Hamilton was lucky to start!

[TheStig]

Lewis Hamilton said problems with his neck had almost forced him to pull out of the European Grand Prix.

The McLaren driver, also suffering from flu-like symptoms, was second to Felipe Massa's Ferrari after having injections in his neck to alleviate the problem.

"Luckily I have a great doctor and a great team or I might not have made it," said the Englishman.

"As it was, it was pretty tough in the race and I had a lot of pain, but I don't think I lost time because of it."

Hamilton actually extended his championship lead despite not winning the race, but Massa leapfrogged team-mate Kimi Raikkonen as his closest pursuer.

Hamilton is eight points clear of Massa, with Raikkonen 13 adrift of the lead after retiring with engine failure from fifth place after a disappointing race.

Hamilton said he believed his neck problems had been caused by the position in which he had slept.

He said it had been "touch and go" whether he raced, and that McLaren test driver Pedro de la Rosa had been on standby.

"I think the spasms started when I woke up at around 5am yesterday (Saturday) and they were so bad I was struggling to stand up," he said.

"I had to have injections in my neck and I took some painkillers and I got through it, but it was tough. Pedro was looking forward to racing, I know that."

Hamilton said he had been feeling unwell ever since arriving in Valencia on Thursday.

"I have had a miserable weekend really from the day I arrived - I have a lot of flu symptoms, a fever every day," he said.

"I have had low energy, just felt poorly with problems with the spasms in my neck which led to me being in doubt for the weekend and obviously for this race."

Hamilton said his neck was still sore but that he doubted it would be a problem for the Belgian Grand Prix in two weeks' time, despite the long, fast, demanding corners on the Spa-Francorchamps circuit.

Raikkonen's last victory came at the Spanish Grand Prix in April and after another dismal race in Valencia he conceded getting his title defence back on track will be difficult.

"There are still many races to go and it can change so quickly, but there is no doubt it won't be easy," said the Finn.

"Losing the points we could have got is not very good. We are in a bit of a worse situation in the championship.

"I am not too worried. I still think I can come back this season."



http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/7580122.stm

Just for you rom

TheStig

[romephius]

Thanks Stig,

As usual Lewis seems to have an excuse for not winning this time.... never mind he just didn't have the measure of team red for this track.  At this rate I'll never have any respect for him.  Even though the race was a procession I think there was some pretty good racecraft going on with some of the drivers.  Valencia just didn't thrill me though, I guess we will have to wait and see if Singapore can mix things up a bit.

Rom

[Dare]

I don't care for Valencia either Rom.I thought it
was gonna to be some close racing with some
overtaking,that was hardly the case.

Hope their not returning next year

[Steven Roy]

Valencia never cam close to living up to its hype.  Unfortunately we have it for seven seasons.  How can a new F1 track be allowed to have a concrete pitlane that has no been sealed?  If they can tarmac the whole circuit how difficult can it be to do the pits as well.

Hopefully they can change the layout for next season.  25 corners is way too many for a modern F1 track.

[SennaMan]

Lewis Hamilton said problems with his neck had almost forced him to pull out of the European Grand Prix.

The McLaren driver, also suffering from flu-like symptoms, was second to Felipe Massa's Ferrari after having injections in his neck to alleviate the problem......................[snip]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/7580122.stm

Just for you rom

TheStig

thanks TheStig for another good find - now understand some of the reasons for LH not challenging. A good finish that keeps him ahead in the WDC.

[SennaMan]

Valencia never cam close to living up to its hype.  Unfortunately we have it for seven seasons.  How can a new F1 track be allowed to have a concrete pitlane that has no been sealed?  If they can tarmac the whole circuit how difficult can it be to do the pits as well.

Hopefully they can change the layout for next season.  25 corners is way too many for a modern F1 track.

yeah SR - first time out though. The imperfections will be remedied by next year and I hope they widen the pitlane while they seal it too.

I just hate all street circuits; too narrow and b processional. Built just to get more bums on seats and b terrible from a racing viewpoint.

However, the most boring Monaco race is now the longest running race isn't it?

The money is far more important than the racing; in itself a b disgrace.

Ban all street circuits and let's get back to actually having a b race on a track purposely designed as a dedicated race track. You know where drivers can actually overtake.

Can you remember when they all could?

As for "25 corners is way too many for a modern F1 track." isn't that why F1 cars have a steering wheel, brakes and suspension etc. or should F1 join up with the IRL too as Champ Car had to?

Come to think of it why not?

Please refer to my post; "Combine F1 and IRL"

[Scott]

Sennaman - Valencia is on average 14m wide!  How can you call that narrow?  It's wider than most of the other courses on the calendar.  It's not a street race, it's a parking lot/wharf race.  It probably would have been more interesting if Hermann Tilke had followed a few of the local streets instead of paving over the boulevards and sidewalks to get his usual boring as s$%# un-passable curves. 

SR - I couldn't understand why the poor pit lane mechanics had to work in a dust storm every time a car came in - what a joke to not properly seal the concrete. 

[Alianora La Canta]

Dust from unsealed concrete - I wonder if that's why Webber overshot his marks on the pitstop?