Highlights

I'm still a raw rookie - F1 title leader Hamilton

(AFP)
Updated: 2007-07-01 09:55

MAGNY-COURS, France - World championship-leading Lewis Hamilton on Saturday claimed he was still a raw rookie who will make mistakes after a slight error cost him pole position for Sunday's French Grand Prix.

Drivers world championship leader 22-year-old British rookie Lewis Hamilton, seen here, has clocked the fastest time to overhaul his Ferrari rivals the final free practice for Sunday's French Grand Prix.[AFP]

The 22-year-old Englishman, the first man of Afro-Caribbean descent to reach Formula One and the first black driver to win a race, said that after seven successive podium finishes he believed he was still a newcomer.

But his fellow-drivers, led by Ferrari's Brazilian star Felipe Massa, who outpaced Hamilton to grab pole position, protested that it was not possible to regard him as a rookie any longer.

"No, definitely not!" said Massa, 26.

"You cannot see him as a rookie. No. You never see a guy in the first year leading the championship so, for sure, not. He is no rookie at all."

Hamilton, however, disagreed.

"I still believe it is the same. I am still in my first season," insisted the McLaren-Mercedes driver.

A lot of the other drivers obviously understand that I am still a rookie, but as you go through the season they see that you are doing a good job or you have a close battle with them and they can see you are fair or something like that and they build the respect that they have for you.

"It grows. But I still think they obviously know I am a rookie they expect me to make a mistake at some point, but I am here to prove them wrong."

Hamilton has reeled off record-breaking results to emerge as the youngest title-race leader in Formula One history and on Sunday will seek, from second on the grid, to grab his third straight win following triumphs in Canada and the United States.

A slight braking error on Saturday cost him pole.

He denied that leading the championship by 10 points ahead of his team-mate and defending drivers champion Fernando Alonso was heaping any extra pressure on to his young shoulders.

He said: "I don't feel any more pressure, I just feel that I approach every weekend the same. It is great to be in the lead, but obviously there are ten races left and it is way too early to consider winning the championship.

"We have to keep on pushing to improve the car and to be as consistent as possible and to work on reliability."

Hamilton, showing remarkable aplomb for such an inexperienced and young driver when besieged by the media, said he was enjoying his relationship with his rival drivers, notably Massa.

"We get on very well and a lot of the drivers here get on very well and we have a lot of respect for each other off the track," he said.

"But then, when you get on the track, you are there to do a job and you are there to compete and beat each other and once you know the boundaries and, you know, we've obviously had some close races this year, we know where we are on the circuit, so we have trust.

"It doesn't make it hard to race each other. In the race, you are enemies, well not enemies, but fierce competitors, and off the track you are good friends."

Looking ahead to Sunday's 70 laps race, Hamilton said: "It is always important to get a win -- and not just to continue with the success that we have had this year, but also obviously to score as many points as you can, whether that is ten, eight or six, or whatever.

"It is extremely important that we continue to score points, not only for the drivers championship, but also the teams', and so that is what me and Fernando will be doing, pushing as much as we can.

"We have to see how the race goes. Me, Felipe and also Kimi, we all know where we are on the circuit and we will push as hard as we can to get up front. We will just have to see how it goes."