10 The Sunday Times MOTORING
FEBRUARY 19, 2012
NEWS
McLaren drivers’ new approach IAN PARKES
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ewis Hamilton and Jenson Button adopted a different approach to their winter regime in a bid to become Formula One world champion again. For Hamilton, it was a case of becoming mentally leaner after the very public issues that blighted him on and off track last season. For Button, approaching his 13th season in the sport, the 32year-old has suddenly cottoned on to employing specialist nutritional advice to give him that extra edge. Hamilton certainly appeared liberated on his first day back in the spotlight since the end of last season as McLaren unveiled their new challenger for the coming campaign, the MP4-27. The genuine article was on show at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, a far cry from the tormented soul that suffered over the closing stages of last season. Numerous on-track incidents and accidents were compounded when he split from long-term girlfriend Nicole Scherzinger, professing at the final race weekend in Brazil he still loved her.
Just over two months on and the 27-year-old has now wrestled with the demons in his mind following a winter in Colorado’s Rocky Mountains. Speaking to Press Association Sport, Hamilton said: “I feel fresh. I had a really good winter. The
team gave me a good bit of time off after such a long season, and obviously we went through a lot. “But it was just a fantastic winter where I got to spend time with friends and family and was able to wind down and let loose.Then I got into quite an intense training
regime, sitting down in between times where I analysed the year and certain things in my personal life which weren’t as good as they could be. “I went about correcting those things, and today I just feel very fresh in my mind and very free of
any of the burdens I had on me last year.” Button admitted that on a mental level “nothing had changed” as he was “pretty happy at the end of last year”. Instead, to gain the slender advantage this year, Button will turn to a great British staple – a cooked breakfast. In tandem with Befit Monaco, an exclusive specialist training and dietary centre for elite performers, Button said: “We’ve been working on nutrition and things like that. “It sounds crazy, but when you are at the top of any sport you’ve got to look for anything, to run through different things. “It can keep you positive and in the right frame of mind for the time you need it within the car, and also out of it. “You’d think it’s easy, not to have fat and things like that, but that doesn’t work for certain people. “So a full English is not a bad thing for me actually. Steak and eggs is the best thing for me for breakfast. “It’s all going really well. I’m enjoying it. It’s been a lot of fun.”
Supercar Rally NIKOLAI ATTARD
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escribed as the world’s most glamorous supercar rally, the winter edition of the Dodgeball rally is being held on March 1, seeing billionaires and eccentrics racing expensive toys across Europe. Speaking to The Sunday Times Motoring, Johnny Dodge, the man behind the rally, said that the name for the rally was a spin on his surname, the iconic ‘Cannon Ball Run’ and diehard adventurer Erwin G. ‘Cannonball’ Baker, who had set 143 American distance records, including a 53½ hour coast-tocoast solo drive averaging over 50 mph in 1933. The rally is held twice a year in summer and winter and leaves Mayfair in London with the first stop in Paris for dinner and some fun on a closed runway, onto the Magny Cours racetrack where the exclusive unveiling of the Furtive eGT, one of the world’s most powerful electric cars, will be held. The day comes to an end with a night stop in Burgundy.
The following morning the drivers will go on a private tour around the small workshops of Loiseau, makers of the world’s most expensive watches. The final leg of the rally is a straight shot to an ice table in Verbier, in the Swiss mountains. The rally is open to an exclusive group of 30 lucky and rich participants and is limited to 15 cars. This will allow participants to meet each other and to fully enjoy the seven-star services they swear by. However, not any car is allowed in. “It’s all about the wow factor,” Dodge said. Among the most exotic cars to be entered were a goldplated Bugatti Veyron, a chrome Mercedes McLaren SLRs, and a unique Lamborghini Performante driven by Spencer Matthews from hit British TV show Made in Chelsea. No Maltese has ever entered the rally, but Dodge assured me he was always looking for new entrants from around the world to join in the fun.