PlanetF1

Hamilton: Monaco ideal for first win

Saturday 19-May-2012 09:19

Lewis Hamilton believes there is no better place to win his first race of the season than next weekend on the streets of Monte Carlo.

Despite having yet to win a grand prix this season, Hamilton is only eight points away from joint Championship leaders Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso in the Drivers' standings.

And although the McLaren driver admits a consistent approach is the way to go about winning World titles, he is eager to get off the mark.

"Monaco is a very special circuit," said the Brit. "It's up there with Silverstone as the place where I most want to do well at.

"Still it's important not to lose sight of the fact that, despite pushing for the win, consistency and scoring decent points is currently the most sensible way to tackle this World Championship.

"I've scored points at every race, and I'm only eight points off the lead of the Championship. That's a really encouraging statistic and it's reassuring to see my approach is paying off.

"Nevertheless, I'm coming off the back of two relatively disappointing results and there would be no better place for the cards to fall in my favour than at Monaco."

As for the race, it takes place on the streets of the Principality and requires the drivers to race a fine line between needing speed and needing to stay out the barriers.

"Even though Monaco has the slowest average speed of all the circuits we visit in a season, it always feels incredibly quick. That's because the acceleration is so rapid and the walls so close: there really is no room for error.

"Apart from the run-off at Ste Devote, and the tiny escape roads at Mirabeau and the harbour chicane, there's no room to make a mistake."

"But," Hamilton added, "when the stakes are at their highest, I just find it more exciting."