“He will do whatever he has to do to win”The hype surrounding the astonishing rise to prominence of British rookie Lewis Hamilton was given a turbo-boost on Sunday when Bernie Ecclestone compared him to seven-times champion driver
Michael Schumacher.
Ecclestone,
the Formula One commercial ring-master who will be 77 later this year and who has a taste for controversy, said that if Hamilton, 22, wore Schumacher's helmet when racing during Grand Prix weekends, no-one would know it was not the famous German inside the car.
Since he made his debut in Melbourne this year at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, Hamilton has caused a sensation.
In his first three races, he has finished on the podium in Australia, Malaysia and Bahrain and on Sunday he planned to go one better than that and record his first victory in the Spanish Grand Prix.
Ecclestone, a seasoned observer of the sport and a former team owner who has seen such talents as Brazilians Nelson Piquet and Ayrton Senna win races and titles, not to mention every other driver since the early-1970's, believes Hamilton is not only a potential winner also, but a champion in the making.
He said: "He is doing a super job. If you looked at him and put Michael's helmet on, then you would think it was Michael."
"And, he will do whatever he has to do to win races, and if by any chance he happens to be a world champion because of that, then that is how it is. It is a bonus."
Ecclestone added, with a grin: "He is a nice guy, a really nice guy. But I wouldn't want people to start talking about (the championship) because we don't want to put him under that much pressure, do we?"
Source AFP
