Lewis Hamilton warned yesterday that there will be no quick fix to the performance shortfall of his new McLaren Mercedes race car, in comments that underline the challenge that the British world champion faces to retain his title.
Speaking on the Malaysian island of Langkawi where Hamilton is having a rest before he heads to Kuala Lumpur for this weekend’s Malaysian Grand Prix, the man who became the sport’s youngest champion last year said that the first two races, in Australia and Malaysia, are so far from home that it is making it hard for the team to work on improvements.
“The Malaysian Grand Prix is the second of two back-to-back flyaway races, and it’s difficult for any team to make big changes to the car when it’s so far away from the factory and there’s so little time,” Hamilton said. “But we’re targeting upgrades and improvements at every race, so I hope they’ll have a benefit. I know people are hoping for a night-and-day change in our car’s pace, but that’s not going to happen this coming weekend.”
Hamilton believes the circuit at Sepang in the oil palm forests outside the Malaysian capital is going to be a tougher test for the new car than the street circuit in Melbourne, where Hamilton drove an impressive race to come from 18th on the grid to finish third behind the all-conquering Brawn GP cars of race-winner Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello. “Technically speaking, Sepang is a harder test of a Formula One car than Albert Park, so we can’t realistically expect a repeat of the result we saw in Melbourne," Hamilton said. "But the aerodynamicists and engineers are working round the clock back at Woking to make us competitive. We’re taking huge steps forward and I’m confident we’ll show definite signs of progress sooner rather than later,”
The problem with the McLaren is the airflow across and through the car which is not producing the downforce required to allow the British ace to drive with the fluency and red-hot pace which marked his racing in his first two seasons in the sport. The difficulty for the team is to try to work out precisely where the problem is and then make alterations in the shape of the chassis and the wings to improve matters.
Bits of beautifully-crafted carbon-fibre bodywork are on their way from the factory at Woking to the Malaysian capital but these are likely to only be steps on the way to a solution.
During the race in Melbourne, Hamilton said he was constantly in danger of losing the back end of the car as he tore through the corners on the Albert Park circuit. This nagged away at his confidence and the degree to which he was prepared to commit himself for fear of losing control. Ironically, these are just the sort of problems which Button had to contend with when driving an obdurate Honda car at the back of the field last season.
“It felt like there were four or five times through each corner where the car could snap away from you,” Hamilton explained. “And I was pushing so hard, and you knew it was coming, you were waiting for it, worrying about it, knowing that the car was going to break away and you were going to have to wrestle it back under control. That happened in every corner for 58 laps - it was an exhausting race for me.”
The British champion is delighted with his drive in Australia, however, where he had targetted eighth place as his best possible result before the race. On the day, he drove aggressively but never put his car at risk in a performance which, Martin Whitmarsh, the McLaren team principal described as the drive of a champion.
“It was one of the most unexpected results of my Formula One career and, yeah, I think it was one of my best drives too,” said Hamilton. “I’m a fighter, I’ve never given up at any stage of my motorsport career - both on and off the track - and last weekend was the same. I pushed like crazy on every single lap of the race, always looked for the gap and worked with the team over the radio to find every possible way of making us go quicker.
"This was a fantastic result for me, but also a brilliant team effort - our strategy was perfect, the input from the pitwall was superb and everything came together really well.”
The race had reminded him of one of the earliest lessons he had learnt as a small boy racing karts under the watchful eye of his father Anthony who now manages what has, so far, been his glittering career in Formula One.
“I learnt to never, ever, ever, give up. We showed in Brazil last year (where Hamilton secured his title last November) that we would always fight until the very end, and we showed it again in Melbourne. I’ll never give up when I’m in the cockpit - I want to race as hard as I can and I’m looking forward to getting closer to the front and mixing it with the leaders again.”
Source:the times
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Fabio Capello turns to Peter Crouch, England’s last man standing
Fabio Capello demonstrated his growing confidence yesterday by confirming that Peter Crouch will spearhead England’s attack in tonight’s World Cup qualifying tie against Ukraine.
The Italian conceded that Crouch was his fourth choice to lead the line after injuries to Emile Heskey, Carlton Cole and Darren Bent, but after four victories in four group six matches, Capello felt sufficiently buoyed by England’s form and progress to break with his usual custom and reveal that the Portsmouth striker will be in the starting line-up.
Bent had earlier limped out of training with a knee injury. Gabriel Agbonlahor has been called up from the under-21s as cover and will be on the bench at Wembley.
Crouch will take heart from having scored on his previous competitive appearance at the national stadium, a well-taken volley in the 3-2 defeat by Croatia 16 months ago, even though his elevation to Capello’s line-up for the first time has come by default. Crouch, 28, has benefited from injuries to others and Capello’s commitment to a system spearheaded by a physically imposing single striker, which gives Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard the freedom to attack from deeper positions. My first idea was one style and one particular forward, fast and with movement,” Capello said. “Now it’s another style with Crouch. I’m sure he will play a good game because he is in a good moment of form. He has a different style. He is not Bent, not Heskey, but we have to play with Crouch because he’s now the best we have who can play.
