Hamilton says 2012 car a big step forward

Lewis Hamilton (GBR) McLaren.
Lewis Hamilton

Dec.6 (PVM) Lewis Hamilton has sounded a warning to rivals that the new McLaren MP4-27 will be a great deal better than its predecessor, but acknowledges that Red Bull are still the team to beat.

“From what I’ve seen, the new McLaren seems a lot better than last year’s,” Hamilton told Gazzetta dello Sport.

“Basically Red Bull is an evolution of the aerodynamic concepts introduced in 2009. By contrast, when [McLaren] had the same reliability, we lacked the same performance,” explained the 2008 F1 world champion.

“During the winter you always dream of arriving at the start of the season with a car that goes quick immediately. This hasn’t happened in the last two seasons. I want it to happen this year. If we start well, we’ll stay at the top more easily,” said Hamilton