PREVIEW: Hamilton approaching the moment of truth at Silverstone

Jul 3, 2008, 13:55 GMT

Silverstone, Britain - All eyes will be on Lewis Hamilton at Silverstone this weekend as the McLaren-Mercedes driver tries to put his recent racing travails behind him by taking victory at his home British Grand Prix.

A record-breaking crowd of 240,000 is expected at Silverstone over the three race days with home hero Hamilton the main draw for British fans hoping that he can improve on his third-place finish last year.

'I know that lots of them will support me and it will be a great experience to see their flags and banners,' Hamilton said in an interview with the German service of Deutsche-Presse Agentur, dpa.

'I will give it my all to make the fans happy. It would be a dream come true to win at Silverstone.'

Although only 10 points behind championship leader Felipe Massa of Ferrari with 10 races still remaining, the pressure is already well and truly on Hamilton after driving errors left the 23-year-old without a point in his last two races.

At least Hamilton still has the support of his McLaren-Mercedes team.

'We shouldn't lose our patience, it is still only two races since we enjoyed a victory, 'said Mercedes motorsport director Norbert Haug in reference to Hamilton's win at the Monaco GP at the end of May.

Although Robert Kubica of BMW Sauber has been the surprise package of the season to date, sitting just two points adrift of Massa at the top, Hamilton's main challengers at Silverstone are still expected to be the Ferraris of Massa and defending world champion Kimi Raikkonen.

'I think it will be very close between us (McLaren and Ferrari),' said Raikkonen, who feels McLaren and Ferrari still have the edge on BMW.

'I don't think there is another team that will be close enough to us to win.'

Hamilton isn't so sure, and doesn't rule out Kubica and BMW still being in the frame for the drivers' title at the end of the season.

'Formula 1 is a very competitive sport where you experience ups and downs. This season seems to be extremely competitive with four drivers within 10 points,' he said.

Hamilton certainly needs to stamp out the costly driving errors, such as when he ploughed into the back of Kimi Raikkonen in the pit- lane at the Canadian GP or when he incurred a drive-through penalty at the French GP for cutting a chicane.

His woes were compounded at Magny-Cours as Massa led home a Ferrari 1-2.

'Montreal and Magny-Cours lie behind me, everybody has seen what went wrong and I don9t reflect on my mistakes any more because I want to focus on the next races and especially the forthcoming British Grand Prix,' said Hamilton.

'There I will be determined to fight for victory in front of my home crowd and to give them something back for their constant support.'