“My idea was to pick one forward for the movement into space without the ball, like Heskey, Agbonlahor or Bent, but also Crouch. I think he can do the job, but the most important thing is the movement of Gerrard, [Aaron] Lennon or David [Beckham] and Rooney. This is very important, the movement near Crouch.
“He can’t do the same movement as Heskey, can’t press like Heskey, but it will be very important for the movement of the others around him. We have to play like a team, like a group. Not individuals.”
Capello had considered playing Rooney up front and may do so if Crouch fails to make an impact, but the manager has concluded that he should build the team around the 6ft 7in forward’s unique talent. Such is his faith in Rooney that Capello compared him to Raúl, with whom he worked in two separate spells at Real Madrid, and repeated his belief that the Manchester United striker could go on to captain his country.
The Italian was so relaxed that he related a conversation he had with Sir Alex Ferguson, the United manager, shortly after Rooney’s move from Everton 4½ years ago, in which the Scot expressed concern over a transfer fee that has risen to £27 million.
“Rooney is one of the best players in the world,” Capello said. “He played the last 20 minutes against Slovakia very well [as an out-and-out striker on Saturday] and scored goals. I think he can play first forward, second forward and left back. I don’t know about goalkeeper, but his best position is second striker because he’s free. He runs a lot. He needs to touch the ball, to be in the centre of the team’s movement.
“Rooney is most like Raúl. For the movement, for the passion, for the leadership on the pitch. He’s very similar because when I started the first time in Madrid, Raúl was 19, but he was a leader in the team. Can Rooney captain England? Why not?
“I remember when Sir Alex bought him. I saw him at a Uefa meeting in Nyon and he said, ‘Fabio, I am crazy. I have just spent an awful lot of money on a very young player.’ Now he is happy because he has spent a lot of money on a very important player.”
Rio Ferdinand came through training unscathed yesterday, leaving the only other selection issue for Capello a straight choice between Lennon and Beckham on the right. The Tottenham Hotspur winger’s pace should be enough to win him another start, although Beckham is likely to come on at some stage to win his 110th cap, particularly if England have a lead to protect.
Source:the times
The Italian conceded that Crouch was his fourth choice to lead the line after injuries to Emile Heskey, Carlton Cole and Darren Bent, but after four victories in four group six matches, Capello felt sufficiently buoyed by England’s form and progress to break with his usual custom and reveal that the Portsmouth striker will be in the starting line-up.
Bent had earlier limped out of training with a knee injury. Gabriel Agbonlahor has been called up from the under-21s as cover and will be on the bench at Wembley.
Crouch will take heart from having scored on his previous competitive appearance at the national stadium, a well-taken volley in the 3-2 defeat by Croatia 16 months ago, even though his elevation to Capello’s line-up for the first time has come by default. Crouch, 28, has benefited from injuries to others and Capello’s commitment to a system spearheaded by a physically imposing single striker, which gives Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard the freedom to attack from deeper positions. My first idea was one style and one particular forward, fast and with movement,” Capello said. “Now it’s another style with Crouch. I’m sure he will play a good game because he is in a good moment of form. He has a different style. He is not Bent, not Heskey, but we have to play with Crouch because he’s now the best we have who can play.
“My idea was to pick one forward for the movement into space without the ball, like Heskey, Agbonlahor or Bent, but also Crouch. I think he can do the job, but the most important thing is the movement of Gerrard, [Aaron] Lennon or David [Beckham] and Rooney. This is very important, the movement near Crouch.
“He can’t do the same movement as Heskey, can’t press like Heskey, but it will be very important for the movement of the others around him. We have to play like a team, like a group. Not individuals.”
Capello had considered playing Rooney up front and may do so if Crouch fails to make an impact, but the manager has concluded that he should build the team around the 6ft 7in forward’s unique talent. Such is his faith in Rooney that Capello compared him to Raúl, with whom he worked in two separate spells at Real Madrid, and repeated his belief that the Manchester United striker could go on to captain his country.
The Italian was so relaxed that he related a conversation he had with Sir Alex Ferguson, the United manager, shortly after Rooney’s move from Everton 4½ years ago, in which the Scot expressed concern over a transfer fee that has risen to £27 million.
“Rooney is one of the best players in the world,” Capello said. “He played the last 20 minutes against Slovakia very well [as an out-and-out striker on Saturday] and scored goals. I think he can play first forward, second forward and left back. I don’t know about goalkeeper, but his best position is second striker because he’s free. He runs a lot. He needs to touch the ball, to be in the centre of the team’s movement.
“Rooney is most like Raúl. For the movement, for the passion, for the leadership on the pitch. He’s very similar because when I started the first time in Madrid, Raúl was 19, but he was a leader in the team. Can Rooney captain England? Why not?
“I remember when Sir Alex bought him. I saw him at a Uefa meeting in Nyon and he said, ‘Fabio, I am crazy. I have just spent an awful lot of money on a very young player.’ Now he is happy because he has spent a lot of money on a very important player.”
