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Formula One

"Confident" Hamilton looks ahead to Valencia

20/08/2008

Lewis Hamilton says he is "confident" his McLaren will be competitive at this weekend's European formula one grand prix.

The race will be staged by the brand new Valencia street circuit in Spain and many pundits have suggested the tight turns could favour the Ferraris of Hamilton's title rivals, Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen.

However, the Briton - who currently leads the drivers' standings by five points - has claimed he is upbeat about his team's chances.

"We feel confident about our chances - we know our rivals will be strong but we've worked hard to improve the car and we are confident we'll be competitive," he said.

"I'm wary of making predictions. The race in Hungary showed just how unpredictable formula one can be and that's one of the reasons why it's such a fascinating sport.

"Clearly, though, I am still in a good position to challenge for the world championship and that remains my aim."

Hamilton narrowly missed out on the drivers' championship in 2007 when eventual winner Raikkonen drove to victory in the final race of the campaign to leapfrog the 23-year-old and his McLaren team-mate Fernando Alonso.

But the Briton believes the current campaign is panning out slightly differently to last year.

"Looking back at the season so far, it feels like a different championship," he explained.

"2007 was very intense and consistency was incredibly important, but this year everybody's results have been more varied and every driver who has won a race has also failed to score on at least two other occasions.

"That's made getting strong results even more important, but I think we'll see consistency becoming crucial as we head towards the end of the season."