Vodafone McLaren Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton has a new ace up his sleeve as he prepares to launch his assault on the Formula One world drivers’ championship in Melbourne next week.
Hamilton has added tennis to his fitness regime to help keep reflexes sharp. And, fed up with losing to new team-mate Heikki Kovalainen, Hamilton has enlisted the services of the Fed Express himself, Roger Federer, to get him across the line first.
The pair met at the Vodafone and Mercedes-Benz sponsored Laureus Awards in St Petersburg last month when Federer approached Hamilton for a photograph. “I was stunned. Roger said that his mum wanted to get a picture of us together,” said Hamilton.
“He was a really nice guy. I asked him if he could drive. We agreed that I would help improve his driving and he’d help me with my tennis. That’s what I say to all the tennis players.”
The meeting with Federer illustrates Hamilton’s growing status in the celebrity athlete stakes, a development with which he struggled to come to terms at times last year. “I’m just starting to get used to handling fame and understanding things better,” he said.
“Last year was just crazy. I got to meet all sorts of celebrities, many that I had always wanted to meet. Now I’m the celebrity. A lot of people appear to love the fame.
I wasn’t really sure what to do. When ten photographers turn up, what do you do?
“I didn’t know how to respond to that. I just didn’t want people writing fake stories about me. This year I’m much more comfortable with that side of things.”
Tennis aside, the arrival of Kovalainen, who replaced Fernando Alonso following his return to Renault, has also boosted Hamilton’s lot .
“I have a good relationship with Heikki. He has had a good impact on the team,” said Hamilton. “The way he approaches racing is similar to mine. He doesn’t like the limelight too much. He prefers to be out of the spotlight, to stay nice and quiet and just race a Formula One car.
“So we get on well. We have been playing some tennis together. Unfortunately he has been beating me. I’m leading him into a false sense of security.”
A year ago Hamilton was a novelty, the sport’s first black driver. The only time he had seen Australian Grand Prix circuit Albert Park was on TV or by computer games .
Yet he stunned the watching world by finishing his debut on the podium. This year he enters the championship as one of the favourites to win it.
And he’s aiming to roar out of the blocks. “Going into Australia it is so important to get off to a good start otherwise you are always trying to catch up later on.
“Albert Park is a great circuit. Street circuits are very, very tough. They are my favourite tracks. Last year was amazing going there as a F1 driver. I’d watched the opening race for so many years on TV. To make my debut there was special.”
There are many in the sport who believe Hamilton is already the complete package. No lesser figure than four-time champion Alain Prost has installed him as favourite.
Prost pointed to the way he handled the pressure of competing with a world champion as a team-mate as an indicator of his strength.
Prost said: “Last year he did something exceptional, but not so much for his performances, which were fantastic anyway. He was doubly exceptional at a psychological level: first in the way he put up with the pressure of his debut, and then for the way he put up with the ever-increasing pressure for a season that went on until the last GP.”