Rio Ferdinand came through training unscathed yesterday, leaving the only other selection issue for Capello a straight choice between Lennon and Beckham on the right. The Tottenham Hotspur winger’s pace should be enough to win him another start, although Beckham is likely to come on at some stage to win his 110th cap, particularly if England have a lead to protect.
Source:the times
Alan Shearer closes in on dramatic return to Newcastle United
Alan Shearer is thrashing out the final details of his return to St James' Park after agreeing to become manager of Newcastle United.
Shearer, the club’s record goalscorer, has been negotiating the terms of his return after agreeing to take over the managerial reins last night. The former England captain will assume control of his home-town team until the end of the season and has eight matches to save them from relegation.
Shearer, 38, has spent today holding talks with Mike Ashley, the Newcastle owner, and managing director Derek Llambias and will be presented to the media tomorrow. Iain Dowie will join Shearer's coaching staff although Chris Hughton, who has been the acting first-team coach in Joe Kinnear’s absence, and Colin Calderwood will remain at the club. Dowie and Shearer played together at Southampton and have remained close friends ever since.
Newcastle are eighteenth in the Barclays Premier League, two points adrift of safety. The hope will be that a successful conclusion to the campaign will herald a longer stay for Shearer and the start of a new era at the club.
While Shearer, who has been working as a pundit for the BBC, has made no secret of his desire to enter management, he has been critical of Mike Ashley’s tenure at Newcastle and his appointment represents a coup for the sportswear manufacturer, whose ownership of the club has been riddled with controversy. It was Kevin Keegan’s departure as manager in early September, after a dispute over player recruitment, that plunged Newcastle into the crisis that they are still confronting.
Protests by fans led Ashley to attempt to sell the club, while the arrival of Kinnear in an interim capacity as manager could not detract from the lingering sense of instability. Ashley will hope that Shearer’s return will galvanise a club that has been in danger of tearing itself apart.
Shearer scored 206 goals in 395 games for Newcastle over ten years after rejecting the chance to join Manchester United in 1996 and instead switching to St James’ Park for £15 million, then a world-record transfer fee.
With Dennis Wise, whose powerful role as executive director (football) was the source of Keegan’s dispute with Ashley, set to leave his position this summer, Kinnear, who underwent triple heart bypass surgery in February, may “move upstairs” to replace Wise in the summer.
It is not a strategy that comes without risk. With no previous managerial experience, Shearer, who retired as a player three years ago, represents an unknown quantity, although he is young enough to have appeared alongside the likes of Michael Owen, Steve Harper, Steven Taylor and Nicky Butt in a black-and-white shirt. His character and reputation are such that he will immediately command the respect of a fractured dressing-room.
Source:the times
Shearer, the club’s record goalscorer, has been negotiating the terms of his return after agreeing to take over the managerial reins last night. The former England captain will assume control of his home-town team until the end of the season and has eight matches to save them from relegation.
Shearer, 38, has spent today holding talks with Mike Ashley, the Newcastle owner, and managing director Derek Llambias and will be presented to the media tomorrow. Iain Dowie will join Shearer's coaching staff although Chris Hughton, who has been the acting first-team coach in Joe Kinnear’s absence, and Colin Calderwood will remain at the club. Dowie and Shearer played together at Southampton and have remained close friends ever since.
Newcastle are eighteenth in the Barclays Premier League, two points adrift of safety. The hope will be that a successful conclusion to the campaign will herald a longer stay for Shearer and the start of a new era at the club.
While Shearer, who has been working as a pundit for the BBC, has made no secret of his desire to enter management, he has been critical of Mike Ashley’s tenure at Newcastle and his appointment represents a coup for the sportswear manufacturer, whose ownership of the club has been riddled with controversy. It was Kevin Keegan’s departure as manager in early September, after a dispute over player recruitment, that plunged Newcastle into the crisis that they are still confronting.
Protests by fans led Ashley to attempt to sell the club, while the arrival of Kinnear in an interim capacity as manager could not detract from the lingering sense of instability. Ashley will hope that Shearer’s return will galvanise a club that has been in danger of tearing itself apart.
Shearer scored 206 goals in 395 games for Newcastle over ten years after rejecting the chance to join Manchester United in 1996 and instead switching to St James’ Park for £15 million, then a world-record transfer fee.
With Dennis Wise, whose powerful role as executive director (football) was the source of Keegan’s dispute with Ashley, set to leave his position this summer, Kinnear, who underwent triple heart bypass surgery in February, may “move upstairs” to replace Wise in the summer.
It is not a strategy that comes without risk. With no previous managerial experience, Shearer, who retired as a player three years ago, represents an unknown quantity, although he is young enough to have appeared alongside the likes of Michael Owen, Steve Harper, Steven Taylor and Nicky Butt in a black-and-white shirt. His character and reputation are such that he will immediately command the respect of a fractured dressing-room.
Source:the times
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