Lewis Hamilton is targeting a first win at the Austrian Grand Prix, and he will use his video game knowledge to give him the edge.
The reigning world champion finished second in Spielberg last year behind teammate Nico Rosberg as the race returned to the calendar for the first time since 2003.
That means that along with Brazil and Mexico – where Hamilton has never raced – the Red Bull Ring is only a trio of circuits where he has not stood on the top step.
But Hamilton, 30, has enjoyed a dominant start to the season, winning four of the opening seven races. And now he is aiming for his first victory in the Austrian Alps, putting his childhood hours spent on a games console to good use.
“Definitely it is a big challenge for me,” he said when asked about adding Austria to the list of tracks he has conquered.
“It is something I’m excited about. I grew up playing computer games with this track and then I never got to drive it.
“It was always one of my favourites on the computer game and then I remember the days of watching Michael (Schumacher) and Rubens (Barrichello) here and even ones further back than that.
“I was excited to come here last year and what I didn’t know was how beautiful the place was. When I came I knew about the track, I didn’t know how stunning it is with the mountains nearby.”
Away from the car, Hamilton is now living what he has dubbed a “rock and roll” lifestyle - jet-setting across the globe to attend fashion events, movie premieres or spend time on his yacht with reality TV stars.
But, after the hustle and bustle of the Canadian Grand Prix he dominated two weeks ago, he is happy to spend some time in a quieter corner of the world.
“It is beautiful to be in the countryside, away from a city with no noise,” he added.
“The last race it was so noisy outside and it was so busy, loud, so much traffic and stuff. My family live in the countryside and I like the countryside, and that is what we have got here.”
That win in Montreal ended teammate Nico Rosberg’s run of back-to-back victories and re-established Hamilton as the favourite for the drivers’ title.
But he insists he did not feel the need to end any perceived head of steam that his German teammate may have been building.
“I’m never one to talk about momentum,” he said.
“You have two weeks after a race so it is not like you go from one day to another carrying momentum - it dies.
Grosjean apologises to Stevens for collision in Canada
Lotus’s Romain Grosjean has apologised to Marussia driver Will Stevens for colliding with the Formula One back marker while lapping him in Canada two weeks ago.
“I went to apologise because I messed up,” the Frenchman said on Thursday as he prepared to take part in Sunday’s Austrian Grand Prix.
“I killed a big part of my race but I broke his front wing as well and even though they are fighting at the back, they are still trying to do their best so it wasn’t very nice of me to turn into him.”
Grosjean, who finished 10th in Montreal, earning one world championship point, after starting fifth, was handed a five-second penalty after the race by stewards for the incident that happened as he passed the Marussia with 20 laps remaining at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
“It was just a failure of concentration,” said the Frenchman, who had been running fifth at the time of the collision, said.
“That corner is a very tricky corner, a chicane with the wall at the exit, and I was just focusing on the apex and didn’t even realise I was turning left. When I saw the replay I thought ‘that was bad’. It’s something you learn and try not to do again.”
Stevens appreciated Grosjean’s gesture.
“It was good of him because it was just a racing incident that should never have happened,” the Briton said.
“He obviously thought I was more out of the way than I was but I was as far over as I could possibly get.
“It’s good that he came over and apologised and I respect him for that a lot and we can move on and forget about it.”
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