Planet-F1

Lewis: We'll bounce back in Bahrain

Monday 24th March 2008

Malaysian will be just a mere blooper on McLaren's road towards Championship glory, says a confident Lewis Hamilton.

The McLaren driver was undone by Ferrari this weekend as Felipe Massa led the way in qualifying and Kimi Raikkonen put an end to any debate of who has the better car during Sunday's race.

However, Hamilton also wasn't assisted by the five grid slot penalty handed to him for blocking Nick Heidfeld in qualifying. Nor his pit stop blunder or being stuck behind Mark Webber - twice - help either.

He eventually finished the grand prix in fifth place, a whopping 46 seconds behind race winner Raikkonen.

It was a disappointing outcome for Hamilton, whose lead in the Drivers' standings was cut to just three points, as he reckons he could have finished on the podium.

"We were in a good position for a shot at third at least - but then I had the problem in my first stop, which cost me a lot of time," the 23-year-old said.

"Without the penalty, I believe we could have finished second. But this is racing - those are the rules. We have to look forward to the next race; we're still leading.

"I did the best job I could.

"I got a really good start and was pretty happy to jump five places from ninth to fifth.

"I was pushing Mark Webber for a long time - but being behind someone, no matter how quick you are, it's really difficult to get past.

"But we can take away the fact that the car ran very reliably in extreme conditions, and I was able to push Jarno (Trulli) right until the end."

The Brit is confident he will be back at the next race in Bahrain, which he finished in second place last season.

"We will bounce back in Bahrain," he said. "We were quick there last year and I believe we have the car to be quick again."

The Bahrain Grand Prix takes place at the Sakhir circuit on April 6.