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McLaren
McLaren goes into Formula One’s signature race on a high, even after Felipe Massa notched Ferrari’s fourth straight win of 2008 at the Turkish GP and the Brazilian’s third straight at Istanbul.
“This is the race to win, and one of the races I’ve always wanted to win,” said Hamilton, who triumphed in Monaco in GP2 in 2006.
“Unpredictable is the word that sums up Monaco from a performance perspective. It is very exciting to drive, there is no room for any error all weekend,” Hamilton said. “You are on the limit the whole time ... It is so tight and narrow, and when you consider how quick you are driving it is unreal.”
Moreover, Raikkonen would like to add his name to the list of greats - Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost, Michael Schumacher and Graham Hill are a few - with multiple triumphs at Monte Carlo.
“The car is stronger at this type of circuit - slow and bendy - compared to last year,” Raikkonen said. “I think that Ferrari has made a big step forward in the areas where we weren’t strong last year. Monaco can always be good for a surprise - it’s the most open of all the races this year.”
Hamilton wants to emulate his street-fighting hero Ayrton Senna, the six-time winner of the Monaco Grand Prix.
Senna won the event six times in seven years, five of those in succession from 1989.
“I’d love to emulate what he has done here,” said Hamilton. “When I was growing up I always watched his videos. The in-car footage of this circuit, and the way he described the feeling of driving, was incredible.
Both McLaren’s MP4-23 and Ferrari’s F2008 are evolutions of last year’s cars, with the former’s predecessor proving more adept at handling the tight confines and bumps of the 2.075-mile track.
However, Raikkonen is of the belief that Ferrari have improved in this regard, with progress apparently also being made while testing at Paul Ricard last week.
According to Hamilton, it’s a track that places demands on a driver like no other. Such are Hamilton’s preparations that, gaudy promotional crash helmet aside, he feels duty bound to sidestep the huge yachts and parties.
“It is not a distraction in any way, as with any race I am just fully focused on getting the job done,” he added. “Monaco weekend more than any other is about being 100 percent in the zone and so I just keep myself to myself.”
