By Alan Baldwin
SILVERSTONE, England (Reuters) -Lewis Hamilton has won a record nine times at Silverstone but arrives this year on a 13-race run without a podium, equalling the longest drought of the seven-times world champion’s Formula One career.
The Briton would dearly love to win again this weekend and end the unhappy sequence in his first race in Britain as a Ferrari driver.
“It would be a great place to be able to change that, so that’s what we are working towards,” the 40-year-old told reporters on Thursday.
Hamilton’s British Grand Prix record is simply phenomenal: on pole seven times, on the podium 14 times — the most by anyone ever at a home race.
Of all his 105 career wins, last year’s with Mercedes at Silverstone was one of the most emotional — closing a 56-race gap between wins and a wait of 945 days.
Until now Hamilton has always raced here with British teams, first McLaren and then Mercedes.
“I don’t really know what to expect this weekend,” he said. “At the moment Thursday is the same as always, it’s the least enjoyable day of the week and this always is the case. You just want to be in the car. I can’t wait for Friday to come.
“I’m sure driving on track for the first time in a red car in Silverstone is going to be unique and special in its own way.
“We have the best fans here at the British Grand Prix and for a British driver they really, really do make a difference. I think I’ve shown that to you time and time again. I hope this weekend they can really make a difference for us as well.”
James Vowles, the Williams team boss who previously worked with Hamilton at Mercedes, had no doubt that the Briton could win on Sunday.
“He’s very special at Silverstone, he reacts really well to local crowds and how the atmosphere is around him. Short answer, yes,” he told Reuters.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Clare Fallon)
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