F1: Lewis 'exceeded all expectations' admits McLaren.

Rory Phoulorie · Zorce Jedi Knight Joined: 26 Jan 2007 Posts: 1698

Not even the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team expected Lewis Hamilton to cap his debut in Formula One with a podium appearance, if CEO Martin Whitmarsh is to be believed.

Speaking to Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper in the wake of the 22-year old's maiden outing, in which he qualified fourth and ran ahead of world champion team-mate Fernando Alonso before eventually finishing third, Whitmarsh admitted that he and the rest of the team had been taken aback by the way in which the rookie had approached, and coped with, the weekend.

"Lewis has come to a team of massive expectations, [and] the pressure that comes with that is incredible," he said, "If he'd have flopped here, we know what the headlines would have been.

"[But] Lewis exceeded all our expectations. Great drivers always find a little bit more - I think back to Michael Schumacher's debut at Spa and how impressed we all were when he put it seventh [in qualifying]. This weekend has been truly remarkable.

"Lewis came to a circuit that is low-grip at the best of times, [and] wet on Friday. The first time he had ever driven on an extreme wet tyre coincided with his first lap as a professional racing driver on a circuit he had never driven. If you get it wrong here, it's quite unforgiving. He progressed from extreme wets to wets, then did one lap on dry. Look at his times. Bang. Straight away, he was there. Quick. In the second practice session, you had red flags, a bit of drizzle. He dealt with all the issues. I was listening to him on the radio, amazed at how articulate, intelligent and insightful he was."

Having urged McLaren team boss Ron Dennis to take a chance on the GP2 Series champion, Whitmarsh himself betrayed signs of concern at throwing Hamilton in at the deep end, but revealed that they had been dispelled as he gave the driver a traditional 'good luck' message on the grid.

http://www.crash.net/news_View~cid~1~id~144812.htm

Let's hope that this was not a 'flash in the pan' performance.