PREVIEW: Hamilton to continue championship charge at Hockenheim

Jul 17, 2008, 14:41 GMT

Hockenheim, Germany - Lewis Hamilton heads into this weekend's German Grand Prix at Hockenheim full of confidence after his spectacular win in the rain at Silverstone and is hoping for a McLaren-Mercedes 1-2 to thrill his team's home fans.

Hamilton's win in the British Grand Prix earlier this month moved him into a three-way tie at the top of the drivers' championship alongside Ferrari drivers Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen with Robert Kubica of BMW Sauber two points further adrift.

   The 23-year-old Briton now looks to have put the driving errors that caused him to come out of the races in Canada and France without a point behind him and believes he and teammate Heikki Kovalainen can lead home a McLaren 1-2 at Hockenheim.

'Obviously a double success would be great,' said the Briton in an interview with Deutsche Presse Agentur dpa.

'We expect to collect points and will try to ensure that both of us manage a podium finish.'

McLaren and Ferrari seem well matched this season while BMW have clearly closed the gap significantly, and Hamilton sees no reason why there shouldn't be a four-way tussle for the title until the end of the season.

'I think it's possible and believe that it will remain tight right until the end,' he said. 'That's what makes racing worthwhile. It's a real challenge for us drivers to keep getting good results and to earn points.'

The last time Hockenheim featured on the F1 calendar in 2006 Massa finished second behind Michael Schumacher and the Brazilian says he feels at home here.

'I like this track, although I've never raced on the old one with its long straights. I had some pretty good races there and in 2006 I was really fast: I hope that I'll be in the same position and maybe even make a step forward in the final result,' he said.

World champion Raikkonen, meanwhile, has never raced at Hockenheim for Ferrari but came in third in 2006 when at McLaren.

'We've done some testing here last week and it went pretty well. We tried some new components and judging by the lap times there is still a great balance, but I think that Ferrari will be very competitive and fight for the win,' he said.

'I hope it will be hot, as it usually is at Hockenheim. Our car goes really well at high temperatures and also the tyre-wear is not too high.'

Kubica will be making his F1 debut at the circuit although he did get to drive in free practice on Friday in 2006.

'It is the kind of track with different kinds of corners, although not really high-speed corners. The only one that is quite quick is when you enter the stadium, where there is always a special atmosphere,' said the Pole.

'I know corner one is pretty quick but not really a long corner. There are some quite short corners with only one line you can take through them.'

Hamilton, for his part, believes Ferrari have held an advantage on some circuits, such as Magny-Cours, but that this weekend the McLaren could be stronger.

'I don't believe that they have an overall advantage on us. We have a great car, in my view the strongest at the moment,' he said.

'I hope that we can maintain this performance.'