PREVIEW: Hamilton looking for revenge in Ferrari's backyard

Sep 11, 2008, 12:23 GMT

Monza, Italy - Although Lewis Hamilton is still hoping that an appeal will reinstate him as the winner of the Belgium Grand Prix, he is looking forward to gaining revenge in Ferrari's backyard by winning Sunday's Italian Grand Prix.

The McLaren-Mercedes driver won last Sunday's race at Spa but was later handed a 25-second penalty which demoted him to third place. Ferrari rival Felipe Massa was declared the winner.

Race stewards decided the British driver had gained an unfair advantage by cutting a chicane before overtaking Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen towards the end of the race.

Hamilton said immediately after being penalized that the decision had made him more determined. 'Now we want to win all the remaining races.'

Mercedes motorsport director Norbert Haug said that his team would concentrate on the 14th of 18 season races. 'But we will also point out that we were unfairly treated.'

Hamilton's penalty pushed Massa to within two points of the McLaren driver in the standings and has added further fuel to an already volatile situation in which there has been speculation that Ferrari is being favoured.

The Italian team is trying to downplay the controversy surrounding the Belgium Grand Prix, although they are being seen as the team that benefited the most from the decision.

'It is our job to prepare as best we can for Monza. That is our main goal and we need to concentrate on that,' team chief Stefano Domenicali said.

For Massa it makes no difference whether he won the race on the track or by default. 'Obviously it is highly motivating to go into Monza on the back of a victory. Now I want to also win the Ferrari home race.'

If the Brazilian wins the race on the spectacular 5,793-kilometre long course, or manages to get two points more than Hamilton, he will take over as the new championship leader.

Going into Monza Hamilton has 76 points while Massa, who has not scored a single point in five outings in Monza, has 74. Had the race stewards not penalized Hamilton he would have an eight-point advantage over Massa.

Defending champion Raikkonen, who seemed on course to finishing at least second in Belgium before crashing towards the end in wet conditions needs to win in Monza if he wants to maintain his chances of retaining the title.

The Finn is 19 points behind Hamilton.

'I will do everything I can to win,' he said.

McLaren, who managed a one-two in Monza last year and has achieved excellent results in tests ahead of the race, is confident that they will be competitive.

'We are cool and relaxed ahead of the race. We will not underestimate Ferrari. But our tests in Monza were very good and in Belgium we were much faster than Massa,' Haug said.