Frank Williams has never seen anyone like the 22-year-old Hamilton

Frank Williams says that Hamilton never seems like an ordinary 22-year-old man.
Lewis is clearly a very special driver. We have never seen anything like this in F1 before.The 22-year-old leads the championship by eight points over world champion Fernando Alonso much to the delight of Williams.

Williams says Hamilton is like no other driver he has ever seen
Alonso shows Hamilton how it's done

Frank Williams has hailed McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton's achievements this season as "remarkable" and says he has never seen anyone like the 22-year-old.

Hamilton was second-fastest in the second practice session for the Indianapolis grand prix behind team-mate Fernando Alonso and Williams believes Hamilton is unique.

He said: "In my opinion I've never seen anyone arrive and be so successful so quickly.

"That is to say from his first race. It is quite remarkable."

Williams, who has worked with Brazilian legend Ayrton Senna, says he cannot think of any other driver with who Hamilton can be compared.

"I am looking hard to find fault with him and he is very nice, which is quite unusual, too," said the Williams supremo.

The British rookie leads the drivers' world championship standings by eight points from Alonso and remains confident of his prospects at the US grand prix.

Although it is a new track to Hamilton he was still towards the top of the timesheets in practice on Friday.

He said: "We have a pretty good idea of where we are going, and it looks like we should be competitive, but as always Friday is only the start of the weekend - there is a long way to go."

The McLaren driver said he took his time getting to know the track and found some of the section quite tricky.

Alonso will hope to close the gap with his team-mate after this weekend's grand prix and is also hopeful of doing well at Indianapolis.

"This track has never been kind to me, but I really want to do well this weekend," said the Spaniard.

Fernando Alonso Dominates Opening Practice in Indianapolis

Fernando Alonso dominates opening practice in Indianapolis on Friday (15th June) with the fastest laps in each session ahead of Sunday's United States Grand Prix.
Alonso dominates both practice sessions at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The temperatures at Indy were amongst the highest experienced so far this season but despite the tough conditions for the seventh round of the FIA Formula One World Championship, the Bridgestone Potenzas performed admirably. Alonso’s time on the first day of running was only 1.1 seconds off last year’s pole time. The medium and soft tyre combination has only been previously used at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.


Alonso set his times on Bridgestone’s soft compound Potenza whilst BMW Sauber’s Nick Heidfeld and Alonso’s team-mate Lewis Hamilton were second and third fastest in the morning session. In the afternoon session, held in even hotter conditions, Hamilton and Ferrari’s Felipe Massa were the second and third fastest. Sebastien Vettel, standing in for Robert Kubica at BMW Sauber, impressed through the day with the fourth fastest time in the morning, and he completed the greatest amount of laps of any driver.

Kees van de Grint, Bridgestone Motorsport Head of Track Engineering Operations said:

“It was a very good session today with no tyre issues to report. The circuit was not at its best which is normal due to this being the first day of running, but despite this both compounds of Potenzas performed well. If we are critical we could say that more grip would be advantageous, but in terms of graining and consistency I am very satisfied. More grip should come as the circuit improves but competitive lap times were already set despite the circuit’s condition.

The soft Potenza was faster, as expected, with a minimum four tenths advantage over the medium Potenza. The temperature levels are not an issue to me as it is the high speeds and the banking here which are the crucial aspects. Although we have had a good day today, we should never be complacent at this circuit. ”

Stats of the Day

Total amount of laps completed by all drivers: 1366

Average number of laps per car: 62 laps

Most laps by a driver: 83 – Sebastian Vettel

Fastest lap: 1min 11.925secs – Fernando Alonso

Compounds: Medium and soft

Qualifying in 2006

Michael Schumacher and Felipe Massa made up an all-Ferrari front row with Schumacher on pole position by over four tenths with a time of 1min 10.832secs. Giancarlo Fisichella (Renault) and Rubens Barrichello (Honda) made up the second row.

