MANAMA, (Reuters) – McLaren have taken a step forward and can hope for at least a top five finish in Sunday’s Bahrain Grand Prix, Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton said yesterday.
“All the positives are starting to add up now. It’s a result of all the team’s work. We’ve been pushing very hard over the last couple of months,” the 24-year-old told reporters after qualifying fifth at Sakhir — his highest grid placing of the season so far.
“The car’s feeling a lot better this weekend, even though we didn’t make too many updates.
“We’re on a similar pace to the guys in front, so I reckon we should be in the top five providing everything goes smoothly, which fingers crossed it will, we should be able to get a good top five finish.
“I’m going to be pushing as hard as I can for that to get some points for the team,” said Hamilton.
The champion has just four points from three races after being stripped of third place in the Australian season-opener for deliberately misleading stewards.
McLaren, who have struggled since pre-season testing with an uncompetitive car, could be punished heavily by the governing International Automobile Federation (FIA) at a hearing in Paris next Wednesday.
Hamilton, Formula One’s youngest champion, said his performance yesterday made him hopeful of qualifying on pole position again and challenging the frontrunners.
He qualified 18th in Australia but, in a clear sign of progress, was 12th on the grid in Malaysia and ninth in China.
“I do feel we have an opportunity to get into the top three but its going to be tough because the guys in front are very fast,” he said of today’s race.
