Hamilton fidgets while Kovalainen talks

Enlarge Photo Ferrari Formula One driver Felipe Massa (L) of Brazil stands next to McLaren Formula One...

Sat, May 10 10:39 PM

By Alan Baldwin

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - A toilet break made all the difference to Lewis Hamilton's demeanour at the Turkish Grand Prix on Saturday.

Outqualified by his happy McLaren team mate Heikki Kovalainen, the 23-year-old Briton had to sit agonisingly through a news conference before being allowed to answer the call of nature.

His body language and nervous fidgeting appeared to indicate that he was unhappy with his performance after making what he said was the wrong tyre call and qualifying third.

Kovalainen will start second and on the front row for the first time.

"I chose the wrong tyre. It didn't give me the performance and the car didn't feel great, no," the Briton said tersely in reply to one question.

Questioned further about his evident disappointment, last year's rookie sensation and overall championship runner-up finally came clean.

"I just need the toilet, that's all," he explained.

"And I'm really wondering whether Heikki is really Finnish because his answers are longer than I've ever known."

Kovalainen, unlike his often monosyllabic compatriot and world champion Kimi Raikkonen, had just talked at length about his return from a major crash in Barcelona two weeks ago, the scans he had gone through and post-recovery training programme.

Two more quick questions, and Hamilton was a free man. By the time he met reporters later, he sounded more relaxed and had changed his tune.

"I think we actually did make the right decision," he said of his tyre choice.

"That was the best tyre for us to use. At the time I thought this wasn't the tyre I should have used but I've just been looking at the data and it was the right decision.

"We are third and it's better than we have had for the last few races so it's not all doom and gloom," added the driver. "We are in a good position to be able to attack on the first lap and challenge for the win.

"But it's going to be tough...I want to win as much as everyone else, and sometimes you feel that if something is not 100 percent it needs to be improved."

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