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Journalism of Courage
McLaren8217;s Lewis Hamilton made the best possible start to his quest to win the Formula One title at the Chinese Grand Prix by dominating Friday8217;s free practice.
The 23-year-old Briton, who could become the sport8217;s youngest champion on Sunday, swept around the 5.451km circuit in one minute 35.630 seconds in the morning session and clocked the quickest lap in the afternoon as well.
8220;Today has been a very productive day and a very strong day for us, the car8217;s been great,8221; he told reporters. 8220;I feel confident with the track and I8217;m in the right mind frame.8221;
Hamilton will, however, be painfully aware that he also dominated all weekend in Shanghai last year but ended his race marooned in a gravel trap and ultimately gave up a 17-point championship lead to Ferrari8217;s Kimi Raikkonen.
Raikkonen8217;s team mate Felipe Massa is Hamilton8217;s closest rival this year, trailing by five points with 20 up for grabs in the last two races, and the Brazilian was second best on Friday with a morning time of 1.36.020.
That compared with Hamilton8217;s best of 1:35.630.
8220;The balance of the car is very good, both on the first timed lap and over a distance,8221; said the Brazilian.
8220;The times are very close and maybe I could have been a bit further up the order in the afternoon session if I had not encountered traffic on my last run on the soft tyres. These seem to be very quick, which is no surprise, but also very consistent.8221;
Kubica8217;s struggle
Poland8217;s Robert Kubica, the only other driver left in the title race, showed what a struggle it will be for him to make up 12 points on Hamilton in the last two races as he was only able to muster the 10th fastest time of the day for BMW-Sauber.
Spain8217;s double world champion Fernando Alonso, who has won the last two races, continued his and Renault8217;s revival with a flying lap late in the afternoon session for the third fastest time of 1:36.024.
Hamilton showed no signs of being distracted by the continuing controversy over the safety of his driving, although he did run off the track on his sixth lap halfway through the opening session.
He recovered immediately to top the time sheets on his next go around and, although he was quickly trumped by Massa, his second stint saw him become the first driver to dip under 1.36 and he bettered even that four laps later. The Briton opened the second session in similar style, quickly topping the time sheets with a run of 1.35.750.
8220;Everybody has the right to their opinion and all I can do is respect it,8221; Hamilton said of the criticism. But I do have to say the reason I8217;m here today is how I drive. If I was in a Force India, then nobody would be talking about it.8221;