Massa Vows to overcome McLaren

Ferrari star Felipe Massa has vowed to bridge the gap on Formula One frontrunners McLaren, starting at this weekend’s United States Grand Prix in Indianapolis.

Ferrari won three of the first four races of the season with Kimi Raikkonen taking the season-opening Australian Grand Prix and Massa winning in Bahrain and Spain.

Then the Ferrari campaign hit the skids, with the team drubbed in Monaco as McLaren’s Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton secured their one-two finish.

Then Massa was disqualified in Canada last weekend as the Brazilian ran a red light exiting the pit lane and Raikkonen was outpaced by BMW Sauber’s Nick Heidfeld, the Williams of Alexander Wurz and Renault’s Heikki Kovalainen as the Finn had to settle for fifth behind race winner Hamilton.

McLaren have a 28-point lead over Ferrari in the constructors’ championship, the sort of dominance enjoyed by the Italian team at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway since 2000, with Michael Schumacher winning six of the seven Grands Prix at the venue.

Sebastien Vettel will replace Kubica in US GP

The doctors disagreed with Robert Kubica and disallowed him from competing in the US Grand Prix, giving newcomer Sebastien Vettel his chance for hisfirst ever Formula One race.

Formula One driver Robert Kubica came to Indianapolis Motor Speedway proclaiming he was alert, clear-minded and ready to race Sunday in the U.S. Grand Prix.

FIA, the international governing body of racing, ruled Kubica could not yet climb back into the cockpit four days after sustaining a concussion and spraining an ankle in a frightening crash at Montreal. He will be replaced by Germany's Sebastian Vettel, a test driver for BMW Sauber.

"I felt absolutely ready to race," Kubica said in a statement issued by the team after the doctors' decision. "I respect the decision. It was made because there is too much risk to let me race in this Grand Prix in case I have an impact so soon after Montreal. I will go home now."

Vettel, a 19-year-old rookie, is expected to make his first F1 start Sunday.

Bernie Ecclestone: "We could be in India soon instead of the United States"

Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone has threatened to take F1 race away from the United States if he cannot agree on a new deal with Indianapolis.

It is not vital to Formula One to be in the United States," the 76-year-old told Britain's Daily Express newspaper, three days ahead of this season's US Grand Prix.

"There are bigger markets for us to be in other parts of the world. We could be in India soon instead of the United States. We don't have a lot of sponsors from the US, no American teams and only one driver," he added.

"I get along with (Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner) Tony George and I hope we can strike a deal, but we have offers from other places in the US too."

Despite Ecclestone's comments, similar to ones he made last year before agreeing a one-year extension with Indianapolis, the US is a key market for the car manufacturers who dominate the sport and own most of the teams.

"The automobile market in the USA is the biggest one for Mercedes-Benz outside Germany," said Mercedes motorsport vice-president Norbert Haug, whose company owns 40 per cent of championship leaders McLaren.

"For the BMW Group, the USA Grand Prix is of key importance in so far as the United States is our biggest market," said BMW Sauber boss Mario Theissen in a team preview of Sunday's race.

"We sell more cars there than in Germany and also have our biggest production sites outside Germany."

Tiger Hamilton!

Both are the best in their sports. Both are revered by millions around the world. Both are considered saviors of their respective sports. And both are black!

Tiger Woods and Lewis Hamilton have found fame and glory.Hamilton’s amazing start to his big-time career — six podium finishes in his first six races for McLaren — is making the entire sporting world sit up and take notice.

His incredible impact, including last Sunday’s first victory in Canada, has already earned him comparisons with Woods.
The American has almost single-handedly sent golf’s popularity soaring since he turned professional a decade ago.

As golf’s first black superstar, millions of youngsters from minority groups regard Woods as an inspiration — and he feels that Hamilton will swiftly have the same appeal.

Woods told me: “I’ve been following his progress pretty closely and I think it is great he won the Canadian Grand Prix after going close in all his previous races.