny-Cours.

"Sometimes we think the race will be quite tough and difficult, maybe like Indianapolis, and then the race becomes not too difficult.

"So every Grand Prix becomes a new surprise and a new battle between Ferrari and McLaren and it is difficult to predict what is going to happen. I have the same feeling this Thursday, everything should be okay but now we have to wait and see."

The Spaniard admits, however, that he is looking to return to the top of the podium following a disappointing French Grand Prix, where he finished down in seventh.

"The goal is to win all the races and at the moment I had only the luck to win two races and hopefully this is the third one," he said.

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Hamilton aims to see out career at McLaren

By Jonathan Noble and Pablo Elizalde Thursday, July 5th 2007, 15:00 GMT


Briton Lewis Hamilton says he wants to stay at the McLaren team during his whole Formula One career, just eight races into life as a Grand Prix driver.

"I am obviously very passionate about driving a Formula one car, and there is a lot of emotion there because I have grown up with them," Hamilton told reporters at Silverstone on Thursday.

"And you go to the factory and it is perfect the way things are run, the people there the mechanics, I love everyone at the team and enjoy working with them.

"I couldn't imagine working anywhere else."

The 22-year-old Briton has been backed by McLaren for over a decade and is now enjoying a sensational debut season with them.

Hamilton is leading the championship by 14 points, having scored eight consecutive podium finishes, including two race victories.

"I have a great feeling in the team and I am not saying I am going to be here forever, I don't know how long I will be in F1, I don't know how long I want to be in F1, I might want to go and do something else, if that is a short time or a long time I feel happy to see out my career here because I am passionate about this team," he added.

The championship leader said he would not even be tempted by Ferrari if the Italian squad offered him a big amount of money.

"I don't particularly think so," Hamilton said. "I am not here for money, it's not been something that has driven me to go to F1.

"If Ron (Dennis) came up to me and said I will give you the drive but you are not going to get paid, then any driver would have jumped at it. And I still believe that is the same thing.

"For sure driving around you want to be respected, and at some point you have to be paid your value but that is not something that drives me. I am really, really happy here, but you don't know what is going to happen.

"If I am not happy here then we have to sit down and talk but that is not the case."